Cat Urbigkit
Latest from Cat Urbigkit
Cat Urbigkit: On Choosing Grace
Columnist Cat Urbigkit writes, "Watching the question of a special session for the Wyoming Legislature the last week was rather disheartening. Some even suggested that those with differing views were associated with evil and told followers that those with opposing views 'hate you.'"
Cat UrbigkitApril 02, 2024
Cat Urbigkit: BLM's Public Comment Process On Sage Grouse & Multiple Use Is Bungled
Columnist Cat Urbigkit writes, "The BLM released thousands of pages detailing six options for public lands management in the western states to conserve sage grouse – but only granted 90 days for the public to read and understand the proposal."
Cat UrbigkitMarch 26, 2024
Cat Urbigkit: You’ve Heard Of 30 x 30, But What About 50by40?
Columnist Cat Urbigkit writes, "You may not have heard of 50by40, 'a coalition of organizations dedicated to cutting the global production and consumption of animal products by 50% by 2040.' They’ve declared, 'Livestock production is the New Coal.'”
Cat UrbigkitMarch 19, 2024
Cat Urbigkit: ‘All-Of-The-Above’ Energy Policy Is Supported By Wyoming
Columnist Cat Urbigkit writes, "Watching from the sidelines, I’ve been stunned at the progress made by Wyoming Energy Authority in just a few short years. This approach to energy policy has resulted in Wyoming becoming an epicenter of energy innovation — as it should be."
Cat UrbigkitMarch 12, 2024
Cat Urbigkit: Wyo. Game And Fish Heeds Warnings, Switches Up Elk Feeding Plan
Columnist Cat Urbigkit writes, “Instead of focusing exclusively on elk damage payments made to ranches in the area, the plan now recognizes the economic, social and environmental importance of cattle production in the region."
Cat UrbigkitMarch 05, 2024
Cat Urbigkit & Rod Miller: The Lookout At The Halfway Mark Of The Legislative Session
Columnists Cat Urbigkit and Rod Miller discuss the Wyoming budget session as they see it shortly after the halfway mark. Both agree there are too many non-budget bills introduced and too many peacocking gubernatorial hopefuls.
Cat Urbigkit & Rod MillerFebruary 28, 2024
Cat Urbigkit: Finding Beauty in Wyoming’s Capitol
Columnist Cat Urbigkit writes, "Good people will disagree. That’s not a failure but a fact of society. We can disagree and still put our best selves forward, giving the benefit of the doubt to others and realizing our political opponents are not our enemies but our neighbors."
Cat UrbigkitFebruary 28, 2024
Cat Urbigkit: Legislative Week One Celebration
Columnist Cat Urbigkit writes, "I’m celebrating that half the bills that were filed are already dead, either voted down for introduction or simply not considered for introduction by the deadline."
Cat UrbigkitFebruary 20, 2024
Cat Urbigkit: Biden Administration Proposes More Rules Driven by Ideology, Not Science
Columnist Cat Urbigkit writes, "A new Biden policy would ban agriculture, predator control, & mosquito control on National Wildlife Refuge lands, while allowing introduction of non-native species, seeks to expand federal authority outside refuge lands, and to acquire more water rights."
Cat UrbigkitFebruary 13, 2024
Cat Urbigkit: Legislation To Watch During The 2024 Budget Session
Columnist Cat Urbigkit writes, "When the Wyoming Legislature convenes on Feb. 12, its major focus will be on the state budget and property tax relief, but I’ll be watching a few other important bills."
Cat UrbigkitFebruary 06, 2024
Cat Urbigkit: FWS Pushes Wolf Recovery Plan Even Though They Know They Aren't Endangered
Columnist Cat Urbigkit writes: The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service on Friday said listing gray wolves under the Endangered Species Act is not warranted. But, to soften the blow for its wolf advocate friends, will undertake a national wolf recovery plan for wolves anyway.
Cat UrbigkitFebruary 03, 2024
Cat Urbigkit: Endangered Species Protection For Pygmy Rabbits & Bumblebees In Wyoming?
Columnist Cat Urbigkit writes: The feds have determined that two species that inhabit Wyoming -- the pygmy rabbit and the Southern Plains bumble bee -- may need to be granted protection under the Endangered Species Act.
Cat UrbigkitJanuary 30, 2024
Cat Urbigkit: Brain-Eating Amoeba, Migrating The Frost Wave, Wild Horse Knowledge
Columnist Cat Urbigkit writes, "A new paper published in a scientific journal of the American Chemical Society documents the discovery of the "brain-eating amoeba" in protected hot springs located in Grand Teton National Park.
Cat UrbigkitJanuary 17, 2024
Cat Urbigkit: We’re Down to the Wire for Public Input on Rock Springs RMP
Columnist Cat Urbigkit writes, "The last day for public comment on the draft plan guiding future management of the 3.6-million-acre Rock Springs District of the Bureau of Land Management is Tuesday, Jan. 16."
Cat UrbigkitJanuary 09, 2024
Cat Urbigkit: When Told All You Need to Know Is In A Government Press Release, Start Asking Questions
Columnist Cat Urbigkit writes, "When the [wolf release] information became public and caused the predictable controversy, a resident of the governor’s mansion tried to discredit the reporter who revealed the details and then told the public that 'everything you need to know' was in the government press release."
Cat UrbigkitJanuary 02, 2024
Cat Urbigkit: The Botched Optics of Colorado’s Wolf Release
Columnist Cat Urbigkit writes, "Colorado completed the transfer of 10 wolves last week after the animals were captured in Oregon. For the people involved, it was framed as a success, a joyful occasion at an invitation-only event. For the rest of the public, the release details were kept secret..."
Cat UrbigkitDecember 26, 2023
Cat Urbigkit: BLM Should Issue Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement For Rock Springs District
Columnist Cat Urbigkit writes, "I’ve spent hundreds of hours trying to understand the implications of the four alternatives in the draft Resource Management Plan and believe this draft is so poorly presented that the BLM should issue a supplemental environmental impact statement to address its deficiencies."
Cat UrbigkitDecember 20, 2023
Cat Urbigkit: We All Need To Better Communicate With Each Other
Columnist Cat Urbigkit writes, "Two years ago, I watched an ATV race through the grazing allotment where we were lambing. As they dashed past, they ran over and killed a newborn lamb – but they never saw the lamb and never knew they killed it."
Cat UrbigkitDecember 12, 2023
Cat Urbigkit: When A Lambing Pasture Is Featured As “Sacred” Ground
Cat Urbigkit writes, "As I sat down with my morning coffee to peruse online news one day last week, a Washington Post headline grabbed my attention: “In a ‘sacred’ desert, the U.S. turns away from drilling and mining.”
Cat UrbigkitDecember 05, 2023
Cat Urbigkit: BLM Proposes Increased Powers to Restrict Public Land Uses
Columnist Cat Urbigkit writes, "Under its proposal, the BLM would be given the power to determine what is a temporary closure – which could be just days or weeks, or perhaps months or years. The proposal attempts to grant BLM that much power."
Cat UrbigkitNovember 28, 2023
Cat Urbigkit: BLM Decision Will Impact Wyoming’s Economic Future
Columnist Cat Urbigkit writes, "Those who are willing and able to endure this challenging environment discover that it offers a high quality of life, and that is why we remain. We don’t live here because of our jobs: we live here because of the land. Indeed, the ruggedness and remoteness is part of its charm."
Cat UrbigkitNovember 22, 2023
Cat Urbigkit: Wyoming Game And Fish Provides Input for Colorado Wolf Reintroduction
Columnist Cat Urbigkit writes, "Gov. Mark Gordon didn’t mince words last spring when he announced that Wyoming wouldn’t be supplying wolves for Colorado’s voter-initiated wolf reintroduction
Cat UrbigkitNovember 14, 2023
Cat Urbigkit: Natural Pulses -- Falling and Trailing Toward Winter
Columnist Cat Urbigkit writes, "The livestock guardian dogs have been working overtime during the migration, as the sheer number of wild predators on the landscape they share surges."
Cat UrbigkitNovember 10, 2023
Cat Urbigkit: Wildlife Management Via Drone
Columnist Cat Urbigkit writes, "In travels across Oregon last summer, I was able to participate in a field visit where I learned about how federal animal damage control specialists are using drones to haze wolves away from cattle."
Cat UrbigkitOctober 31, 2023
Cat Urbigkit: Land Policy Impacts People, Private Lands
Columnist Cat Urbigkit writes, "The BLM now proposes that nearly 375,000 acres of the area north of Highway 28 should become the South Wind River Area of Critical Environmental Concern. The plan ignores the ranch families who live and work within this area..."
Cat UrbigkitOctober 24, 2023
Cat Urbigkit: Funding for Cities, Towns & Special Districts Suspended Until They Comply
Columnist Cat Urbigkit writes, "The Wyoming Department of Audit has compiled a list of 370 counties, cities, towns and special districts in Wyoming that have failed to comply with state law requiring reporting of revenues received and expenditures made during fiscal year 2023."
Cat UrbigkitOctober 17, 2023
Cat Urbigkit: I Live In The Rock Springs District Of The BLM, Here's What I See
Columnist Cat Urbigkit writes, "These sheep will journey 125 miles from north to south under their own hoof power, before turning north again next spring – an annual cycle practiced here for more than 100 years."
Cat UrbigkitOctober 13, 2023
Cat Urbigkit: It Doesn’t Matter What the BLM Says, What Counts Is What’s In Writing.
Columnist Cat Urbigkit writes, "Don’t give the BLM the benefit of the doubt – the agency doesn’t deserve it. What counts is not what agency officials say, or what it pledges it intends to do, but what is in writing in the official record."
Cat UrbigkitOctober 10, 2023
Cat Urbigkit: BLM Claims Any Use Of Natural Resources Likely To Cause Adverse Impacts
Columnist Cat Urbigkit writes, "Non-use is preferred by the BLM. That’s not hyperbole but truth. We’re not talking about wilderness areas here, but millions of acres of public lands from the foothills of the Wind River Mountains south to the Colorado border."
Cat UrbigkitOctober 03, 2023
Cat Urbigkit: BLM is Tired of Misinformation About Rock Springs Plan, But The Plan Itself Is Misinformation
Columnist Cat Urbigkit writes, "While the BLM had previously claimed that its preferred alternative would not result in reduced vehicle access by imposing road closures, that claim is false, since the plan includes closing 4,505 miles of routes to all use and removes another 10,000 miles of routes from the transportation network."
Cat UrbigkitSeptember 28, 2023