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Our 2024 election guide is live, designed to help voters inform themselves before heading to the polls. 🗳️
Federal and state legislative candidates answered questions crafted by
@WyoFile
about key Wyoming issues.
Check it out ➡️
BREAKING: “Corner crossing on foot in the checkerboard pattern of land ownership without physically contacting private land and without causing damage to private property does not constitute an unlawful trespass.” — Chief U.S. District JudgeScott Skavdahl
BREAKING: Wyoming judge blocks abortion ban citing separation of powers, issues restraining order after hearing three hours of arguments in courtroom packed with 50 women.
NEWS: Recently the Eastern Shoshone & Northern Arapaho tribes diverted some backpackers hiking through the Wind River Range to keep a bold grizzly bear from coming into camps. Rather than removing bears, the approach is to remove people to avoid conflict.
NEWS: Wyoming legal scholars & pro-abortion-access groups say a 2012 constitutional amendment ensuring Wyoming residents’ right to make their own health care decisions could help overturn the state’s abortion ban. The theory has yet to be tested in court.
Wyoming's most famous mule deer — known for the longest documented migration — has died. What the 10-year old doe symbolizes is much more than her awe-inspiring endurance. She became an ambassador for open, connected landscapes.
PHOTO: Roughly 80 people armed with gloves and wire cutters descended on BLM land near Cody to remove three miles — roughly 4,000 pounds — of obsolete barbed-wire fence. The event, chronicled in this photo essay, was organized by Absaroka Fence Initiative.
NEWS: Yellowstone National Park’s record-shattering '21 visitation year didn’t really happen. Closed accommodations caused people to pass through park gates more frequently, fouling up the people-counting methodology and overcounting tourists by nearly 1M.
ICYMI: After national coverage raised questions about WY’s controversial LLC privacy laws, lawmakers chose to keep the status quo. Now, attorneys in an ID lawsuit say anti-govt activist Ammon Bundy is using those laws to shield his assets from the court.
An incident involving a Wyoming wolf that was allegedly taken captive, tormented, and then killed is fueling calls for big policy changes.
Our wildlife and natural resources reporter
@Koshywrites
has more. 👇
Read more ➡️
PHOTO: Stranded on a coal train amid arctic temps & a "sea of snow," locomotive engineer Alan Nash sent a drone skyward to capture images of an eerie winterscape. A prolific photographer of the Powder River Basin, Nash's work is now on exhibit in Gillette.
Laramie high school student Torrin Hermann photographed a serene reflection of Medicine Bow Peak in Lake Marie on an August afternoon. The image won her first place in the Nature Conservancy of Wyoming’s student photography contest.
We're thrilled to announce
@joshwolfson
will be joining WyoFile in late June as our new managing editor! Josh's decades of Wyoming journalism experience will expand our ability to cover the wide-ranging and complex issues of our vast state. Join us in welcoming him to the team!
A federal appeals judge Tuesday suggested Congress clearly meant for the public to access federal property in the checkerboard pattern of land ownership in Wyoming as he queried attorneys in a highly watched corner-crossing trespass case in Denver.
Wyoming will use a $24 million federal grant — the largest amount awarded — to build wildlife crossings and fencing along a 30-mile stretch of Highway 189 south of Kemmerer.
UPDATE — Judge Melissa Owens scheduled an emergency hearing for 1 p.m. March 22 to hear arguments regarding a proposed temporary restraining order that would block implementation and enforcement of Wyoming’s 2023 abortion-ban law.
OPINION: What would Wyoming's top Republicans have done, columnist Drake asks, if a jury had acquitted former Pres. Donald Trump on 34 felony charges? They'd probably shout hooray for the rule of law, and praise the judicial system they now loudly condemn.
🚨 BREAKING:
@BLMNational
and
@BLMWyoming
move to end future
#coal
leasing in the prolific Powder River Basin in Wyoming and Montana.
The historic move will face legal challenges, but could signal the end to one of Wyoming's biggest revenue sources.
NEWS: Patagonia, the sportswear brand that’s built a rep on outdoor athleticism & environmental activism, will no longer supply Jackson Hole Mountain Resort with its products after a resort owner hosted a fundraiser for the right-wing House Freedom Caucus.
A game warden spotted this sight — the fleeting imprint left in the snow by an eagle as it took flight — while investigating a deer mortality near Kaycee.
Two Wyoming legal battles with far-reaching implications will share a court date tomorrow when both are heard in the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Oral arguments are set for the corner-crossing case and a UW sorority admitting a transgender woman.
Stay tuned tomorrow!👇👀
Longtime public lands advocate Barbara Parsons laments that not all those who use Wyoming’s unique landscapes for recreation are stepping up to fight back against environmentally detrimental policies and development.
During his campaign,
@WyomingSOS
Chuck Gray sponsored showings of a film that alleged widespread voter fraud in swing states. But the nonprofit whose claims the film was based on admitted it has no evidence.
This incredible Wyoming traffic jam — spotted recently between Kemmerer and La Barge — is a friendly reminder to watch for wildlife while traveling Wyoming’s highways.
WyoFile wins 21 journalism awards for excellence from Top of the Rockies and Best of the West. "“This was a news outlet serving as the watchful eyes and ears of a community and state,” one judge wrote.
BREAKING: A push by Wyoming’s far right to convene a special legislative session to override gubernatorial vetoes officially failed Sunday evening after lawmakers voted against returning to Cheyenne.
FEATURE: After making history as the first openly transgender woman to join a sorority at the University of Wyoming, Artemis Langford became the center of a right-wing, national media blitz. Now, she’s speaking for herself.
@AnthonyBouchard
As a sceptic, I’m not inclined to credit someone who impregnated a 14-year-old's definition of child abuse. But as a journalist, I hold WyoFile to a rigorous ethical standard. Which is why you won’t find any advocacy in that article, only valid verifiable, information. ...
Passionate parleys over public lands, winter in its beauty and brutality, as well as bears, bumblebees and barred owls — at the outset of 2024 WyoFile looks back at the photographs that defined 2023.
🚨 BREAKING: The University of Wyoming is closing its Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, but its staff will be reassigned and many of its programs will continue on.
Story to follow soon at .
OP-ED: U.S. Rep.-elect Harriet Hageman hasn’t been sworn in yet, but it’s already clear that she hitched her wagon to the wrong jackass, Drake opines. Cheney, by contrast, lost the election, but retained her honor and integrity, he writes.
Hundreds of people gathered in Laramie this week to protest the killing of George Floyd in what have been peaceful events. They join protests in places like Cheyenne, Casper and Riverton.
NEWS: Forty-one Wyoming lawyers and retired judges are calling on the congressional candidate to stop spreading misinformation about the 2020 election. The group says making such demonstrably false statements violates Hageman’s oath of attorney.
WyoFile has acquired a photograph of a lynx in Wyoming, last seen in the Yellowstone region more than a decade ago. A
@WGFD
survey is underway that could find more of the wildcats.
@Koshywrites
has more 👇🐈
Read more ➡️
NEWS: Declaring that an OB-GYN doctor and a 22-week-pregnant woman “have the most compelling arguments,” a judge granted a temporary order blocking Wyo’s abortion ban. Wyoming women can get abortions, a state attorney argued unsuccessfully, just not here.
@AnthonyBouchard
If sharing information is “cult-like”, so be it. All are welcome in the "cult" of facts and civil discourse.” If you agree you can support that effort here: . Sincerely, Matthew Copeland, chief executive and editor, WyoFile
Wyo regulators voted to allow Aethon Energy to pump millions of gallons of pollutants into an underground aquifer near Shoshoni. It’s an irresponsible solution that pollutes one of Wyo’s most valuable resources, guest columnist Maria Katherman writes.
NEWS: Eastern Shoshone elders met with linguists this month to record language that will eventually be turned into an online dictionary. They recorded more than 4,000 words through the “rapid word collection process.”
Crowheart Butte peeks out from a blanket of freezing fog while the landscape glitters under a skein of frost. Thanksgiving week storms wreaked havoc on holiday traffic, but they also brought beautiful scenes like this one. Photo: Genie Copp
Strengthening tribal food sovereignty is happening on the Wind River Reservation through the reintroduction of buffalo, a renewed emphasis on traditional foods, recent investments in storage and an interrogation of a colonial past.
NEWS: Jonathan Schechter, a numbers wizard from Stanford and Yale and Jackson town councilor, identified five categories of voters that could put U.S. Rep. Liz
#Cheney
over the top in her primary campaign against Trump-backed challenger Harriet
#Hagemen
.
Photo Friday: The
@wyo_migrations
's new film, "Animal Trails: Rediscovering Grand Teton Migrations," reveals how ancient ungulate movements still lace together a complex ecosystem in and beyond the Greater Yellowstone Region.
OP-ED: By refusing to endorse Donald Trump’s third presidential bid and supporting a same-sex marriage bill, U.S. Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyoming) has thrown the state GOP a nasty curveball, Drake opines.
ICYMI: A new book of archival images by Encampment photographer Lora Webb Nichols is “the finest collection of Wyoming photography published this century,” according to reviewer Nate Martin. Webb’s story will be sadly familiar to today’s Wyoming women.
NEWS: Whistleblower list names Wyo GOP chair, others as Oath Keepers — Hacked documents allege that Frank Eathorne enrolled in the far-right anti-government extremist group, along with former gubernatorial candidate Dr. Taylor Haynes.
In their final year, Wyoming's Arapaho Charter High School seniors navigate academic frustrations, personal losses and hardships to reach diplomas.
@KlingspornKatie
followed a semester in the school to track their experiences. 👇
Read more ➡️
ICYMI: A WyoFile
#investigation
reveals that many
#Wyoming
elected officials, political candidates and party operatives personally accepted at least $3.6 million in federal relief subsidies even as many publicly condemned federal
#COVID
relief funding.
ICYMI: Wyoming’s track record helped secure the largest federal grant in a new program that will see mule deer and pronghorn wildlife-crossings built along a 30-mile stretch of Highway 189 south of Kemmerer.
.
@GovernorGordon
vetoed HB 125 Friday, writing that it violated "the separation of powers embodied in … our Wyoming Constitution."
If enacted, people could've concealed carry into places like schools.
Marches, vigils and protest rallies erupted in Wyoming towns big and small over the last week in reaction to the death of George Floyd. WyoFile captures the events in this photo essay featuring the work of photographers around the state.
Wyoming wildlife officials issued a terse statement about a wolf that was illegally taken captive and subjected to alleged abuses.
The state cited a statute to justify the brevity & ambiguity.
@Koshywrites
examines if it's a misrepresentation of the law.
It's
@WyoFile
's birthday! 🎉
Help us celebrate our "sweet 16" by joining our member community today. We owe our success to support from readers like you – pitch in today for accessible independent journalism for Wyoming! Donate now ➡️
OP-ED: Far-right groups like the Freedom Caucus are using lies and scare tactics to demonize a federal land management plan in southwest Wyoming, and to drown out the voices of reason. Stick to the facts, and let the best plan win, Drake opines.
The Cheyenne Roundup podcast crew —
@WyoFile
and
@WYPublicRadio
state government reporters — welcomed special guest
@butterbob
and a live audience for this extended overview of what turned out to be an unusual 2024 budget session.
#WyLeg
🎧 Listen ➡️
NEWS: With usage soaring on US public lands, the BLM unveiled an initiative aimed at improving access to acreage that is unreachable or challenging to reach. Director Tracy Stone-Manning talked to WyoFile about the program & other land management issues.
"The time has come for Wyoming to rise to the occasion and address the truth about the declining coal industry," writes Powder River Basin Resource Council Chairwoman Joyce Evans in an open letter to the the state's chief executive.
NEWS: Three lawsuits — and more might be coming — have crippled the Wyoming Republican Party’s ability to support state legislature candidates challenging Democrats and independents in the Nov. 8 general election.
Lander Valley High School's librarian Nate Shoutis resigned due to what he described as a climate of discrimination against LGBTQ+ students and censorship. His students, and many parents, feel they lost a caring, generous teacher and advocate.
If you end up stranded this winter, it’s the Wyoming Legislature, not Mother Nature, who’s to blame, a guest columnist writes. He says that’s because lawmakers have decided to squirrel away excess revenues, rather than pay plow drivers competitive wages.
ICYMI: Chief U.S. District Judge Scott Skavdahl dismisses most of the claims made by the owner of the Elk Mountain Ranch who said Missouri hunters trespassed when they stepped over a corner of his Carbon County ranch.
So, you've heard there might be a special session for the Wyoming Legislature.
#WyLeg
Maggie Mullen,
@WyoFile
's state government and politics reporter, gives us the low-down. Here's what we know so far. 👀👇
Read more ➡️
Rather than give into incendiary reactions to the BLM’s draft plan for the Red Desert, Wyoming should take a deep breath, look at the facts and engage in the process, guest columnist Martha Jenkins opines.
Wyoming’s DC delegation, governor, secretary of state and other top politicians questioned the conduct of the American justice system, not that of the nation’s first felon president, after a New York jury convicted Donald Trump on 34 charges.
Sheridan County residents applauded state officials Thursday after they rejected a land swap near Dayton that would have put state-owned mountain-front acreage in private hands.
BREAKING: Jackson Judge issues a temporary restraining order on medication abortion ban in Wyoming. Both medication and surgical abortions remain legal in Wyoming for now.
OP-ED: Thirty-four Wyoming lawyers, judges and legal educators — including three former governors and three retired Wyoming Supreme Court justices — condemn the events of Jan. 6, 2021 and applaud Rep. Liz Cheney’s defense of the Constitution.
Thousands of Wyoming residents could be surprised on Election Day when they show up to cast a ballot only to discover they’re no longer registered to vote. 🗳️
Here's how you can avoid that. 👇
Read more ➡️
Federal officials have rejected a request to pump Moneta Divide oilfield wastewater into the Madison aquifer, saying the aquifer could be used by the Wind River Indian Reservation.
When 19 coal workers were laid off recently, our guest columnist argues Wyoming politicians wrongly blamed the federal government rather than admit the state is unprepared for the fossil fuel’s unavoidable decline.
BREAKING: Could the state of Wyoming really put 640 acres located inside the boundaries of Grand Teton National Park up for public auction?
It’s a real possibility.
BREAKING: Wyoming’s widely unpopular auction of 640 acres within the borders of
@GrandTetonNPS
was suspended until fall 2024. In the meantime, the state will explore other options including a land swap with the feds.
The biggest news on WyoFile might be about WyoFile itself. The American Journalism Project, a news-supporting initiative, has selected WyoFile for its first round of granting. We are among 11 grantees from across the U.S. to receive major support.
🚨 BREAKING — Wyoming Supreme Court: Anti-abortion lawmakers, group can't intervene in lawsuit over bans
Justices found the three lacked standing to be allowed as direct parties to the suit.
Story to follow ⬇️
OPINION: The hard-line Freedom Caucus fills its ranks with relative newcomers to Wyoming.
But they would benefit from trying to understand our state before trying to remake it, columnist Susan Stubson writes.
#WyLeg
NEWS: Just minutes before Gov. Gordon on Wed. announced a plan to combat a federal mandate for large employers to either vaccinate or regularly test all workers for COVID-19, UW trustees directed administrators to budget for compliance with the directive.
NEWS: WyoFile won 26 awards in the 2022 Top of the Rockies journalism contest — more than any other “medium newsroom” publication in the four-state competition. Judges handed accolades to nearly a dozen WyoFile journalists.
PHOTO: As a longtime train engineer, Alan Nash has spent innumerable hours traveling the vast landscapes of Wyoming. That has given him a singular front-row seat as a photographer. He shares some of the best with WyoFile in this gallery.
BREAKING: Wyoming and other western states’ days of being in charge of wolverines are running short. An Endangered Species Act listing is coming soon, a federal assessment suggests.
NEWS: Hageman’s opponent in the race for Wyo’s U.S. House seat is planning months of intensive campaigning. WyoFile spoke with Democrat Lynnette Grey Bull, who said she’s undeterred by the long odds she faces in a Republican-dominated political landscape.
FEATURE: Republican Party Chairman Frank Eathorne's tenure coincides with a time of utter Republican dominance in Wyoming. His allies say he’s the best thing for the GOP in recent memory. Detractors call him the worst GOP chairman in the last 50 years.
Agencies, local governments and businesses are scrambling after a landslide carried away a 30-yard section of Highway 22 over Teton Pass on Friday night, closing the vital commuter route.
BREAKING: Taking on the federal government in court is not the job of lawmakers,
@GovernorGordon
wrote in his veto of legislation to earmark $75 million for the Legislature to sue over federal land use plans.
#WyLeg
PHOTO: World famous Grizzly 399 delighted onlookers when she was spotted roadside in Grand Teton National Park on May 16, 2023 with a lone cub in tow. WyoFile celebrates the 27-year-old sow with images of her new offspring.
Weekend read: Legendary Wyo journalist Joan Barron recently became the first reporter ever inducted in the Wyoming Press Association Hall of Fame — and deservedly so, according to columnist and former colleague Kerry Drake.
How and when Wyoming residents can vote will look different this year. And a new deadline is fast approaching. Here's what you need to know. 🗳️👇
Read more ➡️
BREAKING NEWS: A seven-member Carbon County jury ruled Friday that four Missouri hunters are not guilty of criminal trespass, or trespass to hunt, for corner crossing past Elk Mountain Ranch in 2021. Complete report to come.
NEWS: When Alan Simpson and Norman Mineta met as Boy Scouts in the Heart Mountain internment camp during World War II, they became fast friends, and went on to work across the aisle in Congress despite deep differences. A new project will tell their story.
The University of Wyoming earns more than $1 million each year from lands taken from Native American tribes and gifted to the state.
What that means for the school's moral, ethical, and legal responsibilities to Native students is the subject of debate.
WyoFile has acquired a photograph of a lynx in Wyoming, last seen in the Yellowstone region more than a decade ago. A
@WGFD
survey is underway that could find more of the wildcats.
A federal judge on Friday dismissed a civil lawsuit against Kappa Kappa Gamma and the first openly transgender woman to join a sorority at the University of Wyoming.
ICYMI: An expert witness in a lawsuit against hunters accused of passing through airspace above Elk Mtn Ranch says the ability to restrict access to public land is baked into private land values and that ranches are worth less if corner crossing is legal.
ICYMI: Wyo legal scholars and pro-abortion-access groups say a 2012 constitutional amendment ensuring Wyoming residents’ right to make their own health care decisions could block the state’s abortion ban. The theory has yet to be tested in court.