Willow Belden

A fire near Woods Landing in southeast Wyoming has burned 7,000 acres, and hundreds of residents are being asked to evacuate.

The fire has more than tripled in size since this morning. Albany County Sheriff Dave O’Malley says fire officials tell him they’ve never seen fires spread this fast.

“The moisture level is such that it’s low enough that even green grass burns like dry grass," O'Malley said. "In some situations, the fire has moved as fast as five miles in one hour.”

Susan G. Komen for the Cure and GE are sending a mobile mammography van around Wyoming to provide breast cancer screening to women in rural areas.

Komen’s Vice President of Community Health Lynn Erdman says Wyoming women are less likely to get mammograms than women in almost any other state. She says the mammography van is meant to provide screening to women who lack access to healthcare facilities, or who can’t afford screening.

A new 7 million dollar project is aimed at improving heart attack care in Wyoming.

The effort is being funded by the American Heart Association and the Leona and Harry Helmsley Charitable Trust. The goal is to better equipWyoming ambulances to diagnose the most deadly heart attacks. It will also provide training for EMS and hospital personnel.

Gordon Tommaselli is the national president of the American Heart Association. He says time is of the essence with heart attack patients.

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Sage grouse have been dying out in Wyoming and across the west for years, and the bird is being considered for endangered species listing. As a result, Wyoming has made a major push to preserve prime sage grouse habitat. But recently, scientists have been warning that conservation may not be enough. Studies have recommended that in addition to protecting habitat that’s still intact, the state needs to restore areas that have been disturbed. So now, a variety of agencies are working to come up with a plan for large-scale restoration. Wyoming Public Radio’s Willow Belden reports.

As we’ve just heard, there’s a lot of concern over declining sage grouse numbers. And a lot of effort is going into keeping the birds from being included on the endangered species list. Part of that effort involves studying which aspects of human activity are most problematic. A new study published in the journal Conservation Biology examines how human-made noise – particularly the noise associated with gas development – affects sage grouse. We’re joined now by Jessica Blickley, one of the authors of the report.

Laramie resident Mark Jenkins recently returned to Wyoming after climbing Mount Everest. Jenkins is a travel writer for Outside Magazine and a contributor to National Geographic … and he joins us now to discuss his experience. He says Everest expeditions are long -- typically two months or even longer.

Fire managers in the Jackson area have raised the fire danger rating to “high” for Teton County, the Bridger-Teton National Forest and Grand Teton National Park.

National Park spokesperson Jackie Skaggs says the rating is based on a combination of high temperatures, high winds, low humidity and low moisture content in plants. She says campers need to be exceptionally careful with cigarettes, camp stoves and camp fires.

The Wyoming Department of Transportation would lose money for airports, under the governor’s proposed eight-percent budget cuts.

WYDOT Budget Officer Kevin Hibbard says they would have to cut funding for airport improvements and airline service.

“There would probably be a reduction in some commercial air service in local Wyoming communities,” Hibbard said. “And also I think that a backlog of projects would take place for the airport improvements.”

A group called Protection and Advocacy, which advocates for people with disabilities, has sent a letter to Wyoming, expressing concern over potential budget cuts for developmental disabilities.

Gov. Matt Mead has called for all agencies to prepare for 8 percent budget cuts. The Department of Health has not yet specified what it would cut, but Protection and Advocacy CEO Jeanne Thobro says she’s concerned that Wyomingites with developmental disabilities could lose vital services.

Many are optimistic that Wyoming’s Uranium Industry will grow

Crews have made big progress in fighting a wildfire at Guernsey State Park in southeast Wyoming.  Saturday at Guernsey State Park. Residents who evacuated from Hartville and Guernsey are now allowed to return to their homes. Guernsey State Park remains closed to visitors, though park officials will be escorting interested parties to their cabins or private property. Community members interested in hearing more about the fire operations are invited to attend a meeting at 7 p.m. tonight at Guernsey Sunrise School.

Crews battling the wildfire near Wheatland are bracing for high winds tomorrow/Saturday.

Fire information officer Beth Hermanson says yesterday’s storms dumped rain on parts of the fire, but that didn’t help much overall. And she says the weather forecast for tomorrow doesn’t look promising.

“The National Weather Service has told us that we will more than likely see high winds on our fire – possibly up to seventy miles an hour,” Hermanson said. “So fire fighters today are strengthening the lines in preparation for that event.”

Wyoming’s delegation opposes increasing the debt limit

Wyoming’s new occupational epidemiologist is Mack Sewell. He’s tasked with helping the state improve workplace safety. That’s been a topic of discussion for some time, since Wyoming has one of the highest rates of workplace deaths in the nation.  Sewell is currently the state epidemiologist in New Mexico, and he says there, he’s worked extensively on issues such as infectious diseases and drunk driving. He tells Willow Belden that he’s not sure yet what will be first on his agenda here in Wyoming.

Mule deer have been dying off in parts of Wyoming for some time. But until recently, it was unclear how acute the problem was. That’s because the Game and Fish Department wasn’t getting an accurate count of how many deer there were. Now, the agency is trying out a new method for estimating deer populations. It’s much more expensive … but officials say it’s worth the cost because it will help them maintain a healthy deer population. Wyoming Public Radio’s Willow Belden reports.

It’s tough to say exactly how fast the mule deer population in the Platte Valley is declining. But we know it IS declining – and whatever the rate, it’s substantial. One of the reasons the animals are dying off is that their habitat is deteriorating. So now, the Game and Fish Department is trying to come up with a plan for restoring it.  Tom Ryder, assistant chief of the wildlife division at Game and Fish speaks with Wyoming Public Radio’s Willow Belden.

Wyoming’s new state epidemiologist, Mack Sewell, says he plans to look at seatbelt enforcement as a means to improve workplace safety.

In 2010, the state had the second highest rate of workplace deaths in the nation.  In fact, Wyoming traditionally ranks near the top in this category. Sewell will be specifically asked to study workplace injuries and deaths, and then work with lawmakers to try to address the problem. 

He says there’s a lot he still needs to learn about Wyoming’s situation, but he says seatbelts are an easy place to start.

The Wyoming Department of Agriculture is proposing new rules for certain produce, eggs and milk.

Linda Stratton of  consumer health services in the department says the biggest change involves leafy greens.

“In an establishment where they are cutting and chopping leafy cut greens, they will have to keep those under refrigeration. They can’t sit out for more than four hours and that type of thing.”

The environmental group American Rivers has included two Wyoming waterways in its list of the top 10 endangered rivers in the U.S. The group chooses rivers that it believes would be significantly harmed by proposed development or other activities.

The two waterways in the state are the Green River in southeastern Wyoming and the Hoback River near Jackson.

Wyoming strives to curb ozone levels to meet federal mandate

Sublette County is home to two of Wyoming’s major oil and gas fields … and emissions from the energy production have caused smog to form – a type of smog called ozone. Ground-level ozone can cause and exacerbate respiratory problems. It’s also a problem for legal reasons: ozone levels in Sublette County have exceeded federal limits several times in the past few years. Now, the Environmental Protection Agency is stepping in. It’s designating Sublette County a “nonattainment area,” which means Wyoming is obligated to fix the problem.

The Wyoming Community Development Authority is encouraging people to buy houses – especially if they’ve never owned a home before. They’re launching a campaign called “Buy Now” – putting up flyers in real estate offices, and offering classes to help first-time buyers navigate the process of purchasing a home. The group’s executive director, David Haney, talks with Willow Belden about the initiative. He says conditions are excellent for buyers at the moment.

Lee Hackleman is a water supply specialist with the Natural Resources Conservation Service. He speaks with Willow Belden about what the warm, dry spring means for Wyoming. He says the snowpack has gotten extremely low, which will make for a tough year.

The Natural Resources Conservation Service is warning that the warm, dry weather this spring could drive up winter hay prices.

Wyoming’s snowpack is less than 30 percent of average, and Water Supply Specialist Lee Hackleman says farmers who get their water by diverting streams and rivers will be left high and dry.

“There’ll be a lot of people who will probably get their first cutting irrigated but won’t have any water for their second cutting,”
Hackleman said. “So there’s liable to be a hay shortage again this winter.”

The Wyoming Community Development Authority is encouraging people to buy houses – especially if they’ve never owned a home before. Executive Director David Haney says conditions are favorable for buyers at the moment.

“Interest rates are as low as they have ever been,” Haney said. “Prices have pretty much stabilized throughout most of Wyoming. And so the combination of both those things makes for a really terrific time to buy.”

More than half of the public lands in the continental U.S. that have been leased to oil and gas companies are not actually being drilled, according to a report by the Department of the Interior.

Bruce Hinchey of the Petroleum Association of Wyoming says that’s because there are so many hoops that oil and gas companies have to jump through. He says it often takes over a year to get a permit to drill. And Environmental Impact Statements, which are required for large-scale energy development, take even longer.

Laramie-based author Alyson Hagy just published a new novel called “Boleto.” It takes place in rural Wyoming and tells the story of a young man who seeks to make a name for himself by training a beautiful young horse. But Hagy says you don’t have to be a horse lover to appreciate the book.

Election year politics are derailing efforts to improve Wyoming’s economy.
President Obama is chiding Congress for not acting on his slimmed down plan to spur economic growth in Wyoming and elsewhere. Matt Laslo reports from Washington that election year politicking is expected to derail this latest effort to get the economy moving.

We tend to think about scanning and printing as something that you do with pieces of paper – two dimensional objects. But now, a geological museum in Wyoming is scanning and printing things in 3D. They’re using 3D scanners and printers to make plastic replicas of dinosaur bones and other fossils, which can help with research and make collections accessible to scientists and museum goers around the world. Wyoming Public Radio’s Willow Belden went to Casper and filed this report.