Opinion
News
Cat Urbigkit: Why the Lack of Transparency with the State’s Million Acre Land Grab?
The hypocrisy of Gordon mentioning his commitment to state government transparency in his State of the State address is not lost on me.
Cat UrbigkitFebruary 20, 2020
Dave Simpson:An Old Reporter Checks Out the New Capitol
The newly-renovated Wyoming State Capitol building is, in a word, spectacular. The old Supreme Court Chambers are fully restored. The House and Senate chambers are stunning, faithfully brought back to their original grandeur.
Dave SimpsonFebruary 19, 2020
Cat Urbigkit: The Fighter Leading the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Director Aurelia Skipwiths recent address at the American Sheep Industry Association convention gave reason for conservatives to cheer in hope and for liberals to cringe in despair.
Cat UrbigkitFebruary 17, 2020
Dave Simpson: I’ve Got Just the Solution for UW President
About a year ago, trustees from the University of Wyoming got on a plane and flew down to Arizona to interrupt the university president's vacation with the news that they wouldn't be renewing her contract. Surprise! Enjoy the rest of your vacation!
Dave SimpsonFebruary 11, 2020
Cat Urbigkit’s Legislative Preview: State Land Transfers, Wolves, Brucellosis
Here are the issues Range Writing columnist Cat Urbigkit is paying attention to as the Wyoming State Legislature convenes Monday.
Cat UrbigkitFebruary 09, 2020
Dave Simpson: Strike ‘Heartland’ From the OK List
Those of us who live in Flyover Country are in big trouble once again with our more evolved bi-coastal cousins.
Dave SimpsonFebruary 04, 2020
Cat Urbigkit: Grizzly Bears, Cattle, and the Tangled Web of Activism
In more of the same-old-predictable strategy, there have been two notices of intent to sue over conflicts between grizzly bears and cattle in the Upper Green River region of the Bridger-Teton National Forest. Heres a quick overview of that issue, then were taking a deep dive into who is threatening to sue.
Cat UrbigkitFebruary 03, 2020
Opinion: We’ll Walk Across Hot Coals to Re-elect Donald Trump
So, what have non-coastal, common-sense folks like us odoriferous Walmart shoppers, wearers of hats with ear flaps, purveyors of homespun wisdom learned from the presidency of Donald J. Trump?
Dave SimpsonJanuary 29, 2020
Colorado Wolf Reintroduction: Why it Doesn’t Make Any Sense
The Endangered Species Act isnt meant to be a popularity contest for charismatic species; science is to be the driving factor for conservation of truly imperiled species.
Cat UrbigkitJanuary 27, 2020
Joan Barron: Hall of Fame Reporter
Joan Barron is being inducted into the Wyoming Press Association Hall of Fame, at the group's annual convention this week.
Dave SimpsonJanuary 23, 2020
Ignorant Food Zealots Reject Agriculture
Hollywoods Golden Globe Awards ceremony made the news for its climate-change awareness with much ado about its meat-free dinner.
Cat UrbigkitJanuary 20, 2020
Travel Troubles
For all the international travel Ive been fortunate to experience, Ive had amazingly good luck. But that luck had to run out, and my trip to Canada last week was the time.
Cat UrbigkitJanuary 13, 2020
Golden Globes: Taking Our Licks From Hollywood
PEACOCKS: The annual award show season always good for a horse laugh out here in Deepest Frozen-Tundra Flyover Country - kicked off last week with the Golden Globe Awards.
Dave SimpsonJanuary 11, 2020
The Value of Rural Subdivisions
Rural subdivisions suffer from love/hate status. While many residents hate to see fragmentation of rural land, many other people dream of living on a few acres outside of town.
Cat UrbigkitJanuary 06, 2020
Resolve to Childish Rules
With the ringing-in of a new year, its that time when we feel the need to make resolutions, most of which are quickly broken. I know, I know; this time its going to be different. Really? Ive of the mind that rather than making new resolutions, we adults need to revisit and relearn some of the vital lessons of childhood.
Cat UrbigkitDecember 30, 2019
O’ Holy Night
Its the holiest of days and nights, with believers of different faiths around the world sharing in celebrations. While our family honors the birth of Jesus Christ in a manger, others will observe Hanukkah, Posadas Navidenas, Ashura, Kwanzaa, and other religious holidays.
Cat UrbigkitDecember 23, 2019
Tracking Wild
From collars or eartag transmitters placed on big game animals and large carnivores like wolves and bears, to backpack harnesses or neck bands installed on a variety of bird species, and the surgical insertion of devices into fish, the amount of wildlife tracking conducted every year in Wyoming is astounding.
Cat UrbigkitDecember 16, 2019
Chronic Wolf Depredation
I recently attended a meeting of fellow sheep and cattle producers who raise livestock in the part of Sublette County that is outside Wyomings trophy zone for wolves.
Cat UrbigkitDecember 09, 2019
On Bone Broth, and Coexistence
The morning after Thanksgiving our house was once again filled with the smell of cooking turkey. But this time it was because we were boiling the carcass remains from the previous days feast. The bones are placed in the garbage once the broth is complete, but we pour the bone broth with chunks of meat in canning jars for reheating and pouring over the kibble of our working livestock guardian dogs on cold winter mornings. Bones from a beef roast, leg of lamb, or leftover bird carcass all provide for delicious bone broth that can be used to make soup, but we like providing a nutrition boost for hard-working dogs and females raising pups.
Cat UrbigkitDecember 02, 2019
Linguistic Weapons
As National Public Radios Sam Sanders noted, Words that begin with a very specific meaning, used by a very specific group of people, over time become shorthand for our politics, and eventually move from shorthand to linguistic weapon.
Cat UrbigkitNovember 25, 2019
This Is Rural America
A recent Twitter rant by a University of California Berkeley PhD student philosopher that claimed rural Americans are bad people who have made bad life decisions and should live uncomfortable lives and should have to pay more for rejecting efficient city life brought predictable condemnation. The man later deleted the tweet with a comment that my tone is way crasser and meaner than I like to think I am but he never actually backed down from his rural condemnation. But this bruhaha got me thinking about rural life in America, and what that actually means.
Cat UrbigkitNovember 18, 2019
My Dog Is Not A Fur Baby
Americans are animal lovers, so much that 95 percent of pet owners view their pets as family members. According to a survey from the American Pet Products Association, less than 15 percent of dogs in America sleep outside at night, and more than 70 percent of dogs are allowed to sleep in a persons bed, according to another survey. In American society, dogs have become fur babies and humans now identify as pet parents which is either a wonderful thing, or a bad thing, depending on your perspective. Animals are no longer simply our companions; theyve become children in interspecies families.
Cat UrbigkitNovember 11, 2019
The Fallacy of Gold-Standard Predator Research
As a frequent reader of new research on livestock production and carnivore conflicts, I am often reminded of the divide between researchers and practitioners. Papers will explain that research was conducted on sheep, without necessary information about those sheep, which practitioners (livestock producers) know will influence outcomes. For instance, we need to know not just the number of sheep involved, but breed, sex, age, breeding status, etc. because these cohorts may react differently in a given scenario.
Cat UrbigkitNovember 04, 2019
Outdoor Recreation & Tourism: A Look at the Numbers
A new report from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis(BEA) shows that outdoor recreation contributes 4.4. percent of Wyomings gross domestic product. Thats something to celebrate, with Wyomings percentage among the highest in the nation, behind only Hawaii, Montana, and Maine.
Cat UrbigkitOctober 28, 2019