News

During its hearing today/Tuesday, the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission reaffirmed its earlier decision to grant Encana an exemption that permits them to pump produced water deep into the Madison aquifer. The injection well is located about 60 miles west of Casper.

The oil and gas development company asked for the exemption based on the Commission’s economic and technological impracticality criteria…which grants an exemption based on the idea that it’s impractical to use the aquifer for drinking water anyway.

During its hearing today/Tuesday, the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission reaffirmed its earlier decision to grant Encana an exemption that permits them to pump produced water deep into the Madison aquifer. The injection well is located about 60 miles west of Casper.

The oil and gas development company asked for the exemption based on the Commission’s economic and technological impracticality criteria…which grants an exemption based on the idea that it’s impractical to use the aquifer for drinking water anyway.

Gov. Matt Mead is telling communities in northwest Wyoming to go ahead and raise money to hire state snow plows to clear roads inside Yellowstone National Park.
 
     Spring plowing in Yellowstone is postponed due to federal budget cuts. Plowing was scheduled to begin March 4 but is delayed two weeks to save money.
 
     Business owners outside Yellowstone fret that Yellowstone won't fully open to automobiles until one to two weeks later than usual this May. Officials in Cody and Jackson have been discussing other options.
 

Gov. Matt Mead is telling communities in northwest Wyoming to go ahead and raise money to hire state snow plows to clear roads inside Yellowstone National Park.
 
     Spring plowing in Yellowstone is postponed due to federal budget cuts. Plowing was scheduled to begin March 4 but is delayed two weeks to save money.
 
     Business owners outside Yellowstone fret that Yellowstone won't fully open to automobiles until one to two weeks later than usual this May. Officials in Cody and Jackson have been discussing other options.
 

The National Weather Service says spring temperatures and precipitation should be near normal in Wyoming.

But Forecaster Paul Skrbac says that trend might not continue for the rest of the year.

“As we get into summer it looks like the odds increase that it’ll be a little warmer than normal,” Skrbac says, “and potentially a little dryer than normal.”

Skrbac says there’s still a chance that temperatures and precipitation could be average this summer, but it doesn’t look likely.

The National Weather Service says spring temperatures and precipitation should be near normal in Wyoming.

But Forecaster Paul Skrbac says that trend might not continue for the rest of the year.

“As we get into summer it looks like the odds increase that it’ll be a little warmer than normal,” Skrbac says, “and potentially a little dryer than normal.”

Skrbac says there’s still a chance that temperatures and precipitation could be average this summer, but it doesn’t look likely.

The National Weather Service says spring temperatures and precipitation should be near normal in Wyoming.

But Forecaster Paul Skrbac says that trend might not continue for the rest of the year.

“As we get into summer it looks like the odds increase that it’ll be a little warmer than normal,” Skrbac says, “and potentially a little dryer than normal.”

Skrbac says there’s still a chance that temperatures and precipitation could be average this summer, but it doesn’t look likely.

The Antelope Butte ski area in the Bighorn Mountains has been closed since 2004. Now, the Antelope Butte Foundation is raising money to reopen the ski-resort… this time as a nonprofit. The Foundation has applied for a Wyoming Business Council Grant to refurbish the resort. But the owner of the nearby Meadowlark Ski Lodge is worried that the competition could kill his business. Wyoming Public Radio’s Luke Hammons reports.

The Wyoming Game and Fish Department is proposing sweeping cuts to make up for an $8- to $10 million budget shortfall.

Game and Fish plans to reduce fish stocking by 20 percent, cancel its annual hunting and fishing expo, and cut educational programming for kids. Spokesman Eric Keszler says they’ll also reduce funding for research by about 50 percent, which he says would be a blow to wildlife managers.

“Research is a very important part of managing wildlife,” Keszler said. “Understanding how wildlife uses the habitat and things like that are very important.”

Governor Matt Mead is urging the Bureau of Land Management to select a preferred alternative plan for oil and gas development in Carbon and Sweetwater Counties.

The BLM’s 900-page Draft Environmental Impact Statement focuses on the proposed Continental Divide-Creston Natural Gas Development, or CD-C Project. 

Governor Mead says the project could create thousands of jobs, but he wants to make sure it’s done right. 

With federal departments already feeling the heat since across-the-board budget cuts took effect March 1st, Wyoming US Senator Mike Enzi says the mandatory cuts—known as the sequester—don’t go far enough.

The sequester, or automatic budget reduction across almost all federal programs, was meant to be an incentive for congress to reach an agreement on how to scale back the nation’s deficit. But the parties could not come to an agreement on how to achieve this and so now, those such as Yellowstone National Park Superintendent Dan Wenk are looking at cutting back on operations.

How do you think the federal sequestration will impact Wyoming?

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UW has officially started construction on the new Michael B. Enzi laboratory facility north of campus.

UW President Tom Buchanan says the building will host introductory courses in the sciences, technology, engineering and math.

“Every undergraduate student at UW will spend time learning, studying and advancing their education here in this facility. This is not an engineering facility, it’s not an arts and science facility, this will serve every undergraduate at UW,” says Buchanan.

One thing everyone is trying to get a grip on is how the federal sequester will impact Wyoming.  Anne Alexander is an economist at the University of Wyoming.  She joined Bob Beck in the studio to discuss this.

In the wake of the Newtown, Connecticut school shooting there’s been an increase in calls for gun control in Washington. Matt Laslo reports the Wyoming congressional delegation fears the entire debate is leaving out western issues.  

It’s been over a week since the Wyoming legislature wrapped up the 2013 session.  It was a session that many lawmakers called unusual, mainly due to the unexpected legislation that removed powers from State Superintendent of Public Instruction Cindy Hill.  The other surprise was that the interaction between legislators and the public got heated at times, especially during debate on gun bills.  Wyoming Public Radio’s Bob Beck spoke with a number of legislators about the session and has this report.

Gary Small and the Coyote Bros. have been nominated for ‘Artist of the Year’ and ‘Best World Music Album’ for the Native American Music Awards. Small is a Northern Cheyenne Indian, living in Sheridan, Wyoming. He says he plays everything from surf and rockabilly, to blues and zydeco, but he says this album is dedicated to telling Native American stories.

Doctor Robert Sternberg is the incoming President of the University of Wyoming.  Sternberg is a noted Psychologist who is currently the Provost at Oklahoma State University.  In other interviews Sternberg has made it clear that a key focus of his will be on improving academics at UW and he is also a big supporter of athletics.  Wyoming Public Radio’s Bob Beck asked him to talk about a few other issues.

A documentary about the construction of the transcontinental railroad is set to air on Wyoming PBS this weekend. The film will show how the building of the railroad shaped Wyoming into the place it is today. Wyoming Public Radio’s Willow Belden spoke with the film’s producer, Tom Manning. He says before the railroad was built, there was no Wyoming. The film, “End of Track,” premieres on PBS on March 10th at 7 p.m.

Mayors from communities surrounding Yellowstone National Park are asking the state of Wyoming to help pay for snow removal to help Yellowstone open its roads on time. 

Yellowstone officials say the snow removal has been delayed due to the federal sequestration.  But Governor Matt Mead says he has reservations about using state dollars to pay for federal obligations.    

An ethanol plant in Torrington has agreed to pay $49,000 in fines for violations regarding hazardous chemicals.

David Cobb with the Environmental Protection Agency says Wyoming Ethanol did not tell the public it was using large quantities of ammonia, and did not have adequate risk management plans for handling flammable mixtures. Both are violations of federal law.

Cobb says the chemicals in question are dangerous.

The U.S. Attorney’s office has decided not to file criminal charges against hunters who killed a grizzly bear in Grand Teton National Park last year.

The hunters were participating in the annual elk reduction program when they shot the bear. But Park Spokeswoman Jackie Skaggs says investigators determined that they acted in self defense after the grizzly charged them. She says the hunters did the right thing after the bear died.

Stakeholders in the Rocky Mountain region are in unanimous agreement about what needs to be done about invasive plant species. That’s according to a new study published in the journal Bioscience.

They are common invaders—cheat grass, leafy spurge, salt cedar, yellow toadflax and spotted knapweed. Project leader and UW professor Edward Barbier says that what sometimes begin as attractive lawn shrubs purchased from local nurseries can escape, and proliferate, taking over land, choking out native plants and providing less than ideal grazing material for livestock.

Team Jackson Hole, a team of cyclists out of Jackson, is sponsoring the showing of ‘Rising from Ashes,’ a documentary about genocide survivors in Rwanda who pursue their dream of a national cycling team. I spoke with Producer Dan Cooper and former professional cyclist Scott Nydam, who helped train the athletes, about what cycling means to Team Rwanda.

The movie will be shown on March 9th, at the Center for the Arts in Jackson, at 6 pm.  Cooper and Nydam will be there to answer questions.

Slash piles around the state are still intact in Wyoming, which is unusual. Slash piles are made of accumulated debris from clearing forests or trimming trees and typically by this time in the year, they’ve been burned.

The Fire Management Officer for the Wyoming State Forestry Division, Ron Graham, says they’ve started burning piles in the Casper Mountain, Muddy Mountain, and Black Hills area, but low snow pack has delayed the burning.

The incoming President of the University of Wyoming says he will be spending the next few months taking a close look at how he can help U-W advance.  Doctor Robert Sternberg says one of his first objectives will be to travel the state and receive public feedback about the University. 

Sternberg says his fresh perspective can bring new ideas to U-W, but he also plans to lean on people familiar with the University as he develops his ideas.  He says this was a successful approach at Oklahoma State University where he is the Provost.

Cheyenne Regional Airport could lose its air tower as a result of the federal sequester. The Federal Aviation Administration is losing funding for 100 towers nationwide, each of which serve airports with a limited number of flights.

David Haring is director of aviation at the airport. He says the airport will continue to operate… but losing the air tower is a big deal, because it’s an important safety tool.