Wyoming

Eastern Wyoming Wildfire Nearly Burned Through Historic Fort Laramie

Published

2 years ago

August 1, 2024

Eastern Wyoming Wildfire Nearly Burned Through Historic Fort Laramie

Historic Fort Laramie, Wyoming’s first settlement, nearly went up in flames when an out-of-control wildfire nearly burned through it the past couple of days.

Town Clerk Tristica Short got wind of something bad happening late Tuesday evening when she looked out her window across the street from the Haystack gas station along the Heartland Expressway.

The flames also got too close for comfort to the Historic military fort of the same name nearby, which reportedly came to within about a mile of the site that’s on the National Register of Historic Places.

The smell of something burning on the range to the west was wafting in the air, Short told Cowboy State Daily.

The orange glow of the wildfire and a several-mile-long plume of smoke swirling in the atmosphere was clearly visible at about 9:30 p.m. from behind their newly built garage. The old one went up in flames about a year ago and the new fire visible to the west had consumed nearly 23,100 acres north of the Heartland was giving her “PTSD.”

In a few short hours, a pair of smaller fires had merged into what’s now called the Pleasant Valley Fire.

Short said she couldn’t see the stars in the sky or much of anything else except for Wyoming Highway Patrol cars and fire trucks with flashing lights at the western edge of town.

“The entire town was fogged out,” Short said.

With a population of just over 200, Short and other emergency responders in Fort Laramie government began issuing warnings on Facebook that residents should get prepared for an evacuation.

Earlier in the day, the Pleasant Valley Fire forced the temporary evacuation of Hartville to the north of Guernsey as well as residents who lived in canyon communities located along Pleasant Valley Road and Waylon Canyon. Those areas are generally to the northeast of Guernsey.

Short heeded her own advice.

She and her boyfriend, Fort Laramie councilman Jackob Ellis, loaded up their two chickens in carriers, two cats named Toulouse and Chester (also in carriers) and Luna, their German shepherd, into the back of their 1976 orange Dodge van.

Their cat Phoenix couldn’t be found.

“It was very stressful,” Short said. “The only happy face outta the van would have been Luna!”

In their Impala, she tossed in birth certificates, clothing and the necessities that a seven-month pregnant woman needs, like toiletries and blankets. They were thinking of heading to Torrington to the south, but never did, and eventually the couple slipped back into their home in the early hours on Wednesday.

Merging Fires

Earlier Tuesday, Short had run up the Heartland, which is U.S. Highway 26, the main thoroughfare through the affected fire region, to check in on her mother. Her mother lives at the scene of the Pleasant Valley Fire that erupted Tuesday forcing the evacuations to the north.

“At that time, you could clearly see the two fires — the Haystack and the Pleasant Valley — before they merged,” she said.

But late Tuesday, fire hell struck and sent shivers down the spines of the rural communities in the border areas of Platte and Goshen counties.

“I was just waiting for the final say to evacuate. I had all our animals loaded up and two vehicles packed,” she said.

As of Thursday, the Pleasant Valley and Haystack fires had officially combined. The revised count Thursday is that the fire had burned 23,089 acres in the two-county area. Flare-ups were visible along U.S. 26 on Wednesday evening. Trees, telephone poles and fences were still burning or smoking from the intense firestorm that rushed into the area.

The movement of the fire into Fort Laramie was essentially halted by an irrigation canal that crosses U.S. 26 about 2 miles to the west of town.

Since Wednesday, the fire has pulled back from the Heartland Expressway and headed deep into the Haystack Range, said Wyoming State Forestry spokesman Jerod Delay.

He described the range as having tough terrain with boulders, steep cliffs and lots of tinder to burn, like tall grasses, sagebrush and pinyon-juniper woodlands.

The burn area in the Haystack range is between the McGinnis Pass and McCann Pass in Goshen County at about 5,000 feet in elevation. The range passes are located east of Whalen Canyon Road in the county and are located about 6 miles apart.

The southern end of the fire is about 8 miles to the northeast of Guernsey, the area where the Pleasant Valley fire first started.

Fire Size Downgraded

The size of the fire was revised downward from 28,000 acres overnight after a Multi-Mission Aircraft from Colorado’s Division of Fire Prevention and Control flew over the burn area, said Vince Welbaum, the aviation unit chief for the plane based in Centennial, Colorado.

Colorado has two Pilatus PC-12 airplanes that have the capability to use infrared sensing capabilities to map and shoot video of burn areas through smoke, Welbaum explained.

At the moment, the Wyoming Forestry Service Division isn’t showing any containment of the fire. Neither have there been any reports of injuries or destroyed homes, Delay said.

The summer is shaping up to become one of the worst in the United States.

As of Aug. 1, there are 93 large active wildfires across the U.S. that have burned more than 2.3 million acres. More than 29,100 firefighters have been assigned to fight these fires, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.

Fires Everywhere

In Wyoming, there are a handful of fires in various stages of cleanup.

Before the Haystack and Pleasant Valley fires, the Clearwater Fire located west of Cody had been the largest spot to watch on the state’s wildfire radar.

This blaze is located on a ridgeline between Elk Fork and June Creek drainages about a mile south of Clearwater Campground and 11 miles west of Wapiti, Wyoming.

The fire is near the east entrance to Yellowstone National Park in the Shoshone National Forest.

The fire is the result of a lightning strike July 19 that caused a 1,167-acre wildfire that briefly closed the East Entrance to Yellowstone last weekend, said Ranae Pape, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Forest Service in the region.

On Aug. 1, the National Interagency Fire Center reported that the fire is not contained at all.

On Monday, the fire edged north up Elk Fork Canyon before heading toward the Highway 14/16/20 corridor. That prompted evacuations of the Big Game, Elk Fork and Wapiti campgrounds, the Pagoda summer homes and the Wapiti Ranger Station.

The fire is located in very difficult terrain that makes suppression efforts challenging, the agency reported.

The Cold Springs Fire in Converse County is completely contained. Delay said that the fire burned between 1,800 and 2,000 acres.

No structures or homes have been lost in this fire.

On July 29, hundreds of residents in tiny Upton, Wyoming, on the border of Crook and Weston counties were chased from their homes as a fast-moving grass fire threatened subdivisions along Barton Road.

Extreme winds pushed a grassfire out of Crook County directly toward Upton to the southeast. Crook County Emergency Management warned its Weston County counterparts to evacuate residents in subdivisions along Barton Road.

Those evacuation orders have since been lifted. The fire has been fully contained.

Closing Interstate 80

On Wednesday, a fire briefly closed the Interstate-80 eastbound lanes at milepost 206 near Rawlins, Delay said.

“It was from a previous fire. The wind caught it just right and rekindled it,” said Delay of the Carbon County fire.

On July 29 west of Gillette, the Campbell County Fire Department battled 50 mph winds whipping a grass fire into a frenzy that consumed mobile homes, campers and several pets over the weekend.

More than 2,000 acres in Campbell County burned from 16 fires from July 26-28, according to Fire Marshall Stuart Burnham of the Campbell County Fire Department in Gillette, Wyoming.

All of the fires have been contained, he said.

One fire resulted in 38 acres burning after a fiery plane crash July 26 killed three members of the gospel group The Nelons, The plane, which was enroute to Billings, Montana, went down 8 miles south of the Montana border in Campbell County.

A second large grass fire destroyed multiple homes and vehicles on 10 acres.

Some of the fires were the result of lightning strikes or strong winds knocking over power lines, Burnham said.

“I know a lot of Campbell County has fire restrictions in place, as well as all of northeastern Wyoming,” Burnham told Cowboy State Daily. “I would encourage people to know what those restrictions are and exercise caution.”

Pat Maio can be reached at pat@cowboystatedaily.com.

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Wyoming

Meyer’s Late Score Lifts Wyoming past Air Force – SweetwaterNOW

Published

11 hours ago

March 2, 2026

Press Room

Meyer’s Late Score Lifts Wyoming past Air Force – SweetwaterNOW

Naz Meyer. Mandatory Credit: Troy Babbitt-UW Media-Athletics

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.

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Wyoming

Wyoming High School Basketball 2A State Tournament 2026

Published

24 hours ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

Wyoming High School Basketball 2A State Tournament 2026

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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Wyoming

Wyoming Crow Hunters Can Blast All They Want, But Nobody Eats The Birds

Published

1 day ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

Wyoming Crow Hunters Can Blast All They Want, But Nobody Eats The Birds

Mention of bird hunting might conjure up images of hunters and their dogs huddling in freezing duck blinds or pounding the brush in hopes of kicking up pheasants. But crow hunting is a thing in Wyoming too.

“It’s about the sport of it,” Dan Kinneman of Riverton told Cowboy State Daily.

He started crow hunting when he was 14 and is about to turn 85. He’s never tried cooking and eating crows or known anybody who has.

Instead, shooting crows is essentially nuisance bird control, as they’re known to wreak havoc on agricultural crops.

“All the ranchers will let you hunt crows. I’ve never been refused access to hunt crows. They all hate them,” he said.

In Wyoming, crow hunting season runs from Nov. 1 to Feb. 28. No license is required, and there’s no bag limit. Hunters can shoot all the crows they want to.

It’s a ball for hunting dogs too, Kinneman said.

“My yellow Labrador retriever, he doesn’t care whether it’s a crow or duck. In fact, he likes crow hunting more than duck hunting, because there’s more action,” he said.

Crow hunting requires skill, patience and a good set of decoys, an experienced Wyoming hunter said. The upside is, there’s no bag limit, hunters can blast all the crows they want. No one eats them, though.

Don’t Expect It To Be Easy

Kinneman said that in the days of his youth, crow hunting was as simple as driving around and “shooting them out of trees with rifles.”

However, as the number of people and buildings potentially in the paths of bullets grew, such practices fell out of favor. Crow hunting became more regulated.

And it evolved to resemble hunting other birds, such as waterfowl.

Meaning, hunters started setting out decoys, hiding in blinds and using calls to tempt crows to within shotgun range.

Kinneman is no stranger to hunting of all types. He’s taken numerous species of big game in Wyoming and elsewhere. And in July 2005, he shot a prairie dog near Rock Springs from well over a mile away.

He hit the prairie dog from 2,157 yards away. A mile is 1,760 yards.

But bird hunting has always been his favorite.

“It’s my life,” he said.

He has a huge collection of duck, goose and dove decoys. And two tubs full of crow decoys.

The uninitiated might think that going out and blasting crows would be a slam dunk.

That isn’t so, Kinneman said. He likes crow hunting for the challenge of it.

“Hunting crows is hard. They are a lot smarter than ducks and geese,” he said.

Pick Up After Yourself

Even though he doesn’t eat crows, Kinneman said he never just left them littering the ground where he shot them.

“I never let them lay out there. I always picked them up and disposed of the carcasses,” he said.

That’s good ethics and it shows respect for the ranchers, he said.

“Leaving them (dead crows) out there would be no different than just leaving all of your empty shotgun shells out there,” he said.

“You have to pick up after yourself, or the ranchers won’t let you back onto their land,” he added.

Slow Year

At his age, Kinneman isn’t sure how much longer he’ll be able to get out crow hunting. And this year has been a total bust.

“I love doing it. But this year there are no crows,” he said.

The Riverton area is along major crow migration routes.

Picking a good hunting spot is a matter of “finding a flyway” that the crows are on and then setting up a spread of decoys and a blind along the route.

But with an unusually warm winter, the crow flyways have been practically empty, he said.