Wyoming
Central Wyoming Bighorn Reintroduction All But Certain, Ranchers Still Not Happy
Despite some pushback during the recently completed legislative session, a bill paving the way to return bighorn sheep to central Wyoming’s Sweetwater Rocks area passed.
Senate File 118 is likely to be signed by Gov. Mark Gordon, said one of its sponsors, Rep. Cyrus Western, R-Big Horn.
The governor “certainly hasn’t given any indication that he has any misgivings about it,” Western told Cowboy State Daily on Monday.
Meanwhile, bills having to do with whitetail and mule deer management, and compensating ranchers for forage consumed by elk failed to pass.
Criticism Of Bighorn Sheep Bill
The Wyoming Farm Bureau criticized SF 118 as it was going through the legislature, arguing that it could have unintended consequences for ranchers with grazing leases on Bureau of Land Management allotments.
There’s worry that the federal government or anti-grazing advocates could use bighorns as leverage to push ranchers out.
The Farm Bureau still opposes reintroducing bighorns in the Sweetwater Rocks area without assurances at the federal level, spokesman Brett Moline told Cowboy State Daily on Monday.
“We can pound our chest all we want at the state level, but once that impact to grazing leases is there, it will be there, regardless of whether the bighorn sheep are still there,” he said.
Ideal Habitat
Some of the best bighorn sheep habitat in the Sweetwater Rocks area is on the Split Rock Ranch.
Ranch manager Billy Burton told Cowboy State Daily that he and others would like to see bighorn sheep reintroduced there. The Split Rock Ranch and the neighboring Pathfinder Ranch contain some of the best bighorn sheep habitat in the West, Burton said.
Bighorns once thrived there. By the early 20th century, the bighorn sheep were gone from Sweetwater Rocks because of overhunting and disease, according to the Wyoming Wild Sheep Foundation.
There has been talk of reintroducing bighorns there for decades, patterning it off other successful reintroductions around Wyoming.
“I think this bill is just the latest chapter in a plan that has been in the works for 20 years,” Western said. “The bighorn ram is such an incredibly iconic species.”
An ‘Olive Branch’ To Ranchers
However, other ranchers in the Sweetwater Rocks area aren’t keen on the idea. Rancher Troy Corbett said the he and many of his neighbors depend upon leases to graze domestic sheep and cattle on BLM ground, and worry about losing those grazing leases.
Bighorn sheep can be vulnerable to disease transmitted from domestic sheep. And that has led to grazing leases being shut down in other states.
To prevent that in Wyoming, the state wrote a bighorn-domestic sheep working plan in 2004, and codified in into state statute in 2015.
SF 118 builds off that. It would require the Wyoming Game and Fish Department to remove bighorn sheep from the area if they got too close to domestic herds, or if there was any other indication that grazing leases could be affected.
Western said the bill “extends an olive branch” to ranchers concerned about the effects of bighorn sheep.
The bill resulted from years of work between various stakeholders, including bighorn sheep conservationists, hunters, ranchers and Game and Fish officials, he said.
“Those are the kinds of solutions I want, that include all parties involved,” Western said. “At the end of the day it (BLM property) is all of our land. The sportsmen, the woolgrowers, everybody.”
‘We Need A Federal Solution’
Moline said that from the Farm Bureau’s perspective, SF 118 still can’t prevent the BLM or anti-grazing groups from acting outside of the state’s control.
During legislative committee discussion on the bill, an amendment was suggested that bighorn sheep not be reintroduced into the Sweetwater Rocks area until assurances had been made on the federal level that grazing leases would not be affected. That amendment was rejected.
However, that’s still a good idea, Moline said. Wyoming’s U.S. congressional delegation could hammer out a policy by which the grazing leases could be protected at the federal level.
“We need a federal solution, that there will be no harm done to grazing before they put the bighorn sheep in,” he said. “We want those assurances that grazing won’t be harmed. Period. Exclamation mark.”
Other Bills Fail
Two other major wildlife policy bills failed.
Senate File 111 would have separated the management of mule deer and whitetail deer in Wyoming. That would have included separate hunting tags for each species. It passed the Wyoming Senate, but failed on its third reading before the House.
House Bill 60 would have offered additional compensation to ranchers for forage that elk eat, leaving less for their livestock. It passed the House, but failed to pass the committee of the whole before the Senate.
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
The expansion would open the spigot for 550,000 barrels per day of crude, the company says. Although the crude would mostly pass through eastern Wyoming, the venture opens opportunities for Wyoming oil producers in the region for more transportation access to U.S. refineries and shipping ports, according to Bridger and local industry officials.“It would be the biggest project in our history, if it comes to fruition,” Bridger Pipeline spokesperson Bill Salvin told WyoFile on Friday. “We are, however, in the really early stages of the project. But we’re very excited about it.”Industry trade groups speculate the Bridger Pipeline Expansion is part of a competitive scramble to fill a gap left by TC Energy’s Keystone XL project. That company, in 2021, abandoned the controversial project in the face of major opposition and protests. It would have transported Canadian tar-sands oil into the U.S. market via a route extending through Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska. Among many challenges for Keystone XL was acquiring new rights-of-way easements. Though the Bridger Pipeline Expansion proposal requires some new rights-of-way, that’s not the case for the 210-mile Wyoming segment, according to Salvin.“All of that distance is within, or parallel to, existing pipeline corridors,” Salvin said.
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The Wyoming segment would pass through Crook, Weston, Niobrara, Goshen and Platte counties.Bridger Pipeline, a subsidiary of Casper-based True Companies, submitted a notice of intent to the Montana Department of Environmental Quality in January and noted it will formally initiate environmental applications to the agency. Salvin told WyoFile he’s uncertain about the full spectrum of regulatory requirements in Wyoming.However, the company regards the Cowboy State as a great fit for the project, he said. “This [project proposal] just highlights how important the region is and how Wyoming is a very good place for energy projects like this.”Reached for comment, the Petroleum Association of Wyoming said the proposed pipeline only stands to benefit Wyoming producers and the state.“Investments like these, along with continued growth in areas like the Powder River Basin, show Wyoming will continue to play an important role in the nation’s energy markets,” PAW Vice President and Director of Communications Ryan McConnaughey told WyoFile. “Connecting in Guernsey allows product to be transported to refining hubs like Cushing, Oklahoma.” WyoFile is an independent nonprofit news organization focused on Wyoming people, places and policy.
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LARAMIE — Nasir Meyer converted a three-point play with 35 seconds remaining to give Wyoming Cowboys men’s basketball the lead for good, and Wyoming held Air Force Falcons men’s basketball scoreless over the final two minutes to secure a 66-62 victory Saturday night.
The win marked the 13th home victory of the season for Wyoming, which improved to 16-13 overall and 7-11 in conference play.
“Air Force deserves all the credit and let’s talk about a team that has every reason not to fight, but thats why they are Air Force and the cadets and I have a lot of respect for them,” Wyoming coach Sundance Wicks said. “They were not going to quit, and I didn’t drive that message home enough and hats off to Air Force because they deserved to win. We snuck away with a win. Adam Harakow showed when we need him and he was massive for us. Simm-Marten was made big plays and Naz was clutch for us late.”
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Wyoming shot 35% from the field and went 7 of 28 from 3-point range, making just two from beyond the arc in the second half. Air Force shot 49% overall and 44% from 3, hitting eight shots from long distance. The Cowboys made 13 of 16 free throws (81%) and scored 22 points off 15 Air Force turnovers while holding a 39-36 edge in rebounding.
Damarion Dennis led Wyoming with 16 points and three assists, going 7 of 8 from the free-throw line. Meyer finished with 14 points and tied a career best with eight rebounds. Adam Harakow added 14 points off the bench on 5-of-6 shooting, his first double-figure scoring game since the first meeting with Air Force. Simm-Marten Saadi had nine points in 13 minutes, and Kiani Saxon grabbed seven rebounds.
Air Force opened with back-to-back 3-pointers to take a 6-0 lead. Meyer scored Wyoming’s first basket, and Leland Walker added a 3-pointer to make it 8-5 with 16 minutes left in the first half.
Wyoming responded with a 9-0 run over nearly four minutes, with Saadi and Harakow each connecting from beyond the arc to give the Cowboys an 11-8 lead with under 14 minutes remaining. Air Force regained a 12-11 advantage as Wyoming went scoreless for more than two minutes.
Harakow’s second 3-pointer pushed the lead to 22-16 with nine minutes left in the half, and Wyoming used a 6-0 run while holding the Falcons without a field goal for more than four minutes to build a 28-18 lead with six minutes remaining. The Cowboys closed the half on a defensive stand, keeping Air Force scoreless for the final two minutes to take a 35-25 lead into the break. Wyoming scored 15 first-half points off turnovers.
The teams traded 3-pointers early in the second half, and Air Force cut the deficit to 40-31 with under 17 minutes left before trimming it to seven 90 seconds later. Walker answered with a 3-pointer to make it 43-33 with 15 minutes to go.
Air Force used a 9-0 run during a stretch in which Wyoming went more than 3 1/2 minutes without a point to pull within one with nine minutes left. The Falcons later tied the game at 51-51 with 5:30 remaining after forcing six straight missed shots.
A pair of free throws by Meyer and a basket from Saadi gave Wyoming a 57-53 lead with under four minutes to play. Air Force answered with three consecutive 3-pointers from Kam Sanders to take a 62-59 lead with two minutes left.
Meyer scored with 90 seconds remaining to cut the deficit to one. On the next trip, he converted an and-one to give Wyoming a 64-62 lead with 35 seconds left. The Cowboys added late free throws to close out the 66-62 win.
Sanders led Air Force with 16 points and nine rebounds, going 4 of 5 from 3-point range. Eli Robinson added 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting.
Wyoming closes its home schedule Tuesday against Nevada Wolf Pack men’s basketball at 8 p.m. as part of a doubleheader with the Cowgirls.
The 2-time defending champ Tongue River girls, along with both teams from Big Horn will represent Sheridan County in the small school version of March Madness.
Click here to see results from the regional tournaments.
2A Boys:
First Round:
Thursday, March 5th: (All games played at Casper College)
(#2E) Big Horn vs. (#3W) Shoshoni – Noon
(#1W) Thermopolis vs. (#4E) Sundance – 1:30pm
(#2W) Wyoming Indian vs. (#3E) Wright – 6:30pm
(#1E) Pine Bluffs vs. (#4W) Rocky Mountain – 8pm
Friday, March 6th: (All games played at Ford Wyoming Center)
Consolation Round:
Big Horn/Shoshoni loser vs. Thermopolis/Sundance loser – Noon LOSER OUT!
Wyoming Indian/Wright loser vs. Pine Bluffs/Rocky Mountain loser – 1:30pm LOSER OUT!
Semi-Finals:
Big Horn/Shoshoni winner vs. Thermopolis/Sundance winner – 6:30pm
Wyoming Indian/Wright winner vs. Pine Bluffs/Rocky Mountain winner – 8pm
Saturday, March 7th:
Friday Noon winner vs. Friday 1:30pm – Noon at Ford Wyoming Center Consolation Championship
Friday 6:30pm loser vs. Friday 8pm loser – 3pm at Natrona County High School 3rd Place
Friday 6:30pm winner vs. Friday 8pm winner – 7pm at Ford Wyoming Center Championship
2A Girls:
First Round:
Thursday, March 5th: (All games played at Casper College)
(#2W) Wyoming Indian vs. (#3E) Big Horn – 9am
(#1E) Sundance vs. (#4W) Shoshoni – 10:30am
(#2E) Tongue River vs. (#3W) Greybull – 3:30pm
(#1W) Thermopolis vs. (#4E) Pine Bluffs – 5pm
Friday, March 6th: (All games played at Ford Wyoming Center)
Consolation Round:
Wyoming Indian/Big Horn loser vs. Sundance/Shoshoni loser – 9am LOSER OUT!
Tongue River/Greybull loser vs. Thermopolis/Pine Bluffs loser – 10:30am LOSER OUT!
Semi-Finals:
Wyoming Indian/Big Horn winner vs. Sundance/Shoshoni winner – 3:30pm
Tongue River/Greybull loser vs. Thermopolis/Pine Bluffs loser – 5pm
Saturday, March 7th:
Friday 9am winner vs. Friday 10:30am winner – 9am at Ford Wyoming Center Consolation Championship
Friday 3:30pm loser vs. Friday 5pm loser – 10:30am at Ford Wyoming Center 3rd Place
Friday 3:30pm winner vs. Friday 5pm winner – 5:30pm at Ford Wyoming Center Championship
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