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
Drunk Grizzlies Keep Getting Hit By Trains In Montana
Since 1980, 63 grizzlies have been hit by trains and killed along a section of railroad near Glacier National Park. Many died because they got drunk on fermented grain spilled from railcars and couldn’t move fast enough to outrun the trains.
Mark HeinzNovember 04, 2023
Hageman’s Push To Block Controversial BLM Rock Springs Plan Passes U.S. House
An effort to shut down the controversial Bureau of Land Management’s Rock Spring plan gained traction on Thursday, as an amendment to block it from Wyoming Congresswoman Rep. Harriet Hageman passed the U.S. House.
Mark HeinzNovember 03, 2023
Can Radar Powered By Artificial Intelligence Cut Down On Grizzly Attacks?
In response to increasing trouble with grizzlies, Canada is considering tracking bears with artificial intelligence radar to warn people of their whereabouts. Wyoming bear experts aren't that sure about it.
Mark HeinzNovember 02, 2023
Don’t Try Telling A Wyoming Game Warden Your Salt Lick Is ‘Bear Bait’
An Oregon hunter was nailed for illegally trying to bait big game in Wyoming when a game warden refused to buy his flimsy story about using salt and molasses to bait bears, not deer and elk.
Mark HeinzNovember 02, 2023
Life Lesson: Don’t Pass Out Drunk With A Poached Wyoming Deer In Your Truck
A habitual wildlife offender picked the wrong spot near Edgerton, Wyoming, to pass out drunk in his pickup after poaching a mule deer out of season, Wyoming Game and Fish reports.
Mark HeinzNovember 01, 2023
Private Land Hunt Tags Help Colorado Elk Problem, Could Work In Wyoming
Wyoming’s elk overpopulation problem could be tackled the same way Colorado has done it, with “private land only” hunting tags that bring outfitters, ranchers and hunters together, says a Colorado hunter who grew up in Wyoming.
Mark HeinzNovember 01, 2023
Legislator Proposes All-You-Can-Kill Elk Permits For Ranchers
To alleviate elk over-population, a Wyoming legislator on Tuesday proposed an all-you-can-kill elk permit for $20 each for ranchers from Aug. 1 through April 1.
Mark HeinzOctober 31, 2023
Users Of Federal Trails Fear BLM’s Moab Closures Could Also Happen In Wyoming
The BLM’s decision to shut down hundreds of miles of roads and trails in the popular Moab, Utah, region could have implications for policy in the Rock Springs area.
Mark HeinzOctober 31, 2023
It Can Take All Day To Clear 100 Miles Of Road In Wyoming’s ‘Little Siberia’
Plow crews out of Rock River, Wyoming, call the remote stretches of northern Albany County “Little Siberia” because of howling winds and frequent whiteout conditions there. It can take all day to plow roughly 100 miles of road.
Mark HeinzOctober 30, 2023
BLM Plan To Trim Wild Horse Herd Near Cody A Bad Idea, Advocates Say
The Bureau of Land Management wants to remove 41 horses from the McCollough Peaks mustang herd near Cody, which numbers about 180. Wild horse advocates say that’s a bad idea.
Mark HeinzOctober 30, 2023
Huge Elk Herds With Wyoming Roots Take Over Colorado Mountain Town
Much like Wyoming’s Yellowstone and Grand Teton areas, Estes Park, Colorado, has wildlife jams and gawking tourists as elk herds pass right through town during twice-yearly migrations.
Mark HeinzOctober 29, 2023
Isolated Wyoming Ranchers Want To Build One-Room Schoolhouse In Middle Of Nowhere
Parts of northern Albany County, Wyoming, are so remote it takes more than an hour to get to the nearest school — in good weather. Instead of an insane commute, a ranch family wants to build a one-room schoolhouse on their property.
Mark HeinzOctober 28, 2023
Chances Are That Grizzly Isn't Stalking You, It's Just Using The Trail
Despite some tourists in Canada being terrified over a pair of grizzlies “following” them for more than 15 minutes, grizzly experts say the bears probably just wanted to use the trail and didn’t have any interest in having the hikers for a snack.
Mark HeinzOctober 28, 2023
Hageman Introduces Legislation To Block Controversial BLM Rock Springs Plan
In a bid to bring Congress into the fray over the Bureau of Land Management’s controversial draft Rock Springs Management Plan, Rep. Harriet Hagman has introduced a bill to block it.
Mark HeinzOctober 27, 2023
Teton County Moose Lock Antlers, Drown In Furious Mating Season Battle
In the fury of a mating season battle, two large bull moose apparently fought to exhaustion and, with their antlers locked together, fell over and drowned in a creek in rural Teton County.
Mark HeinzOctober 26, 2023
Media Goes Bonkers Over Prairie Grizzly Near Montana Town
Although residents of Creston, Montana, said the sight of a giant grizzly lumbering through a field near the town isn’t that unusual, newcomers and media organizations have gone bananas over it.
Mark HeinzOctober 25, 2023
Proposed Colorado Mountain Lion Hunting Ban Shows Rural-Urban Divide
A proposed ban on mountain lion hunting in Colorado is based on emotion, not science, and will just create more problems between people and predators, a wildlife conservationist said.
Mark HeinzOctober 25, 2023
Fourth Montana Grizzly Shot By Hunter Claiming Self-Defense
For the fourth time this year, an outdoorsman in Montana shot and killed a charging grizzly bear, claiming it was in self-defense.
Mark HeinzOctober 25, 2023
Controversial BLM Rock Springs Plan Could Devastate Tourism, Boosters Say
The Bureau of Land Management’s proposed plan for the 3.6 million acres in the Rock Springs area could devastate tourism in Sweetwater County, which generates millions in revenue and 1,400 local jobs, tourism booster claim.
Mark HeinzOctober 24, 2023
First-Time Wyoming Hunter Had To Watch Elk Suffer After Another Took Bad Shot
A first-time Wyoming elk hunter found himself in an ethical and legal quandary Sunday as he watched a bull elk shot by another hunter suffer and die slowly.
Mark HeinzOctober 24, 2023
Former BLM Director Says Wyoming Would Win If It Sues Over Rock Springs Plan
The Bureau of Land Management’s controversial Rock Springs management plan for 3.6 million acres of public land probably won’t stand up to court challenges because it’s unconstitutional, says former BLM Director William Perry Pendley.
Mark HeinzOctober 23, 2023