by Dustin Bleizeffer, WyoFile Both the Trump administration and Wyoming lawmakers appear to be losing enthusiasm for advancing research and seeding commercial-scale carbon capture at existing coal-fired power plants — a key component of Gov. Mark Gordon’s coal-inclusive “decarbonizing†energy strategy. The U.S. Department of Energy in May cancelled some $3.7 billion in federal grants to support “clean […]
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Posted inOutdoors
Medicine Bow Rail Trail: 21-mile stretch of solitude
By Maggie Mullen When immigrant laborers built it in the early 1900s, the Hahn’s Peak and Pacific Railway had bragging rights as the highest standard gauge railroad in the country at around 9,000 feet. Its railcars first hauled gold, then livestock, timber and coal, and soon mail and passengers between Colorado and Wyoming. The Monday, Wednesday […]
Posted inWyoming
Ousted engineering dean sues University of Wyoming, seeks job back
By Andrew Graham Ousted University of Wyoming engineering dean Cameron Wright sued the school this week over his demotion, alleging retaliation by university President Ed Seidel. Wright’s large group of vocal supporters on and off campus has maintained Seidel maneuvered for the then-dean’s ouster after he protested the transfer of a portion of the College of […]
Posted inWyoming
New provision in Senate budget bill could put Wyoming public lands up for sale
by Andrew Graham, WyoFile Senate Republicans will consider mandating a sell-off of an estimated 2.5 million acres of public land, including possible parcels in Wyoming, in the budget bill they are now reconciling, a proposal Utah Sen. Mike Lee released Wednesday night shows. The plan from Lee describes selling the land as both a way to […]
Posted inEnergy
Trump to axe power plant emission rules, a potential boon for Wyoming coal
by Dustin Bleizeffer, WyoFile The Trump administration announced Wednesday plans to repeal “all ‘greenhouse gas’ emissions standards for the power sector,†as well as Biden-era Mercury and Air Toxins Standards “that directly result in coal-fired power plants having to shut down,†the federal agency said. “These Biden-era regulations have imposed massive costs on coal-, oil- and […]
Posted inWyoming
Wyoming lawmaker uses slur for Japanese people before visiting Heart Mountain internment site
by Andrew Graham, WyoFile On Tuesday, a group of legislators visited Heart Mountain Interpretive Center, which exists to remember anti-Asian discrimination and the mass incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II. Before the tour, Joint Agricultural Committee Chairman Rep. John Winter used an anti-Japanese racial slur while discussing the historic site. Closing out a morning […]
Posted inState Government
Wyoming lawmakers step toward bill clarifying corner crossing’s legality
by Mike Koshmrl, WyoFile Corner-crossing public land users have had their legal access rights repeatedly affirmed, and on Friday, the sheriff of the county where it all started was asked if state statute changes could help his deputies navigate the new legal landscape. Carbon County Sheriff Alex Bakken retorted that his officers are acting under the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals’ […]
Posted inAnimals
Savvy 13-year-old Teton wolf almost breaks all-time age record
by Mike Koshmrl, WyoFile Biologist Ken Mills sensed a shrewdness and smarts in Wolf 840M, a gray male canine that lived longer than any of the other 1,500-plus Wyoming wolves that have been ID’d and tracked since the species was reintroduced to the state three decades ago. First captured and collared as a 1-year-old living west of […]
Posted inOutdoors
People want more Wyoming trails. Lawmakers ponder ways to pay for them.
by Katie Klingsporn, WyoFile A growing body of hikers, mountain bikers, cross-country skiers and backpackers clearly want more non-motorized trails built in Wyoming, Deputy Director of Wyoming State Parks and Cultural Resources Chris Floyd told lawmakers Thursday. What is not so clear is how to pay for them. “We have more requests for non-motorized trails — […]
Posted inWyoming
Litigation over Wyoming’s beleaguered Star Plunge could last ‘years,’ owner says
by Katie Klingsporn, WyoFile The legal battle over a popular swimming spot in Hot Springs State Park could last years, Star Plunge owner Roland Luehne wrote in an open letter last week, casting renewed doubt over the reopening of the pools. The Star Plunge closed to the public in January after Luehne’s latest management agreement with Wyoming State […]
Posted inOutdoors
State biologists warned of wildlife conflicts at proposed shooting complex site. Wyoming approved the location anyway.
by Mike Koshmrl, WyoFile When a task force of lawmakers and appointed citizens decided last summer where best to locate a state-funded destination shooting facility, they chose a picturesque 3-square-mile tract of state land nestled into the Absaroka Range foothills. Their rationale, in part, was that the site evoked wild Wyoming. Rolling hills blanketed in sagebrush, the location […]
Posted inWyoming
Wyoming Historical Society divorces, fights with fundraising partner
by Angus M. Thuermer Jr., WyoFile The Wyoming Historical Society has divorced itself from its longtime fundraising partner, the Wyoming Historical Foundation, saying the breakup is necessary for “diversified funding†and other changes. The two nonprofits have been closely associated for about 30 years; the society collecting and preserving Wyoming history since 1953 with the foundation […]
Posted inState Politics
Wyoming Legislature to consider abolishing property taxes through constitutional amendment
by Maggie Mullen, WyoFile As Wyoming lawmakers sought to provide homeowners with property tax relief in the past few years, new laws created a complicated web of exemptions, leaving some taxpayers confused and frustrated. “Taxpayers often struggle to determine which exemptions they qualify for, when and how to apply and which forms are required,†Crook County […]
Posted inSchools
Eulogy for a school; Laramie students, staff say farewell to Lab School
by Katie Klingsporn, WyoFile LARAMIE—The Lab School is a family affair for Corelle Lotzer. Not only did Lotzer enroll her daughter and son in the school, but she taught math here for over a decade. Her daughter, who thrived years ago as a student in the K-8 atmosphere, returned as an adult to work as a […]
Posted inState Politics
Wyoming Freedom Caucus plans on ‘DOGE-ing’ state budget
by Maggie Mullen, WyoFile Several months into the Trump administration’s efforts to cut federal jobs and spending, the Wyoming Freedom Caucus is taking inspiration from the Department of Government Efficiency as it sets priorities for the legislative off-season that’s now underway. “DOGE-ing Wyoming’s budget by identifying unconstitutional and wasteful spending†sits at the top of the […]
Posted inGovernment
Trump administration investigates University of Wyoming over transgender sorority sister
by Maggie Mullen and Tennessee Watson, WyoFile The Trump administration announced Monday it’s investigating the University of Wyoming for alleged Title IX violations stemming from members of a campus sorority voting to admit a transgender woman in 2022, despite the school’s insistence that it doesn’t have a say in the membership of the private organization. Critics of the […]
Posted inWyoming
Last legal challenge to Teton glamping hotel ends
by Angus M. Thuermer Jr., WyoFile A water protection group in Jackson Hole removed the last challenge to a temporary glamping operation on state land near Teton Village on Thursday. Protect Our Water Jackson Hole filed papers with the Wyoming Environmental Quality Council withdrawing its appeal of a controversial sewage system permit. The group had challenged the Department […]
Posted inWyoming
Threatened federal funding for education, workforce programs spark concern among Wyoming tribes
by Katie Klingsporn, WyoFile A national narrative that Job Corps isn’t working couldn’t be further from the truth in central Wyoming, according to Jared Baldes, a field director and former carpentry instructor at Wind River Job Corps in Riverton. In a region of the state where high school dropout rates are high and traditional college paths […]
Posted inAnimals
BLM decides over 3,000 wild horses can be eliminated from Wyoming’s ‘checkerboard’ starting July 15
by Mike Koshmrl, WyoFile A contentious plan to fully eliminate free-roaming horses from a Delaware-sized region in southwest Wyoming has cleared its environmental review process, and roundups are scheduled to start in about seven weeks. The Bureau of Land Management on Thursday announced it has signed off on its earlier proposal to permanently remove more than 3,000 feral […]
Posted inWyoming
Wyoming proposed as home to North America’s ‘largest’ magnesium smelter
by Dustin Bleizeffer, WyoFile A Colorado-based company wants to expand a pilot magnesium smelter now operating near Cheyenne as part of an effort to decrease the nation’s reliance on imports of the critical mineral, which, among other things, is a key component for electric vehicle batteries. Big Blue Technologies now produces about 100 to 200 pounds […]
Posted inCourt
Laramie student’s COVID-19 mask lawsuit dismissed again
by Andrew Graham, WyoFile For the second time, a U.S. District Court of Wyoming judge has dismissed a lawsuit from the parents of former Laramie High School student Grace Smith over classroom mask mandates during the pandemic. Judge Kelly Rankin dismissed each of the Smiths’ three federal claims as invalid, echoing a decision issued in 2023 […]
Posted inOutdoors
Hunters ready to fight for corner crossing in Supreme Court
by Angus M. Thuermer Jr., WyoFile Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch on Tuesday gave Elk Mountain Ranch owner Fred Eshelman until July 16 to petition the court to review a corner crossing case that has implications for public lands access and private property rights across millions of acres in the West. Meanwhile, a hunters group that’s […]
Posted inEnergy
Wyoming lawmakers mull, again, allowing nuclear fuel waste
by Dustin Bleizeffer, WyoFile After trying and failing to carve out more exceptions to Wyoming’s longstanding ban against storing radioactive nuclear power plant waste earlier this year, lawmakers will take another swing at gaining support for the idea. They’re particularly focused on clearing the way for Radiant Industries, which proposes manufacturing microreactors and “temporarily†storing their […]