Tourism

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By Elyse Kelly, The Center Square

As Wyoming gears up for another summer of increased visitation, tourism-reliant businesses are still struggling to find enough workers to operate fully.

Many business owners attribute the predicament to unemployment benefits people are receiving, Wyoming Public Media reported.

Domenic Bravo, CEO of Visit Cheyenne, echoed that thought.

“I think there were some unintended consequences when some of the benefits that were there during COVID got extended,” he told The Center Square.

Gov. Mark Gordon decided to stop accepting the federal unemployment supplement in the state starting June 19. But Bravo said the timing may have been too late.

“The timing of when some of those benefits were either ended at the federal level or states ended them early: if it’s mid-season by then, those that were actually seeking jobs may have found them in other sectors,” he said.

David Bullard, a senior economist at the Wyoming Department of Workforce Services, Research and Planning, said that those benefits definitely make a difference in labor supply, WPM reported. But he believes the governor’s decision to end them should make a difference.

“I expect that will cause some kind of shift in the labor supply curve and more people will be willing to work at that point,” Bullard told WPM.

Since COVID-19, however, the landscape has altered, Bravo said.

“After COVID, things have changed just in terms of how to recruit,” he said. “I think beforehand in the hospitality/tourism area we were really hard-pressed to find folks who really understood the great benefits of working in that industry: a lot of good training, upward momentum and just a fun work environment. In Cheyenne here, we call it the ‘Cool Jobs Website.’”

Now it’s even harder.

Bravo said the industry is going to have to work really hard to make these kinds of jobs desirable and back in the mainstream.

Before the benefits started, Bravo said many unemployed tourism workers were forced to find jobs elsewhere outside the industry. He said it will be a struggle tracking that demographic down and enticing them back to work in their previous field.

Wyoming business owners told WPM that their attempts to offer bonuses for employees who stick out the summer aren’t working; however, Bravo expressed optimism that efforts by employers like hiring bonuses, increased pay, and added benefits will make a difference in building up Wyoming tourism’s workforce.

Until that happens, he asks visitors to the state to be patient with businesses — whether they order at a restaurant and the food takes longer or it isn’t open certain days.

“I think employers and employees are doing the best they can, and as long as we understand and try to help each other, my hope is, in the end, it will be successful,” he said.

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By Elyse Kelly, The Center Square, Cowboy State Daily

Wyoming’s state parks system is preparing for a busy summer.

Last year was a record-breaker for the state in terms of visitation, with parking lots overflowing and campsites booking out solid as people sought respite from strict lockdowns in other states.

Gary Schoene, public information office manager for Wyoming State Parks, said park officials don’t know if this year will be quite that busy, but they are expecting plenty of visitors.

“Our numbers reservation-wise are a little bit lower than last year, but not much, which is encouraging since there’s quite a bit more competition for the consumer dollar right now because things are starting to open up a little bit,” he told The Center Square. “So if [Memorial Day Weekend] is any judge, it looks like we should have a fairly decent summer visitor-wise which is encouraging.”

Learning from last year, Schoene said the department converted a few more campsites into first-come-first-serve sites rather than reservation only after feedback from visitors.

“Some people they don’t know until the day before or whatever that they are going to be able to camp so hopefully the first-come-first-served sites help those people in that regard,” he said.

More visitors generate more revenue for the parks which they can then use to make improvements, Schoene pointed out. 

The state parks funding this year was workable, but he said they can always use more money. 

“We can always use more money in terms of maintenance and operations, that type thing,” Schoene said. “There was a bill this last year, House Bill 58, which did allow us to do that with the money we generate with reservations and other user fees so that helps some, but you always feel like you could use some more.”

Schoene said the department is planning to hold as many events as they safely can this year. All facilities will be open this year as the state returns to operations as usual, he said.

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By Jim Angell, Cowboy State Daily

A full day of old-fashioned family fun, complete with live music, foot races, a pie contest, a barbecue and a sharpshooter contest is on tap in Hyattville on Sunday as the town’s community center sponsors its annual Cowboy Carnival.

Canceled last year because of the coronavirus pandemic, this weekend’s event is the 17th annual holding of the carnival.

“After suspending our 2020 Hyatteville Cowboy Carnival as an abundance of caution due to COVID-19, now Cowboy Carnival is back,” the Hyattville Community Center said on its website. “We look forward to resuming this annual tradition.”

In an interview with Cowboy State Daily in 2019, Linda Hamilton, the community center’s treasurer, said many members of the community southeast of Basin help out with the event.

“We have a good community that steps forward to do this,” Hamilton said. “It’s quite an event and it’s amazing that we can pull a community together and have them do this much.”

Proceeds from the event, including money raised by the beef, lamb and pork barbecue, will be used to support the community center, a former elementary school that is now used as a hub for a variety of events such as weddings and funerals. The center also has a small library and exercise room.

Sunday’s events kick off with a “sharpshooter contest” at 10 a.m. at the old airstrip south of Hyattville, along with a 5K run/walk, book sale, quilt show and photo contest.

A kids’ race through Hyattville will be held at 11 a.m. and live music by “songteller” Dave Munsick will begin at noon.

Lunch will be served at 12:30 p.m., followed by a sheep dog competition at 1 p.m.

The day will end with a live auction featuring items donated from throughout the region.

For more information, visit the community center’s website at: https://www.hyattville.org/

Other events scheduled for the long Memorial Day weekend include:

The grand opening of the Military Memorial Museum at Nelson’s Museum of the West in Cheyenne on Monday;
Casper’s annual “Cruizin’ with the Oldies” car show at the Yellowstone Garage Bar, Grill and Venue on Saturday;
The Buffalo Lions Club Fishing Derby at Lake DeSmet Saturday through Monday;
The Wyoming State Cup and Championship and United Cup soccer tournament, Friday through Sunday at the North Casper Soccer Complex;
The “Pit Digger” mud rally in Saratoga on Saturday, and
The “Canyon to Curve” Fun Run/Walk on Monday at the Casper Boat Club.

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By CJ Baker, Powell Tribune

Park County road and bridge crews will continue to maintain a Shoshone National Forest road leading to the ghost town of Kirwin.

On Tuesday, county commissioners renewed a five-year agreement with the Forest Service to maintain that route west of Meeteetse, plus two county roads in the Sunlight area that also lie within the Shoshone. In exchange for that work, the Forest Service will pay the county up to $15,000 a year.

Commissioner Lloyd Thiel cast the lone vote against the cooperative agreement, saying he wanted the maintenance of the Kirwin road to be turned over to a private contractor.

“I realize a lot of this is working with you guys and everything,” Thiel told Shoshone representatives, “but I’m also representing all the taxpayers out here in the county that might be employed privately by doing this.”

He also said the county was losing money on the arrangement; in 2019, county officials said the Forest Service’s payment covered about 37.5% of the roughly $47,500 cost to maintain 25.3 miles of the Hunter Creek, Sunlight and Kirwin roads.

However, the Hunter Creek and Sunlight roads are owned by the county and would be maintained by county crews regardless of whether the Shoshone was helping pay for the work. And as for the road to Kirwin, Park County Engineer Brian Edwards has previously suggested that the route — which is used by local recreationists — could potentially be closed if the county didn’t maintain it. He noted that the county also plows the Beartooth Highway to the Pilot Creek snowmobiling parking area in the Shoshone each winter.

“We have a relationship [with the Shoshone] to where it’s in the public good to try to work together to take care of some of these things that would be kind of costly to contract out,” Edwards said.

The Shoshone’s district engineer, Beau Batista, said it’s better for taxpayers if the forest can maintain the roads at a lower cost. He also said that, out of the three private contractors that currently maintain other Shoshone roads, only one has ties to Park County.

Hoping to find cost savings last year, Shoshone officials had asked the county to consider taking on 28 additional miles of forest roads that are now maintained by contractors.

However, commissioners balked at taking work away from the private sector — and Shoshone officials were ultimately unsure they would save any money; forest officials said they pay an average of $1,100 to $2,000 per mile, while Edwards estimated the county would want to charge $1,800 to $2,000.

While commissioners gave no indication Tuesday that they were interested in taking on any other roads in the Shoshone, the board voted 3-1 to continue maintaining the Kirwin route and renew the entire agreement.

In supporting the arrangement, Commissioner Scott Mangold wondered whether the Forest Service could make other federal funding contingent on the county maintaining the Kirwin Road for free.

“… I think for [$15,000], we’re getting a pretty good deal,” he said.

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By Jim Angell, Cowboy State Daily

Some of the best wildlife art in the state can be seen in Pinedale this weekend as Wyoming’s top taxidermy artists put their work on display as part of their annual meeting.

Taxidermy displays from around Wyoming will be open for the public’s viewing at the Sublette County Ice Arena as part of the annual meeting of the Wyoming Association of Taxidermy Artists.

While some may not think of taxidermy as art, there is a considerable amount of artistic thinking that goes into each piece, said Susan Orcutt, secretary of the WATA.

“You’ve got to know how to paint, how to blend colors,” said Orcutt, who runs High Country Taxidermy in Pinedale. “When you do a habitat scene, you’ve got to have a little bit of artistic ability, you can’t just slap it together.”

Orcutt said about 60 taxidermy artists from around the state, along with some from Utah and other states, are expected to attend the annual meeting, which begins Thursday with the set up of the display of entries for the WATA contest.

The display will then be closed to allow for judging and will be reopened Friday night after WATA’s banquet.

During Friday, members will take part in their annual business meeting, attend seminars and share taxidermy tips.

“I’ve been doing taxidermy for 20 years and I learn something new every year,” Orcutt said. “Normally taxidermists don’t give you a lot of information, but when you go to the shows, they do.”

The display will open for public viewing at 8 a.m. Saturday, with a $5 admission fee for adults. Proceeds will be used to help pay for next year’s meeting.

Entry is free for children age 12 and under.

The public will see a special kind of taxidermy when they visit the display, Ocrutt said.

“These are all spiffed up,” she said. “When you go into competition, there are certain things you have that you don’t normally worry about so much in a normal everyday consumer piece. These competition pieces, people spend days and days, weeks and weeks on them.”

The show will be particularly educational for anyone interested in having taxidermy work done in the future, she added.

“When you start looking at things, you start realizing there is a difference between a good mount and a bad mount,” she said. 

Other events scheduled for the weekend around the state include include:

The Cody Country Horse Sale, an annual sale that takes place in front of Cody’s Irma Hotel. Begins at 1 p.m. Saturday.
Mother’s Day Tea at the Historic Governor’s Mansion in Cheyenne on Saturday.
The Rough Stock Rodeo School at the Central Wyoming Fairgrounds in Casper. Friday through Sunday.
The Spring Bazaar at Gillette’s Cam-Plex on Saturday.
The Up in Arms Gun Show at the Central Wyoming Fairgrounds in Casper, Friday through Sunday.
Forever West XTreme Bull Riding, Johnson County Fairgrounds in Buffalo on Saturday.
A “Taco Fest” at David Street Station in Casper on Saturday.

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