Wyoming
$10M Wyoming Shooting Complex To Be Built South Of Cody
More than 2,000 acres about 7 miles south of Cody has been chosen as the site for a $10 million Wyoming state shooting complex, but the lead won’t start flying there until 2026.
“The site has lots of topography and opportunity for shooting events (and) for shooting on steep slopes and across canyons,” state Sen. Larry Hicks, R-Baggs, told Cowboy State Daily on Tuesday.
Hicks co-sponsored a bill with the 2023 Legislature authorizing the money for the shooting complex. That bill also authorized the creation of a task force to oversee site selection, which has been ongoing this year.
The task force, which Hicks co-chairs, voted Monday to approve the Park County site, he said, beating out a proposal from Campbell County.
Won’t Open Until At Least 2026
Nine Wyoming communities entered a competitive race for the shooting complex, and Park County and Campbell County were announced as the two finalists last month.
The $10 million for the shooting complex was set aside in a special fund that can’t be touched until the Legislature says so.
The money includes $5 million from the state’s general fund, $2.5 million from the Wyoming Game and Fish Department and $2.5 million from the Wyoming Office of Tourism.
If all goes as planned, the Legislature will release the money and greenlight the project in Park County during its 2025 session, Hicks said.
Then construction could begin at the site by spring 2025, he said. Park County has earmarked 2,036 acres about 7.5 miles south of Cody along Highway 120, also known as the Meeteetse Highway.
There could be a ribbon cutting and first shooting events at the new complex during the spring or early summer 2026, Hicks said.
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Park County has won a competive process to be home to a new $10 million Wyoming state shooting complex. It will be built on land about 7 miles south of Cody oaff Highway 120. (Andrew Rossi, Cowboy State Daily) -
Park County has won a competive process to be home to a new $10 million Wyoming state shooting complex. It will be built on land about 7 miles south of Cody oaff Highway 120. (Andrew Rossi, Cowboy State Daily)
The Draw Of Cody Sealed The Deal
Park and Cambell counties both had excellent proposals, members of the task force said, according to a video recording of Monday’s meeting.
But Cody’s existing draw as a premier tourist destination tipped the scales.
“The draw is what smoked Gillette,” said task force member Dave Glenn, who is director of Wyoming State Parks and Cultural Resources.
That’s despite Campell County having better available infrastructure, he added.
However, there’s some concern that people coming to Park County for shooting competitions won’t visit other parts of Wyoming, said task force member Nish Goicolea.
Part of the intent of bringing a world-class competitive shooting complex to Wyoming was to draw visitors to other areas of the state, added Goicolea, who is the communications and education chief for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department.
“I think if you bring people to Campbell County, they will end up in Park County at the end of the day. If you being them to Park County they won’t end up in Campbell County,” she said.
Making Wyoming A Regional Draw
From the beginning, Hicks and other boosters of the shooting complex have noted that several other neighboring states, such as Colorado and South Dakota, have expansive, multimillion-dollar shooting facilities.
Far from being mere target ranges, they attract top-tier national and international shooting competitions, which bring in some serious money.
With Wyoming’s reputation as a Second Amendment-friendly state, it only makes sense for the Cowboy State to have a shooting complex. And Wyoming’s facility should rival, and perhaps out-class, others in the region, Hicks and other boosters have argued.
The vision for the Wyoming state shooting complex includes ranges for a huge variety of shooting sports, such as extreme long-range rifle, pistols, tactical shooting competitions, shotgun sports, archery and more.
Contact Mark Heinz at mark@cowboystatedaily.com
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
CASPER, Wyo. — High school athletics in Wyoming could see some drastic changes in the coming years following legislative changes to the state’s education budget, the Wyoming High School Activities Association recently announced in a statement.
According to the WHSAA, Wyoming school districts are facing a projected $3.9 million shortfall in activities funding, forcing officials to consider significant cuts to high school sports and extracurricular programs.
The WHSAA shared details regarding a new “silo” funding model implemented by the Legislature, stating that the recalibrated block grant model reduced funding for student activities and extra-duty responsibilities from $46.3 million to $42.4 million, an approximately 8.4% decrease statewide.
WHSAA Commissioner Trevor Wilson said the restructuring also restricts district access to an additional $76.2 million in previously flexible funding.
“A significant portion of the [April 28 WHSAA Board of Directors] meeting was dedicated to discussing the projected funding shortfall,” Wilson wrote.
The WHSAA is weighing several strategies to address rising costs with fewer resources. Proposed changes include eliminating regional tournaments and reducing the number of teams qualifying for state events from eight to four; limiting wrestling to two classes and restricting track and field state participants to the top 16 marks; making cuts to soccer, indoor track and field, Nordic and Alpine skiing, swimming and diving, spring golf and tennis; and reducing in-person speech and debate events by half and centrally locating All-State Music events to minimize travel. The board also recommended increasing gate admission or implementing student participation fees to offset costs.
While the WHSAA release states that no plans have been finalized and the various changes are currently just possibilities, Natrona County School District 1 Board of Trustees member Mary Schmidt criticized the WHSAA’s handling of the news at Monday’s board meeting.
“I take some issues with this, [including] the sheer fact that we as Board of Trustees members have not talked about that at all,” Schmidt said. “It is not our intent and it has not been brought to us to cut our athletics or activities budget for the upcoming school year. … I take issue with them picking sports and getting the community upset and ginning them up to be upset that this is all going to be cut when that hasn’t been discussed.”
Later in the meeting, Superintendent Angela Hensley clarified that Natrona County School District 1’s athletics and activities budget saw a reduction of roughly $550,000 in the coming year’s budget, but said the local school district does not plan to cut any sports.
“Thank you, Trustee Schmidt, for saying this, because I think people are wondering — we are not planning to cut athletics and activities for next year,” Hensley said. “We do have to take a look at our entire budget as we have talked about, as we learn more about these new rules that come in.”
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Republished with permission from Wyoming News Now, a TV news outlet covering the Cheyenne and Casper areas.
Cheyenne City Council has introduced a temporary moratorium, or pause, on new data center construction.
“The end goal is to actually have regulations in place, to have really heavy public involvement with this with data centers,” said Councilman Mark Moody.
The proposed ordinance is not a permanent ban on data centers and would not affect data centers currently under construction.
Councilman Moody says this is a bipartisan issue.
“I just want to make this clear, I’m not against data centers. We do need them from a national security perspective,” he said.
He said there needs to be more public input and regulations regarding data centers in Cheyenne.
The ordinance would require city staff to study data center impacts such as electricity usage, electricity tariffs, closed-loop cooling systems, groundwater impacts, agricultural impacts, and land value.
Cheyenne LEADS, the economic development corporation for Cheyenne and Laramie County, reported in November 2025 that there are 12 operational data centers in Wyoming, five under construction and plans for 43 data centers announced across the state.
“There needs to be more public input with this, and also to see how many we can sustain here in this community, cause there are talks of 43, and then another day 70. How many can we sustain here?” said Councilman Moody.
The proposed moratorium will now go to the Public Services Committee on Monday, May 18 at noon in the Municipal Building.
Sheridan will play in the North Regional Tournament at Gillette, while the South Regional Tournament will be played at Rock Springs.
North Regional Tournament at Gillette:
Checking record vs. highest team in the quadrant not involved in the tie, Thunder Basin gets the #1 Northeast seed over Campbell County, because the Lady Bolts went 3-1 vs. Sheridan, whereas the Lady Camels went 2-2.
Friday, May 15th:
(#1 NE) Thunder Basin vs. (#4 NW) Jackson – 11am
(#2 NW) Natrona County vs. (#3 NE) Sheridan – 11am
(#2 NE) Campbell County vs. (#3 NW) Kelly Walsh – 1pm
(#1 NW) Cody vs. (#4 NE) Worland – 1pm
Semi-Finals:
Thunder Basin/Jackson winner vs. Natrona County/Sheridan winner – 3pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Campbell County/Kelly Walsh winner vs. Cody/Worland winner – 5pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Consolation Round:
Thunder Basin/Jackson loser vs. Natrona County/Sheridan loser – 3pm LOSER OUT!
Campbell County/Kelly Walsh loser vs. Cody/Worland loser – 5pm LOSER OUT!
Saturday, May 16th:
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
2 10am winners vs. each other – 1pm 3rd Place
TBA vs. TBA – 1pm 1st Place
South Regional Tournament at Rock Springs:
Friday, May 15th:
(#1 SW) Laramie vs. (#4 SE) Torrington – 11am
(#2 SE) Cheyenne East vs. (#3 SW) Green River – 11am
(#2 SW) Rock Springs vs. (#3 SE) Wheatland – 1pm
(#1 SE) Cheyenne Central vs. (#4 SW) Cheyenne South – 1pm
Semi-Finals:
Laramie/Torrington winner vs. Cheyenne East/Green River winner – 3pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Rock Springs/Wheatland winner vs. Cheyenne Central/Cheyenne South winner – 5pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Consolation Round:
Laramie/Torrington loser vs. Cheyenne East/Green River loser – 3pm LOSER OUT!
Rock Springs/Wheatland loser vs. Cheyenne Central/Cheyenne South loser – 5pm LOSER OUT!
Saturday, May 16th:
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
2 10am winners vs. each other – 1pm 3rd Place
TBA vs. TBA – 1pm 1st Place
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