Renée Jean
Renée Jean is the business and tourism reporter for Cowboy State Daily and is based in Cheyenne. Previously, Renée spent seven years covering energy and agriculture in North Dakota and Montana. She has won many writing awards over a 30-year career, and has written magazine articles for Guideposts.
Latest from Renée Jean
Want A View Of The Tetons? Vacant Lot In Jackson Hole Will Cost You $5.5 Million
In 1992, a 1.5 acre vacant lot with a view of the Tetons in Jackson Hole cost $70,000. Today, the average price tag for single-family lots valley-wide is a whopping $5.57 million.
Renée JeanOctober 21, 2024
Wyoming Rare Earths Producer Close To Completing $53 Million Processing Plant
Rare Element Resources needs one more thumbs-up from a federal agency to complete its $53 million rare earth demonstration plant in Upton. The rare earth refinery is billed as a game-changer not just for Wyoming, but America.
Renée JeanOctober 21, 2024
Parkman Bar Holds ‘Let It Rain’ Concert To Say 'Thank You' To Firefighters
Around 500 people showed up for the Parkman Bar and Grill’s “Let it Rain” concert Saturday to say thank you from the community to the firefighters battling the Elk Fire. Cars lined the highway for a couple of miles before and after the bar but attendees said it was worth the walk.
Renée JeanOctober 21, 2024
Thank you Texas! Texas Ranchers Hauling Hay To Wyoming
When wildfires devastated ranches in Texas in 2022, Wyomingites were quick to haul trucks of hay for livestock there. Now ranchers there are returning the favor after fires have burned more than 810,000 acres across Wyoming.
Renée JeanOctober 20, 2024
Drinking Wyoming: Ghosts Might Join You For A Drink At Suds Bros. In Evanston
Patrons and employees report ghostly experiences at Suds Bros. Brewery in Evanston. It’s in a historic building built in 1890 that was America’s second JCPenney store and, at one time, tied into Evanston’s underground tunnels.
Renée JeanOctober 19, 2024
Insurance Companies Rejecting Wyoming Homeowners In Wildfire-Threatened Areas
When Bridget and Steve Snyder’s homeowners insurance policy expired four months ago, their provider refused to renew it because of wildfire risk. Now they’re threatened by the Elk Fire with no insurance — a problem happening across the nation.
Renée JeanOctober 19, 2024
Uranium Energy Corp. To Increase Wyoming Production Capacity To 8.1 Million Pounds
Wyoming has approved a Uranium Energy Corps. application to double capacity at its plant in the Powder River Basin. That gives the company capacity to process 12.1 million pounds of uranium, 8.1 million pounds of which are in Wyoming.
Renée JeanOctober 19, 2024
Firefighters’ Prayers Answered With Snow Falling On Huge Wyoming Wildfires
Snow is finally falling on a pair of huge Wyoming wildfires. It’s literally the answer to the prayers of firefighters and locals living under the threat of the Elk and Pack Trail fires.
Renée JeanOctober 17, 2024
Sheridan Area Residents Cheer Forecast For 7-13 Inches Of Snow
People in Story and other communities along the Bighorns were literally cheering Wednesday when the weather forecast predicted 7-13 inches of snow. It will help, but it’s probably not a fire-killer.
Renée JeanOctober 16, 2024
Story’s Historic Wagon Box Restaurant Is Suddenly Closing For Winter
The owner of the Wagon Box in Story, Wyoming, announced Tuesday that the historic eatery and campground will close for the winter. The announcement caught employees completely off guard and scrambling to find new jobs.
Renée JeanOctober 15, 2024
Massive Effort Building 7-Mile Line To Keep Elk Fire From Wyoming Towns
Firefighters have charred a 7-mile strip of ground between Big Horn and Story, starting from Goose Creek. It’s a buffer zone between Wyoming communities at the foot of the Bighorn Mountains that will act as a “catcher’s mitt” to stop the Elk Fire.
Renée JeanOctober 15, 2024
Townspeople Of Story, Wyoming, Rally To Protect Homes In Path Of Huge Wildfire
It's a monumental challenge, but townspeople in the forested community of Story are rallying together to rid the area of pine needles, pine cones, and other fire fuels as the 90,000-acre Elk Fire gets closer and closer.
Renée JeanOctober 14, 2024
13 Aircraft Maintaining An All-Out Air Assault On 90,000-Acre Elk Fire
In addition to nearly 1,000 people fighting the Elk Fire on the ground, 13 aircraft are assigned to battle. It’s more than most fires get, and they’re maintaining an all-out aerial assault on the nearly 90,000-acre fire.
Renée JeanOctober 14, 2024
Wyoming Ranked #1 Entrepreneurial State In Country, Sheridan County Tops In State
Wyoming is the No. 1 entrepreneurial state in the nation according to U.S. Census Bureau data. Sheridan lies at the heart of the state’s most entrepreneurial county, where 51% of residents are self-employed.
Renée JeanOctober 13, 2024
Firefighting “Spike Camp” Near Burgess Junction Tackles Elk Fire From The West
The Elk Fire has burned about 87,000 acres on the Bighorn Mountains in northern Wyoming. While most of the attention has been the fire’s relentless push southeast, a firefighting “spike camp” near Burgess Junction is fighting it from the west.
Renée JeanOctober 13, 2024
It Takes A Makeshift City To Support The Nearly 1,000 Elk Fire Firefighters
There are nearly 1,000 firefighters and support personnel assigned to the Rocky Mountain Area Complex Incident Management Team fighting the Elk Fire in northern Wyoming. It takes a makeshift city to support them all.
Renée JeanOctober 12, 2024
Fiery Glow On Bighorns Overnight Was Intentional Burning To Slow Elk Fire
Another night of watching the Bighorn Mountains glow above them made some living in the shadow of the Elk Fire nervous overnight Thursday. But the huge, scary and dramatic column of fire was part of a plan to save Sheridan’s water supply, as well as slow the fire down.
Renée JeanOctober 11, 2024
Fast-Acting WYDOT Worker Spots New Wildfire, Calls 911, Then Helps Put It Out
An alert Wyoming Department of Transportation worker spotted a new wildfire taking off 7 miles north of Sheridan along I-90. He called 911, then jumped into action himself, helping to put it out before the fire became a catastrophe.
Renée JeanOctober 11, 2024
Elk Fire Breaking The Rules Of Wildfires And ‘Is Behaving Like A Teenager’
The strategists in charge of battling the huge 76,000-acre Elk Fire in northern Wyoming say the stubborn blaze is breaking the rules of wildfires. One said it even seems oppositional to authority and “is behaving like a teenager.”
Renée JeanOctober 10, 2024
Armed With A Hose And Weed Sprayer, Wyoming Man Defends His Home From Elk Fire
Warren Tritschler defended his home in the Horseshoe subdivision near Dayton from the Elk Fire with a garden hose and a weed sprayer. He’s one of the many so-called “Hillbilly Hotshots” determined to help fight the huge wildfire.
Renée JeanOctober 09, 2024
Rural Wyomingites — AKA Hotshot Hillbillies — Help Save 1887 Double Rafter Ranch
The Double Rafter Ranch has been a fixture in northern Wyoming since 1887. It’s still there, thanks in part to the local Hillbilly Hotshots — a group of self-appointed rancher-firefighters — who helped save it from the Elk Fire.
Renée JeanOctober 08, 2024