Outdoors Reporter

Mark Heinz

Mark Heinz covers the outdoors and wildlife for Cowboy State Daily.

He previously worked or freelanced for numerous newspapers and magazines across Wyoming, Idaho and Montana, covering all manner of news and feature stories. He has a strong background in topics related to wildlife, hunting, and wildlands conservation. He's written extensively since the 1990s about the controversies surrounding wolves, grizzly bears and mustangs.

He also enjoys people-centric stories with quirky edge of humor and has written several such pieces for Cowboy State Daily.

Mark lives in Laramie with his wife, Kendy, and the youngest of their five children.

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Latest from Mark Heinz

A group of pronghorn does relentlessly pursue a coyote that tried to snatch one of the herd’s fawns in Yellowstone National Park’s Lamar Valley.

Yellowstone Antelope Relentlessly Chase Coyote That Tried To Snatch Fawn

Getting a meal is no easy task for coyotes in Yellowstone National Park. One unfortunate coyote was relentlessly pursued by some pronghorn after trying to snatch a fawn in the Lamar Valley.

Mark HeinzJune 10, 2025

A Wyoming bull elk with a group of females.

‘Nonresident Native’ Tags Could Bring Former Wyomingites Back Home To Hunt

People born and raised in Wyoming who move to other states must pay expensive nonresident tag fees to come back to hunt. Legislators are considering lower-priced “nonresident native” hunting tags for them.

Mark HeinzJune 09, 2025

After being shot down in the Wyoming Legislature’s 2025 session, a proposal to let Wyoming landowners put their hunting tags up for sale was revived before a legislative committee Friday.

Controversial Proposal To Let Landowners Sell Hunting Tags Revived

After being shot down during the Wyoming Legislature’s 2025 session, a proposal to let Wyoming landowners put their hunting tags up for sale was revived before a legislative committee Friday.

Mark HeinzJune 07, 2025

Despite their declining numbers across Wyoming and the West, mule deer remain wildly popular among wildlife watchers and hunters.

Wyoming’s Golden Age Of Mule Deer Is Gone, With Fewer Than Half Of Peak Numbers

Wyoming has fewer than half of the 500,000 mule deer it did during the heyday of the 1960s to 1980s, and it will likely never see mule deer herds like that again, a Game and Fish official told legislators Friday.

Mark HeinzJune 06, 2025

Lawmakers Ponder What, If Anything, Can Be Done To Regulate Extreme-Range Hunting

Wyoming legislators on Friday discussed what can be done, if anything, to regulate extreme-range hunting. In one much talked-about instance, a hunter in Fremont County shot an antelope from 2,000 yards away.

Mark HeinzJune 06, 2025

Jeremy Shellhorn, from left, Miranda Foster and Pam Murcia install an innovative sign to deter speeding through a grizzly bear corridor in Grand Teton National Park.

‘Sad Bear’ Signs Target Stretch Of Highway Where Grizzlies Keep Getting Hit

Researchers are taking a new route to keep drivers from barreling through Grand Teton grizzly habitat. They're tugging on people's heartstrings by putting up “sad bear” roadside signs, urging them to slow down.

Mark HeinzJune 06, 2025

A group of pronghorn graze near a Wyoming wind farm.

As Minerals, Wind And Solar Projects Boom In Wyoming, Should Companies Pay For Displaced Wildlife?

State Sen. Larry Hicks is proposing a bill that would compensate Wyoming residents for “loss of property” when huge wind, solar, minerals or other energy projects displace wildlife.

Mark HeinzJune 05, 2025

When the first Hogs For Hope motorcycle rally against wolf torture rolled into Daniel on May 26, 2024, locals blocked off the front of the Green River Bar with trailers. Rally organizers had planned to meet on the front porch of the bar and present wolf advocates with a check from donations raised by Hogs For Hope.

Hunter Calls For Counter-Protest During Daniel Rally Against Wolf Torture

An outdoorsman is calling for people to show up in Daniel on June 14 to support Wyoming’s wolf management policies and to counter what he says is the inaccurate demonization of local resident Cody Roberts.

Mark HeinzJune 05, 2025

The antler auction in Jackson has been a tradition each May for 58 years, but this year sales plummeted to about half of normal.

Early Elk Migration Could Be To Blame For Low Sales At Jackson Antler Auction

An early elk migration out of the National Elk Refuge could be to blame for a plunge in revenue from this year’s elk antler auction in Jackson. The annual auction consistently pulls in about $200,000 but this year’s auction generated only $109,000.

Mark HeinzJune 04, 2025

Cows and bison with Devils Tower in distance.

Wyoming Rancher Says His Cows Mysteriously Fell Over Dead, Like Cows On Colorado Ranch

A Crook County rancher said the baffling deaths of 15 Colorado cattle is eerily familiar. He never did figure out what killed more than 40 of his cows years ago. “It killed them instantly, whatever it was. They just dropped,” Clint Snook said.

Mark HeinzJune 03, 2025

Goliath, a 33-year-old, mustang stallion who lived a hardscrabble life on the Wyoming range now enjoys freedom on a 9,000-acre sanctuary in Oregon.

Elderly Wyoming Mustangs Enjoy Life On Oregon Sanctuary They Helped Make Famous

Goliath and Blue Zeus are two huge mustang stallions who lived hardscrabble lives on the Wyoming range and now enjoy freedom and plentiful forage on a 9,000-acre horse sanctuary in Oregon. Goliath is 33-years-old while Blue Zeus is 24.

Mark HeinzJune 03, 2025

Grizzly 1063, aka Bonita, has one cub left, after her other two cubs were killed last month by a large male grizzly.

Hazing Of Grizzly 1063 Led To Cubs Being Killed, Photographer Tom Mangelsen Says

World famous wildlife photographer Tom Mangelsen said he believes the National Park Service's "hard hazing" of Grizzly 1063 last month led to two of her cubs being killed and cannibalized by a large male grizzly. The National Park Service disputes that.

Mark HeinzJune 03, 2025

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The Higgs family ranch near Coal Creek, Colorado, lost 15 cattle in a single day. The animals, mostly heifers (mother cows) died suddenly after suffering seizures, and nobody can figure out why.

15 Cattle Dropped Dead In One Day On Colorado Ranch Remains A Mystery

A Colorado ranch family suffered a devastating loss when 15 head of cattle died suddenly in a single day. Weeks later, they still haven’t figured out why.

Mark HeinzJune 02, 2025

Ticks may be tiny, but tens of thousands of them at a time can be big trouble for Wyoming moose. The blood-sucking parasites can even mean a miserable death for moose.

As Tough As Moose Are, Tens Of Thousands Of Ticks Can Bring Them Down

Given their massive size and cantankerous attitudes, Wyoming’s moose might seem practically indestructible, but if enough ticks pile on to a moose, they can kill it -- and they do.

Mark HeinzJune 01, 2025

Spirit is the sole cub born to Grizzly 399 in 2023.

Why It Probably Doesn't Make Any Sense To Keep Searching For Grizzly 399's Cub, Spirit

Since Wyoming’s most famous bear, Grizzly 399, was killed by a car last fall, there hasn't been a verified sighting of her cub, Spirit. Famed wildlife photographer Tom Mangelsen, who named the cub, says it would probably take genetic testing to positively identify the bear.

Mark HeinzMay 31, 2025

This young black bear was the first visitor to the Burgess Junction Visitor Center in the Bighorn mountains early Wednesday.

Bear Stops By Burgess Junction Visitor Center, Barely Misses Busload Of Tourists

A young black bear decided to take a stroll right up to the Burgess Junction Visitor Center in the Bighorn mountains early Wednesday. The bear missed a busload of tourists by about 20 minutes.

Mark HeinzMay 31, 2025

One of 10 wolves reintroduced to northern Colorado in December 2023.

Colorado Wolves Caught For Killing Livestock Let Go, Blamed For Killing Cows Again

Colorado’s Copper Creek wolf pack was captured and put in captivity last year for killing livestock. After being released, they’re now blamed for killing cows again.

Mark HeinzMay 30, 2025

Mustangs from the Salt Wells Creek herd are among nearly 3,000 horses in central Wyoming scheduled to be rounded up by the Bureau of Land Management, starting July 15 at the earliest.

BLM Proceeds With Roundup Of Rare Curly-Haired Horses Despite Pending Court Case

Despite a lawsuit challenging the capture of wild mustangs in central Wyoming still pending in federal court, the Bureau of Land Management has decided to proceed with the roundup of nearly 3,000 horses.

Mark HeinzMay 29, 2025

Grizzly bears were unfazed by an earthquake that struck the Hayden Valley area of Yellowstone National Park Monday evening. (Courtesy Wild Love Images/Julie Argyle)

Quake In Yellowstone Spooks Humans, But Bears Don’t Care

A wildlife photographer definitely felt an earthquake in the Hayden Valley area of Yellowstone on Monday evening but the bears she was filming? Couldn't care less.

Mark HeinzMay 29, 2025

Wyoming’s Miracle Mile Is Prized For Trout, But Not So Much The Kokanee Salmon

The Miracle Mile on the North Platte River in central Wyoming is prized as a trout fishery. Spawning kokanee salmon can also be caught there, although they might taste awful if caught during fall spawning runs.

Mark HeinzMay 28, 2025

While some retired and current National Park Service officials claim federal cuts will cause chaos in the parks this summer. Others, including, the person who used to oversee the National Park Service, says it’s hyperbole and the parks will be just fine.

Crisis Or Hyperbole? How National Parks Will Fare This Summer

Some retired and current National Park Service officials claim federal cuts will cause chaos in the parks this summer. Others, including the person who used to oversee the National Park Service, says it’s hyperbole and the parks will be just fine.

Mark HeinzMay 28, 2025

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