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

Yellowstone cutthroat trout have struggled in their native waters. The Forest Service is considering killing all the rainbow trout in a popular wilderness creek to give the cutthroats and edge.

Feds Want To Kill Rainbow Trout In Popular Yellowstone Wilderness Drainage

The Forest Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife plan to kill all the rainbow trout in the Buffalo Creek drainage just north of Yellowstone Park and replace them with native cutthroats.

Mark HeinzJuly 31, 2023

Members of the Cheyenne East High School trap shooting team take aim, waiting for a clay target.

Wyoming Coach Criticizes Biden Plan To Cut Money For Shooting Programs

A Biden administration plan to cut federal money for school-sponsored shooting and hunting programs is part of the “wokeism” that’s “ruining America,” says Cheyenne East High trap shooting coach.

Mark HeinzJuly 31, 2023

This notch is the only way through “The Great Wall” — one of the highlights of Wyoming’s “Big Balls” backcountry hiking trail.

Explore Wyoming: "Big Balls" Trail Is A Hidden Wilderness Gem

The “Big Balls of Cowtown Trail” — or as it’s more commonly called “Big Balls" — isn’t officially designated on any maps. But for those willing to go the extra miles to find it in the Gros Ventre wilderness, it’s a great hike.

Mark HeinzJuly 30, 2023

Brooklyn, New York, residents Tom Moran, a firefighter, and Josie Moran, a teacher, talk about their favorite parts of visiting Wyoming for the first time, including people’s reaction to Tom’s thick Brooklyn accent.

Were These New Yorkers Impressed At Their First Cheyenne Frontier Days? Fuhgeddaboudit

Cowboys, pro rodeo and trucks — lots of trucks — made impressions on a couple from Brooklyn during their first trip to Wyoming and Cheyenne Frontier Days.

Mark HeinzJuly 30, 2023

Deer Haven Lodge Near Ten Sleep Isn’t Being Torn Down, It Has New Owners

Contrary to rumors it's being torn down, one of Wyoming’s favorite getaways, the Deer Haven Lodge near Ten Sleep hasn’t met its demise. It has new owners.

Mark HeinzJuly 30, 2023

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks biologists examine two yearling sibling grizzlies. The young bears, along with a third sibling (not pictured) had to be tranquilized and relocated from the prairie near Valier, Montana earlier this month. They had been hanging around peoples’ houses.

Rancher Changes View On Prairie Grizzlies, 'We Can Live With These Bears'

One Montana rancher said she resented grizzlies returning to the prairies at first because a bear killed several of her sheep but now she's OK with them reclaiming their home on the range.

Mark HeinzJuly 29, 2023

Powell Native Dave Zlomke (left) and his brother Tim were all but inseparable their entire lives. Most recently, they founded a successful axe throwing business in Huston. Dave Zlomke drowned Sunday in the Clark Fork River in Montana.

A Powell Founding Family Grieves Drowning Death Of Gentle Giant

Powell Native Tim Zlomke is grieving and remembering his brother Dave Zlomke, 45, who drowned Sunday while on vacation in Montana. They grew up in Powell in a family that goes back to the town’s founding.

Mark HeinzJuly 28, 2023

Farmer Videos Grizzlies Frolicking On His Potato Farm

Normally grizzlies are spotted in mountainous country, but their range has been expanding. Most recently, two grizzlies were filmed on a potato farm in eastern Idaho.

Mark HeinzJuly 27, 2023

Game & Fish Says Ending Elk Feeding In Wyoming Would Be Bad Idea

The Wyoming Game and Fish Department’s proposed revisions to its elk feeding program has drawn criticism from environmentalists and agricultural quarters. But the agency claims it’s taking a balanced approach.

Mark HeinzJuly 26, 2023

Wyoming Game and Fish agents had to kill this young grizzly bear after it repeatedly showed bold and aggressive behavior toward people along roads and in campgrounds in northwest Wyoming.

Wyoming Game And Fish Kills Young Grizzly That Raided Campgrounds, Pushed Tent

Wyoming Game and Fish had to kill a young grizzly after the bear kept hanging around campgrounds, displaying increasingly bold and aggressive behavior.

Mark HeinzJuly 25, 2023

Search Suspended For Grizzly That Killed Woman Near Yellowstone; Bear Probably Left

Wildlife agents have suspended the search for a grizzly bear, thought to be a female with a cub, that is believed to have killed a woman early Saturday near West Yellowstone.

Mark HeinzJuly 25, 2023

Colorado Dumpster Bear Relocated 50 Miles Away To Wyoming Returns, Has Triplets

Steamboat Springs, Colorado, has a population of suburban black bears, including a female that trekked nearly 50 miles back from the Wyoming state line to give birth to triplets this spring.

Mark HeinzJuly 24, 2023

Other Authors

Yellowstone National Park Lodges tour boat employees, from left, Mike Young, Troy Siegel, Elijah Luna and Gregor Woodruff helped rescue a couple and their two small dogs after the man’s kayak capsized in the frigid waters of Yellowstone Lake.

Rescue On Yellowstone Lake: Hot Pink Kayak, Life Vest Likely Saved Man's Life

If It hadn’t been for a hot pink kayak, a Yellowstone Lake tour boat captain might not have spotted a couple in peril about a mile from shore. Had the man in the kayak not been wearing a life vest, he could have died.

Mark HeinzJuly 24, 2023

Grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem have recovered enough that many Wyoming wildlife officials are pushing to delist them from endangered species status.

Wyoming, Montana Grizzlies Range Expanding, Close to Intermingling

After a long separation, Wyoming’s Greater Yellowstone grizzlies and Montana’s Northern Continental Divide bruin population are on the cusp of joining up and intermingling – something bear advocates say is necessary before grizzlies can be delisted.

Mark HeinzJuly 23, 2023

Will ‘Buckchucks’ — Nunchucks Made From Deer Legs — Be The Next Martial Arts Weapon Of Choice?

Although 'buckchucks -- nunchucks made from deer legs -- might look like a great western-themed weapon, a Wyoming martial artist said the user would probably just injure themselves.

Mark HeinzJuly 23, 2023

Chris Mickey, an avid camper and night sky photographer, recently got this shot of a strawberry moon setting over the Snowy Range Mountains.

With Scant ‘Light Pollution’, Wyoming Is A Stargazing Camper’s Paradise

Wyoming is like no place else when it comes to remote camping spots — free of light pollution and ideal for night sky photography, says avid stargazer Chris Mickey of Cheyenne.

Mark HeinzJuly 22, 2023

The three family Saint Bernards that were killed by snare traps set nonpublic land.

Supreme Court Ruling Means If Your Pet Gets Caught And Killed In A Trap, It's Your Fault

The Wyoming Supreme Court ruled there is no legal recourse for a pet owner if their pet gets stuck or killed in a trap. It's the responsibility of the owner, not the person who set the trap.

Mark HeinzJuly 21, 2023

In some areas, drones equipped with flamethrowers are used to help clear debris off power lines.

Why Not Use Flame-Throwing Drones To Clean Up Debris On Wyoming Powerlines?

Some states are using drones equipped with a flamethrower to burn debris off power lines. This strategy isn't employed in the Cowboy State yet, but a Wyoming substation electrician says it would work well.

Mark HeinzJuly 21, 2023

The Mullen Fire that broke out in September 2020 in the Snowy Range Mountains West of Laramie, burned 180,000 acres.

Officials Fear Massive Wyoming Spring Growth Could Become Massive Wildfire Season

While Canada is roasting and large wildfires have broken out in other states, Wyoming’s fire outlook looks good — for now.

Mark HeinzJuly 20, 2023

Jack Austin, a bear management technician with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, is pictured with one of two grizzlies wildlife agents recently collared in Montana’s northern prairies.

Now Grizzlies Are Starting To Move Back To The Prairies Of Montana

Grizzlies were once the masters of the great plains before they migrated to the mountains. In Montana, they’re starting to move back to the plains.

Mark HeinzJuly 19, 2023

A Wyoming-based long-range rifle team set a world record in September 2022 by hitting a target from 4.4 miles away.

Wyoming World Record Shooter Says Design, Not Wind, Should Be Main Focus For $10M Complex

Wind might be a factor in where to locate a new Wyoming Shooting Complex, but designing it for modern shooting sports could be more important, says a member of Wyoming’s world-record distance shooting team.

Mark HeinzJuly 18, 2023

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