by Calla Shosh, WyoFile If you’ve been hiking or hunting in Wyoming, you’ve likely come across no trespassing signs. But sometimes what lies beyond those signs isn’t actually private property. Instead, it’s public land, which should be legally accessible to all. It’s a frequent enough occurrence in Wyoming that lawmakers took action last year to discourage […]
Outdoors
Posted inLatest News
Casper still accepting trails ideas for Natrona County
CASPER, Wyo. — People can offer their suggestions for non-motorized trails in and around Casper until July 8, according to a news release from the city. The city conducted a charrette — a planning exercise — on June 6 for residents and land managers to share ideas, discuss issues and help determine priorities for trails. […]
Posted inWyoming
Yellowstone National Park sees more than 522K visitors in May
MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS, Wyo. — Yellowstone National Park hosted 522,450 recreational visitors in May, a sign that the park is entering its busy summer months. The park’s May numbers are up 15% from May 2023, when 454,262 visitors went to Yellowstone. So far in 2024, the park has hosted 719,127 recreation visits, up 11% from […]
Posted inNational Park
White bison calf born in Yellowstone
CASPER, Wyo. — After multiple credible sightings, Yellowstone National Park staff have confirmed that a white bison calf was born in Yellowstone National Park’s Lamar Valley on June 4, according to a park release. According to the release, Yellowstone’s Center for Resources Bison Management Team has been sent multiple photos of the calf from visitors, […]
Posted inAnimals
A Wyoming mule deer herd is so riddled with CWD it could nearly vanish
by Mike Koshmrl, WyoFile WIND RIVER VALLEY—Biologists Tucker Russell and Rene Schell stopped in their tracks. Spooked out of a daybed, a mule deer doe sprung to her feet. She bounded up a gentle, grassy slope amid badlands-like rock formations overlooking the Wind River, then froze, staring right back. But Russell, with the University of Wyoming, […]
Posted inOutdoors
Small fry: Young anglers get a taste for fishing
By Dustin Bleizeffer There’s nothing quite like a child’s joy at catching a fish, and there were a lot of smiles on display at Yesness Park in Casper earlier this month. More than 148 kids cast fishing lines into the Yesness pond on June 1 to angle for bluegill, trout and bullheads — part of several […]
Posted inState Government
Wyoming and Utah sue feds to halt controversial ‘conservation rule’
by Dustin Bleizeffer, WyoFile The U.S. Bureau of Land Management sidestepped the National Environmental Policy Act in issuing its new “conservation rule,” a “sea change” in federal land management that threatens wildlife, landscape health and economies reliant on some 245 million acres of BLM-managed lands across the nation, a lawsuit filed this week by Wyoming and […]
Posted inWyoming
To prevent private development on state land, Teton County closes in on recreation lease
By Mike Koshmrl JACKSON, Wyo. — Naysayers were nowhere to be found Thursday in the Teton County commissioners’ chambers, where residents showered praise on a plan to lease a 640-acre swath of state land on Munger Mountain to keep it open to the public and undeveloped. The occasion was a hearing of the Wyoming Office of […]
Posted inWyoming
Feds signal deference to Wyoming, dilution of protections, on migration routes
By Mike Koshmrl In an apparent response to pressure from Wyoming officials, federal land managers are stepping back from outright preservation of ungulate migration corridors and toward the state’s policy, which is more permissive of development. The Bureau of Land Management last year proposed protecting the state’s first officially designated, and perhaps best known, migration corridor as […]
Posted inOutdoors
New Alcova Resort expected to open this summer
CASPER, Wyo. — Construction on the new Alcova Resort Marina is underway, and one owner says they are aiming to be open this summer. “They felt the urgency and wanted to get it done for the community,” said co-owner Russ Mason, who was spending Tuesday, like most days, working on the site. The marina burned […]
Posted inWyoming
Yellowstone fire danger now moderate
CASPER, Wyo. — Yellowstone National Park has updated the area’s fire danger status to moderate, according to a park release. In the release, the park announced that there is only one current wildland fire in the park: the Milepost 17 fire, which is controlled and has little heat left in the lightning-ignited tree. Despite the […]
Posted inCrime
Man gets jail, two-year park ban for approaching Yellowstone’s Steamboat Geyser
CASPER, Wyo. — A Washington man got a seven-day jail sentence and a two-year ban from Yellowstone National Park for going off the boardwalk and coming within 20 feet of Steamboat Geyser’s steam vent, according to a release Thursday by the U.S. Justice Department. “Trespassing in closed, thermal areas of Yellowstone National Park is dangerous […]
Posted inOutdoors
Resident-only wild bison license raffle deadline June 14
By Breanna Ball, Wyoming Game and Fish Department CASPER, Wyo. — The deadline is nearing to buy a raffle ticket to win a wild bison license, donated by Gov. Mark Gordon. The license will be issued through a random raffle open only to Wyoming residents. Tickets are $10, and can be purchased on the Wyoming Game […]
Posted inAnimals
Rare wildcat documented in Yellowstone region for first time in decade
By Mike Koshmrl WyoFile has acquired a photograph of a lynx in Wyoming, a landmark observation of a species currently considered absent from the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Star Valley resident Jason Reinhardt, an avid houndsman, came across the animal while mountain lion hunting the southern Gros Ventre Range in February 2022. There was no doubt in his […]
Posted inCommunity
Second annual Wyoming Walks series to host 4 walks around Casper area throughout summer
CASPER, Wyo. — Wyoming Walks has announced the dates and locations for the second year of its summer walking series, during which participants can walk as a group alongside knowledgeable experts to learn about different parts of Natrona County. The first event of the series is scheduled for Monday, June 17. The organization describes its […]
Posted inCourt
An internationally acclaimed Jackson Hole photographer is spending big to fight ‘bear-jam’ ticket
by Mike Koshmrl, WyoFile JACKSON—Assistant U.S. Attorney Ariel Calmes used the word “outlandish” in closing arguments to describe Tom Mangelsen’s response to a minor traffic violation. “This is a whole lot of work for probably a $150 ticket,” Calmes told U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Carman during a bench trial in the Clifford P. Hansen Courthouse last […]
Posted inWyoming
Wyoming could be facing another year of above-average West Nile Virus cases; Weed and Pest offers prevention advice
CASPER, Wyo. — Following the worst year for West Nile Virus in Wyoming since 2013, the Wyoming Weed and Pest Council is extending a series of tips to all Wyoming residents on how to reduce their chances of contracting this rare disease in preparation for what could be another active year. According to the Wyoming […]
Posted inOutdoors
Managed public hunting now accessible in 6,600-acre area between Casper, Laramie
CASPER, Wyo. — Following a decade-long project to open up public hunting access to a growing wildlife habitat, 6,600 acres of combined public and private land are officially conserved and accessible for elk hunting, according to a release from the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. A collaborative effort between the RMEF, the Wyoming Game and Fish […]
Posted inWyoming
Yellowstone visitor gored by bison
MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS, Wyo. — An 83-year-old South Carolina woman was gored by a bison at Yellowstone National Park on June 1. The bison, which was reportedly defending its space, came within a few feet of the woman and lifted her about a foot off the ground with its horns, park personnel say. The woman […]
Posted inWyoming
Wyoming wildfire outlook: average, with lots of brush to burn
By Madelyn Beck Wyoming faces an “average-to-normal” wildfire season forecast, state leaders and fire officials revealed Friday at an interagency briefing in Cheyenne. “Northern Wyoming is currently the driest area in the state, and it is expected that northcentral Wyoming will have drought conditions probably … throughout the summer,” State Forester Kelly Norris said. “As summer […]
Posted inWyoming
Could Wyoming water get piped to Colorado? A decades-old plan resurfaces
By Mike Koshmrl A gas exploration company with Florida ties is pursuing plans to pull groundwater out of existing coalbed methane wells in southern Wyoming, then pipe it into the lower reaches of the water-stressed Colorado River Basin. The project was formally initiated in December, when the State Engineer’s Office received 21 groundwater test well applications from Mark Dolar […]
Posted inOutdoors
Summer, wildflowers unfurl across Wyoming
By Katie Klingsporn As temperatures warm the landscape and rivers rush with runoff, wildflowers unfurl across Wyoming’s sage hills, river bottoms and forest floors. Out come Pasque flowers, their pale bell-like blossoms iconic symbols of late spring. Up pop prairie bluebells, periwinkle buds dripping from their stems. The sophisticated spikes of delphiniums, the soft purple cones […]
Posted inOutdoors
Haze of controversy: EPA must force stricter air quality controls in Wyoming, conservation groups say
by Dustin Bleizeffer, WyoFile After sparring in court over the first 10-year phase of the Regional Haze Program, state and federal regulators — along with environmental groups and industrial polluters — are preparing for battle in the next phase of the effort that is intended to gradually restore “natural visibility” at some 156 national parks and wilderness […]