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.
Latest from Mark Heinz
Grizzly 399’s Huge Cub Could Avoid Trouble That Got 2022 Cub Killed
Of Grizzly 399’s 18 known cubs, 10 have died. Her latest cub, Spirit, has a better chance to survive, one wildlife photographer said, because 399 isn't taking him around settled areas.
Mark HeinzJune 24, 2024
Colorado Has A New Wolf Pup, Nobody Knows Yet If There’s A Whole Litter
Roughly six months after being reintroduced to Colorado, wolves have produced at least one confirmed pup. Although it is highly likely the pup is part of a larger litter, Colorado officials won't confirm any more.
Mark HeinzJune 23, 2024
Bam-Bam The Wyoming Bighorn Loved People, Peanut Butter And Ramming Cars
He’s been gone for more than a decade, but Wyomingites still fondly remember Bam-Bam, the peanut butter-loving, flower-devouring, car-ramming Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep ram that ruled Sinks Canyon in the late 2000s.
Mark HeinzJune 23, 2024
Yellowstone Bears Can’t ‘Scratch Hind Ends’ Without Getting On Camera
Social media feeds are flooded with photos of Yellowstone bears, but it doesn’t mean there are more bears. It just means the park is packed with tourists, and the bears “can’t hardly scratch his hind end” without getting on camera.
Mark HeinzJune 23, 2024
Sportsman Outraged Over Littering Grand Teton River With Shotgun Targets
An angler on the Buffalo Fork River near Grand Teton National Park on Thursday was outraged to find someone had used the area for shotgun target practice, and left dozens of bright orange clay pigeons in the river. Plus, he said they were a terrible shot.
Mark HeinzJune 21, 2024
Donkey Named Diesel Living With California Elk Herd Was Never In Wyoming
It’s true that a donkey that’s gone viral named Diesel ran away from home to live with a wild elk herd in California. What’s not true despite numerous social media reports is that Diesel’s from Wyoming.
Mark HeinzJune 21, 2024
Moose Lucky Grizzly Chasing Him Near Wyoming State Line Wasn't Really Trying
A former Yellowstone bear biologist who caught video of a grizzly chasing a moose near the Wyoming state line said the moose was lucky the bear opted for a vegetarian option. Grizzlies usually, but not always, have an advantage over moose in a one-on-one fight.
Mark HeinzJune 20, 2024
Colorado Eliminates Over-The-Counter Archery Elk Tags For Non-Residents
Trying to lessen the numbers of hunters that flood Colorado every fall, the state has discontinued over-the-counter archery elk tags for non-residents. Colorado was known as the best last option for elk hunters who failed to draw elk tags anywhere else.
Mark HeinzJune 19, 2024
Wyoming Elk Poacher Nailed After Truck Gets Stuck And He Brags On Social Media
A Rawlins man might have thought he would get away with poaching a bull elk, until his truck got stuck. Then he posted photos of the elk and bragged about it on social media.
Mark HeinzJune 18, 2024
Family Says Its Ranch Near Wyoming State Line A ‘Grocery Store’ For Wolves
Many of the 24 cattle killed by wolves in Colorado since December have been on the Gittleson ranch just a few miles from the Wyoming state line. Since reintroduction of wolves in Colorado, the ranch has become a “grocery store” for them.
Mark HeinzJune 18, 2024
Texas Man Rescued After Trying Most Dangerous Rapid In River On "Walmart Raft"
A Texas man was rescued on Sunday after getting stranded on the Shoshone River. An expert kayaker from Cody, who rescued the man, said the Texan tried to "run the biggest rapid on the river during the highest water in a Walmart raft."
Mark HeinzJune 17, 2024
Southeast Wyoming Fishing Off To Slow Start But Will Change Soon
To put it bluntly, the fishing “sucks right now,” in southeast Wyoming, says Josh McPeak, a fishing guide with Four Seasons Anglers in Laramie. But the turnaround, he says, could come as early as this week.
Mark HeinzJune 16, 2024
There Are Plenty Of Coyotes And Wolves In Wyoming, So Why No Coywolves?
in the eastern United States, coyotes people encounter are likely to be coywolves, or coyote-wolf crossbreeds. But in Wyoming, wolves and coyotes tend to avoid each other and coywolves have not been documented.
Mark HeinzJune 16, 2024
It’s Mating Season, Which Means Bears Are Beating The Crap Out Of Each Other
When love is in the air among bears, it’s not exactly lovely. This is the time of year when male bears beat the crap out of each other, because it's mating season. That means bears in Wyoming and all over are fighting for access to females.
Mark HeinzJune 15, 2024
After State Kills 3 Wyoming Bighorn, Wildlife Researcher Questions Policy
The Wyoming Game and Fish Department killed three bighorn sheep that wandered into Sinks Canyon State Park out of concern for disease, but a local wildlife researcher questions the need for the killings.
Mark HeinzJune 15, 2024
Calif., Other States Still Grabbing For Wyoming’s Share Of Colorado River Water
Fighting between California and other states over Wyoming's share of water from the Colorado River, which is partly fed from Cowboy State sources, isn’t likely to be resolved anytime soon, a pair of experts say.
Mark HeinzJune 14, 2024
Video Captures Black Bear Chomping On Trail Camera On Wyoming - Montana Border
Steve and Nancy Cerroni set up trail cameras around the Pryor Mountain wild horse range near the Wyoming-Montana border to monitor mustangs. But a black bear stole the show Tuesday when it chomped on a local trail camera.
Mark HeinzJune 13, 2024
Park Service: Don’t Try That ‘Secret Route’ To Jackson, You’ll Get Stuck In Snow
The National Park Service on Thursday advised travelers not to try the "secret route" Cowboy State Daily wrote about on Wednesday. Reclamation Road, between Idaho and Jackson, will be snowbound at least through Monday. Even then, it’s not a great road to take.
Mark HeinzJune 13, 2024
Wyoming Gun Dealers: Don’t Lie Like Hunter Biden Because You’ll Get Caught
After President Biden’s son Hunter was convicted Tuesday of lying on the background check form for a firearms purchase, some Wyoming gun dealers say they’re not surprised, because that’s a stupid move and nearly impossible to get away with.
Mark HeinzJune 11, 2024
Observers Say Yellowstone’s White Bison Is the Real Deal, Plan Ceremony With Native Elders
Although Yellowstone officials have yet to confirm the birth of an extremely rare white bison calf in the park last week, observers say they've seen it recently and Native American elders are planning to celebrate its birth.
Mark HeinzJune 10, 2024
Park Rangers Rescue 8 When Raft Flips, Strands 8 Overnight On Snake River
Grand Teton park rangers rescued eight people stranded overnight Saturday from a section of the Snake River called “The Black Hole." A whitewater guide told Cowboy State Daily the area is known as a truly gnarly and dangerous stretch of river.
Mark HeinzJune 10, 2024