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Kate Meadows

Government & Politics

As Wyoming legislators continue debating whether ambulance service should be considered an essential government function, some rural communities aren't waiting for their answer.

Across the state, local officials are experimenting with various solutions to keep ambulances on the road as volunteer numbers shrink, operating costs climb while revenues shrink, and the demands of serving huge rural areas with sparse populations.

Crook County is moving toward creating a countywide EMS district funded by a local tax, while Lincoln County recently rejected a similar approach. In Fremont County, the town of Shoshoni has taken a different path altogether, staffing its ambulance with police officers trained as emergency medical technicians.

Together, the efforts illustrate a growing reality across Wyoming that without EMS designated as an essential service, communities are increasingly being forced to solve the problem on their own.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Crook County’s Approach"}]

In May, Crook County commissioners passed a resolution to officially form an EMS district. Forming a district is a necessary step in asking county voters to pay for EMS services through a mill levy tax.

The district was made possible by legislation passed in 2023 that allows counties to create taxing districts specifically for EMS, a response to the growing statewide funding shortfall facing rural ambulance providers.

Crook County Commissioner Fred Devish said creating the district is only the beginning.

The EMS district is now applying for a portion of money available for a limited time through the Rural Health Transformation Program. 

The Wyoming Health Department was given $205 million in federal money to administer to hospitals, emergency responders and other health care services that fall under the state’s rural health system.

Applications opened July 1 and close Aug. 3.

Commissioners will next appoint a countywide EMS board made up of business-minded residents familiar with emergency services and grant writing.

That board will determine how ambulance service should be staffed throughout the county and how it should be funded through a combination of grants and, potentially, a voter-approved mill levy.

"It's absolutely up to the voters to fund such a board," Devish told Cowboy State Daily. "It's a tax. Everybody hates taxes. But how does anything get done without people paying for services?"

Voters likely won’t see a mill levy for EMS on the ballot until 2027, he said.

[{"type":"text","text":"\"There are too many moving parts to nail it down quickly,\" Devish said."}]

Each community has different staffing levels, different training capabilities and different needs, he added.

"It's just kind of trying to put something together that fits everybody in the county and that's fair to everybody," he said. "It's a hard thing to do."

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"The Challenges Keep Mounting"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"The pressures facing Crook County are playing out across rural Wyoming."}]

Volunteerism — once the backbone of rural ambulance service — has steadily declined, according to the Wyoming Department of Health.

"In the real world, it's kind of tough to have your people leave work every time there's an ambulance call," Devish said. "It's a big chunk out of your life. You're committed."

In years past, he said employers often allowed workers who were EMTs to leave their jobs whenever an emergency call came in. That has become increasingly difficult.

In Moorcroft, one of Ambulance Director Brad McKee’s biggest challenges is maintaining enough licensed volunteers to handle about 150 calls a year, 

. As an incentive, those who volunteer are paid $50 per call.

[{"type":"text","text":"Geography only compounds the problem."}]

"It's a long way from someplace in Crook County to an ambulance sometimes," Devish said.

[{"type":"text","text":"The challenge is hardly unique to Crook County."}]

Campbell County Health EMS responds to roughly 10,000 calls each year across more than 10,000 square miles, the Gillette News Record 

In June, it took about 30 minutes for ambulances to reach 

 northwest of Casper. The crash involved eight vehicles and 17 people.

[{"type":"text","text":"Equipment costs continue climbing as well."}]

Jason Perry of Hulett recently told Crook County commissioners that the community's newest ambulance is a 2011 model. Replacing it would likely cost between $200,000 and $500,000.

In Niobrara County, Wyoming’s least populated, replacing old equipment came to a head a few years ago when Lusk was down to one fully functioning ambulance to cover a huge geographical area. 

Its emergency request to the State Loan and Investment Board at that time for money to get another ambulance 

 because Lusk’s situation didn’t qualify as an emergency.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"One Community, One Solution"}]

For years, EMS advocates have urged Wyoming lawmakers to designate ambulance as an essential service, which would require government entities to ensure emergency medical care is available and provide a more stable funding structure.

In 2021, Gov. Mark Gordon's Health Care Task Force created an EMS subcommittee to study the growing challenges facing Wyoming's emergency medical system and recommend long-term improvements.

While that debate continues in Cheyenne, local communities are moving ahead with their own ideas.

In Fremont County, Shoshoni has become the first Wyoming town to 

staff its ambulance service through its police department

After Cody Regional Health donated an ambulance, the Shoshoni Police Department used remaining COVID-19 relief money to equip the vehicle with basic medical equipment.

Beginning in November 2025, every new Shoshoni police officer receives EMT training. Officers earn their regular police salary plus an additional $50 for every ambulance call they respond to.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Not Every Community Wants New Taxes"}]

In Lincoln County, longtime resident Greg Erickson has watched Star Valley's EMS system evolve over decades.

He remembers when ambulance service in Alpine, Thayne and Afton depended almost entirely on volunteers.

"The valley was pretty well covered," Erickson said. "There wasn't a huge need, but when the need arose, people would leave their jobs and go down to the garage where the ambulance was parked and make the calls."

[{"type":"text","text":"As the population grew, however, volunteers became harder to find."}]

Still, Lincoln County commissioners recently declined to create an EMS district similar to the one Crook County is pursuing.

"The reason for it was public outcry for another tax," Erickson said. "Putting it on the backs of the taxpayers in the county just doesn't float well."

[{"type":"text","text":"Instead, Star Valley Health now operates the area's ambulance service."}]

Erickson said he believes the system has grown beyond what the valley requires.

"They built a Rolls-Royce EMS system," he said. "There is neither the revenue nor the necessity for those services."

[{"type":"text","text":"Even so, he acknowledges there is no universal answer for rural Wyoming."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"\"What's right for Jackson isn't right for Star Valley,\" Erickson said."}]

He applauds communities like Shoshoni for finding creative ways to meet local needs.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"No One-Size-Fits-All Answer"}]

The differing approaches in Crook County, Shoshoni and Star Valley reflect what many EMS officials across the state say they increasingly believe: Wyoming's rural ambulance challenges are too diverse for a single statewide solution.

Some communities may ultimately support local tax districts. Others may rely on hospitals, municipalities or other partnerships.

Until lawmakers settle the broader question of whether EMS is an essential service, many rural communities are continuing to look for solutions that fit their own geography, population and resources.

Shoshoni ambulance 1 3 25 26 7 20 26

Cowboy State Daily is Wyoming’s largest newspaper with Wyoming’s most experienced journalists. 

<title>No One-Size-Fits-All Fix For Wyoming's Rural Ambulance Crisis | Cowboy State Daily</title>

As Wyoming legislators continue debating whether ambulance service is an essential government function, some communities aren't waiting. With shrinking budgets and volunteer pools, some are asking for local taxes while others have police pull double duty.

No One-Size-Fits-All Fix For Wyoming's Rural Ambulance Crisis

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily's Feature Reporter, Andrew Rossi.

Andrew Rossi

Outdoors

Wildlife

[{"type":"text","text":"How many wolverines are in Yellowstone National Park?"}]

The National Park Service doesn’t have an easy answer for a census of these 

Neither does biologist Jim Halfpenny, but he does have an estimate based on decades of confirmed evidence — and it’s a lot more than most people think.

 seven “documented” wolverines in the region from 2006-2009. Halfpenny’s nearly 50 years of research says there are dozens more, at least 31 verified in the last five years and "83 absolute verified wolverines” since 1990.

That was the story Halfpenny shared recently at the historic Range Riders Lodge in Silver Gate, Montana. Dozens of people attended his presentation on what he calls the “elusive, sparse, and downright rare wolverine.”

“Tonight, I’m dealing with verified reports only,” he said. “No matter how much I trust somebody who says they saw a wolverine, that's not counted. This is where I have positive verification.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Bad PR"}]

The wolverine, in Halfpenny’s opinion, has a bad reputation through no fault of its own. He’s spent decades reversing their public image by fastidiously learning more about them.

“We're going to talk about the real wolverine,” he said. “The real wolverine is quite a different creature than the stories you probably grew up with.”

The wolverine has been known by many names, among them “the Devil Bear,” “the Glutton,” and “The Evil One.”

Even Peter Krott, a biologist who hand-raised wolverines alongside his own children, titled his 1959 book on wolverines “Demon of the North.”

“I hate to say it, (but) the wolverine is a plain out-and-out victim of bad PR,” Halfpenny said.

Halfpenny has been tracking and studying wolverines in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem since 1979. In that time, he said he’s seen the truth about “the curious big weasel.”

“Dave Need and I picked up a grant for $80,000, which was a lot of money then, for three years of chasing lynx and wolverine,” he said. “That was the start of the wolverine hair snagging for the United States.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Fact And Fiction"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Wolverines have long been depicted as almost mythical creatures. "}]

The earliest accounts from North American explorers depict them as fearless, vicious, and ill-tempered animals that battle bears and eviscerate anything in their path.

Halfpenny has always been focused on verification. When it comes to understanding the truth of the wolverine, everything else is pointless.

“There's two basic eras of wolverine knowledge: the natural history books and things that we read there, and the modern science,” he said.

The natural history books say a wolverine could grow up to 80 pounds. Modern science, in the form of over 700 in-the-field weighings of wild wolverines in North America, reached a much more conservative conclusion.

“The largest weight ever is 37 pounds,” Halfpenny said. “A male might hit 35, but the average weight is around 30 pounds.”

Natural history says a fully grown wolverine could be more than 6 feet long. Modern science hasn’t found a wolverine larger than 3 feet long.

Halfpenny has seen wolverines interact with grizzlies but never engage them in combat. If anything, wolverines are extremely deferential to their much larger neighbors.

[{"type":"text","text":"Wolverines were also nearly hunted to extinction. "}]

In fact, Halfpenny believes they might have been extinct in Montana by 1920, partly due to the National Park Service's early archaic anti-predator policies.

“If you read the Yellowstone superintendent’s report from 1877, which really irritates me, it says, ‘strychnine poisoning for wolves and wolverine habitats will go on in Yellowstone.’ That was the period of massive predator slaughter in the ecosystem,” he said.

Halfpenny asked his audience to make a mental note that a wolverine had been spotted in the southeast corner of Yellowstone in 1871.

“Put that in your memory,” he said. “We’re going to come back to it.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Rocky Mountain Reunion"}]

Halfpenny’s story of wolverines was simultaneously a story of how technology changed the dynamic of wildlife conservation in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.

When he started studying wolverines, the first method of verification was to physically trap the elusive animals.

“We had a 12-foot-square cage with a noose inside,” he said. “We grabbed the back legs, laid them in the center of a tarp, and rolled them up like a hot dog.”

He had a special guest on his earliest trapping projects: singer, songwriter, and actor John Denver, who chronicled the adventure in the 1978 television movie “

“John pitched in just like everybody else and worked his tail end off to do that,” Halfpenny said. “It was great to be working with him.”

In one scene, Denver is carrying one end of a wolverine cage with a wolverine inside through a blizzard in the mountains. Halfpenny noted the peculiar way Denver was walking that had nothing to do with the deep, blowing snow.

“If you look at the end (of the cage), that opening's big enough for a wolverine paw to come through and get a piece of John's ass, to put it one way,” he said.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Science Marches On"}]

As Halfpenny continued trapping, other scientists were undertaking the first modern studies of wolverines in North America. 

The next big advancement was radio-collaring, started by Howard Hayes in northwest Montana.

Then in the 1980s, Halfpenny became acquainted with CyberTracker. It was a handheld computer program developed by Louis Liebenberg to track and study wild animals in South Africa.

“He developed a picture-icon system for PDAs,” Halfpenny said. “It was a way to manage wildlife without a budget.”

When the Wildlife Conservation Society started trapping wolverines in the 1990s, they introduced implanted trackers and DNA sampling.

“By grabbing DNA samples, we could start looking at the populations,” Halfpenny said. “With radio collars and CyberTracker, we could create a map and gather years of behavioral studies.

[{"type":"text","text":"Then in the 2000s, biologists had the money for helicopter surveys."}]

These individual studies pooled their knowledge and assembled the first comprehensive analysis of wolverine diversity and distribution in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, he said.

[{"type":"text","text":"Halfpenny had an unlikely ally in his endeavors. "}]

He regularly worked with commercial fur trackers, who diligently informed him when they trapped a wolverine and allowed him to see, study, and measure the specimen for first-hand verification.

[{"type":"text","text":"“The trappers always provided us with locations and DNA,” he said."}]

That’s why he categorized the classification and federal protection of the wolverine as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act in 2023 as “a trade-off.”

“That seems like it might be good for the wolverine, but it's poor for our knowledge,” he said. “It depends on which side of the coin you want to take.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Family Inheritance"}]

In August 2022, biologists Doug McCartney, Steve Moore, and Bill Turner were hiking in the mountains in the southeast corner of Yellowstone. 

That’s when they saw something incredible: 

13 wolverines in the same snow-covered bowl.

Halfpenny said this sighting has been “highly disputed.” After extensive forensic analysis of McCartney’s photos, pixel-by-pixel in Gaia GPS and Photoshop, he feels he has verified 12 of the 13 wolverines.

[{"type":"text","text":"“I can’t find the 13th one,” he said."}]

He could even verify that the wolverines in the photos were two adult males, three adult females, and two other adults, with the rest being younger individuals.

With no carcass in the area, Halfpenny has an incredible theory: family inheritance.

“I think one of those was an adult female with an adult male,” he said. “The other two females were daughters, each of whom had their two (offspring), and one was mated with the second adult male.”

As evidence, Halfpenny cited the sighting of a wolverine in the same area in 1871.

“This is favorable habitat,” he said. “I can’t prove it, but I'm arguing this is a family unit that's taken over that area.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"So, How Many?"}]

Then there’s the debate over just how many wolverines are in Yellowstone.

The “old park estimate,” according to Halfpenny, was six individuals. After decades of research and verifiable evidence, Halfpenny says the actual number is “much higher.”

[{"type":"text","text":"However, that doesn’t make it any easier to give a hard number."}]

“Yellowstone is 3,400 square miles, and the ecosystem is 23,000 square miles,” he said. “You want me to tell you how many secretive, elusive, 3-foot-long creatures there are in that area? Yeah, thanks.”

Nonetheless, Halfpenny has a number: 83 verified wolverines between 1990 and 2026, and at least 31 individuals verified in Yellowstone in the last five years.

“No question,” he said. “I have the evidence. I have 83 absolute verified wolverines.”

Halfpenny is so confident in his estimate because he and his colleagues are able to identify wolverines individually based on their appearance. 

Everything from a wolverine’s ears, cheeks, and tail to its movement and coloration can be ascribed to an individual known from photos, trail cams, or DNA analysis.

That’s led Halfpenny to believe, with “no question,” that Yellowstone’s wolverine population is increasing, all based on verifiable evidence.  

“If we sit down and look over the years at the number of positive verifications, starting back in 2015, what you see is the numbers increasing,” he said. “It’s more than just cellphones. A lot of these we had in hand, either dead, collared, or anesthetized.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"'Shoot, Shoot, Shoot'"}]

Over time, Halfpenny and his colleagues have developed an understanding of the biology, ecology, and geographic range of wolverines, leading to a better assessment of their population health and conservation status.

Nobody’s trapping or radio-collaring wolverines anymore, and CyberTracker has been obsolete for decades, he said. 

The key to the scientific verification of wolverine verification in Yellowstone is in the hands of citizen scientists.

As smartphones became more widespread in the late 2000s, the number of wolverine sightings in Yellowstone increased.

Halfpenny has used amateur photographers of wolverines to build his scientific case for the growing population of wolverines.

“These excellent photos and videos have characteristics we can recognize,” he said.

Yellowstone visitors don’t have to venture too long before having a chance sighting of bison, elk, grizzlies, or wolves without leaving their vehicle. 

If they want a guaranteed sighting of these animals, there are certain hotspots where they have a higher chance.

“Where can I find a wolverine in Yellowstone? They are where they find you,” Halfpenny said.

On a practical level, wolverines seem to favor the northeast and southeast corners of the park, as it appears to be their ideal habitat.

It’s much easier to find wolverine tracks, especially in the snow. That’s why Halfpenny says every Yellowstone visitor should carry a 6-inch ruler with them.

“(If) you find a track, get a ruler in there,” he said. “Don't put a hand. Don't put a foot. Don't put a $1 bill. We need something solid with exact measurements. Even a comb or a pen is better. Hands don’t count.”

Regardless, Halfpenny wants any and all photos and videos of wolverines in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.

That, he said, is the next chapter of “the wolverine story” and why he encouraged anyone with a smartphone or camera to “shoot, shoot, shoot.”

“We need positive evidence of wolverines, and all the reports I've talked about tonight come from positive, verified evidence,” he said. “Photos are cheap. Electrons are cheap. So, shoot, shoot, shoot and send (your photos) to me.”

Wolverine in Yellowstone 12 8 23

<title>Biologist Says There Are Dozens More Verified Wolverines In Yellowstone Than Reported | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A prominent biologist with 50 years of research says there are dozens more confirmed wolverines in Yellowstone than are reported by the National Park Service. He says there at least 31 verified wolverines in the last five years and 83 since 1990.

Biologist Says There Are Dozens More Verified Wolverines In Yellowstone Than Reported

spotted again, roaming the Bighorn Mountains.

Many people enjoying Independence Day weekend saw the fuzzy green bipedal cryptid wandering through forests and along popular hiking trails near Burgess Junction. Just as soon as it reappeared, it disappeared.

[{"type":"text","text":"Where did the Swamp Moose go? Back to Cheyenne with his family."}]

The Swamp Moose is actually Bridger Knox, 9, who was enjoying the annual family vacation to the Bighorns. Bridger and his father, Steve, decided to resurrect the monster for another year because they had so much fun last year.

“How could we not? The post went viral, and Bridger loved and had so much fun with it, so we did two days of shenanigans with the Swamp Moose,” Steve Knox told Cowboy State Daily.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Rise Of The Swamp Moose"}]

The Swamp Moose was a spontaneous idea that spawned from a green ghillie suit the Knox Family brought with them during their annual camping trip in the Bighorns in 2025.

“We’ve been camping at that same area for two weeks around the Fourth of July for 30-plus years,” Knox said. “My sister-in-law and her kids wanted to scare her husband near the river with the ghillie suit, and we wondered what the tour buses (on U.S. Highway 14) would do if they saw someone walking around in a ghillie suit.”

The Swamp Moose first emerged from the Pine Island Group Campground. The shed moose antler, found by Bridger, was the extra ingredient that made it that much more fun.

As soon as the Swamp Moose was spotted, it was turning heads and stopping cars.

“Cars coming down the highway were noticing Bridger and slamming on their brakes,” Knox said. “We could see their faces in their vehicles, wondering what in the world they were looking at.”

When Knox shared photos and videos on social media, the Swamp Moose went viral. After last year’s outing, a newspaper in New York called Knox to share the story.

[{"type":"text","text":"With all that attention, the Swamp Moose’s return was inevitable."}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Revenge Of The Swamp Moose"}]

When the Knox Family returned to the Bighorns in 2026, the Swamp Moose came with them. Bridger donned the same green ghillie suit with a slightly smaller antler.

“The other one was too big and made his arms tired, so we used a different one,” Knox said.

This year, the Knox family camped near Porcupine Falls, west of Burgess Junction and farther from the highway than the Pine Island Group Campground.

That reduced the potential visibility of the Swamp Moose’s mysterious return, but that didn’t dissuade Bridger. He got ghillied up and began to roam around Porcupine Falls.

“He walked up and down the road a little bit, right there by our campground, and stood by the sign,” Knox said. “Porcupine Falls is a much less trafficked area, so he couldn't get that tour bus exposure, but it was still super awesome.”

Still, Bridger had higher aspirations for the Swamp Moose. When a perfect opportunity suddenly presented itself, he fully grabbed the Swamp Moose by the antler.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"The Swamp Moose Strikes Back"}]

Steve and Bridger were hiking up to Porcupine Falls. That’s when they encountered more than 40 people heading for the same destination.

This was the moment Bridger had been waiting for. He and his father sped past the church group to reach Porcupine Falls before they did.

When the group arrived at the picturesque falls, they were under the watchful eyes of the elusive Swamp Moose.

“Bridger wanted to go stand up on top of the rock and let everybody see him from a different view,” Knox said. “He and I hiked to the top of the hill, he changed into his outfit and emerged from the rocks.”

The Swamp Moose silently moved through the large hiking group. Reactions were mixed.

“Some ignored him, others laughed and pointed, and some took pictures,” Knox said. “It was pretty funny.”

That wasn’t enough for one hiker, a man from Sheridan who knew the lore of the Swamp Moose. That’s when Knox said his son had “his 15 minutes of fame.”

“The Sheridan gentlemen asked if the Swamp Moose talked,” he said. “I said, ‘Of course,’ and we sat and chatted with his family for a little while. One of the gals remembered his story from last year, and Bridger thought that was pretty cool.”

The coup de grâce of the Porcupine Falls sighting was an utterly baffled couple from Mississippi.

A 9-year-old boy from Cheyenne dressed up in a ghillie suit with a lone moose antler sticking out of his head for the sole purpose of confusing hikers near Porcupine Falls in the Bighorn Mountains. He is proud to report it worked.

Alta Reah Davis, 52