CHEYENNE, Wyo. — In this edition of “Meet the Candidates,” Marguerite Herman shares with Cap City News how she envisions governing Wyoming if elected to the state Legislature. Herman is one of two people running for Senate District 8.

The following are responses that Herman shared with Cap City News. To view the Q&As of other candidates who have also submitted answers to us, click here.

What are your top three legislative priorities if elected to the Wyoming State Senate, and how do you plan to achieve them?

My priorities grow out of years of reporting on the Legislature and advocacy for issues for the League of Women Voters of Wyoming. They are: strong public schools, healthy families and free and fair elections. How I achieve that: knowledge, experience, communication and collaboration.

As I serve on Senate committees and on the Senate floor, I can represent the interests and concerns of the people in Senate District 8, Laramie County and the state. I will talk frequently to my constituents, not just at election time, to learn about their issues and answer questions. In the Senate, I will speak with a local voice on state-level proposals. I will advocate for local schools and families as the Senate crafts the best possible legislation.

I spent eight years in a nonpartisan office, as a trustee for Laramie County School District 1, with a focus on duties to schools and children. I resisted distractions of local and national politics and alliances that put other interests first. As a senator, and with focus on the people of my district, I will work hard to understand their problems and work with diverse groups across aisles to reach solutions.

What policies do you support to stimulate economic growth and diversify Wyoming’s economy beyond its traditional industries?

People want to diversify Wyoming’s economy, but most ideas tweak current practices or they are too drastic for traditionalists. We are cautious about doing things at the expense of the small-town values and open spaces we love. The Legislature also has used tax breaks, but before we do more of those I’d like to see some analysis of how they worked.

Oil, gas, coal and other minerals have served this state well, but that reliance gives Wyoming one of the most volatile economies in the nation and makes it difficult to plan. Plus, they will run out. Fortunately, the Legislature has been good about saving one-time mineral revenue, and our General Fund benefits from savings income.

For a reliable and sustainable economy, we need new ideas and support. There is a role for the state to work with local governments to make Wyoming attractive to businesses to start or relocate here. I’m thinking about Gov. Freudenthal’s “business-ready community” program. That would include infrastructure, housing and amenities that most employers want for their workforce. Economic incentives to businesses should come with proven payoff, to help us compete with other states in the region. The Legislature should support local business initiatives, including voter-approved taxes to invest in local programs.

One of the best economic development tools continues to be our K-12 schools and community colleges, to attract young families, provide strong career/trades preparation for our young adults and coordinate with workforce needs of new and existing businesses.

How do you plan to support and improve the education system and workforce training programs in Wyoming?

I support full funding of K-12 schools and community colleges, which are doing an excellent job of preparing our children and older citizens for college, career and military. In recent years, they cooperate closely to determine local workforce needs and to design continuing programs to meet those needs.

Financial support is essential. I’d like to take a look at the adequacy and fairness of funding for community colleges to ensure ongoing service to all of our state’s residents, including those who find themselves facing a change in careers and needing updated or different skills.

What measures would you advocate for to improve healthcare access and affordability for Wyoming residents?

There’s real potential in federal funding to give low-income Wyoming families access to healthcare covered by the state Medicaid program. An estimated 19,000 Wyoming people don’t make enough to qualify for the subsidized health insurance plans on the ACA “exchange,” and they go without or go into debt. Wyoming employers that can’t provide insurance support Medicaid access. The state’s economy benefits from having a healthy workforce, and ability to pay medical bills is a benefit to Wyoming’s health care system. In addition, more people paying bills means everyone is spared covering “uncompensated care” that otherwise must be absorbed by providers, which drives up everyone’s bills.

How do you plan to balance Wyoming’s energy production with environmental conservation and sustainability efforts?

Balance requires recognizing the importance of all factors: wildlife and open spaces AND energy, industrial and real estate development. All are important to Wyoming and our future. One can’t always dominate.

I have a friend, well-respected for her conservation experience and wisdom, who talks about “the Wyoming way” of finding balance by using existing regulations, taking a case-by-case analysis and always building on broad consensus that we value all of those things: development AND wildlife/open spaces. We can identify spaces necessary to conserve wildlife habitat and migration and at the same time acknowledge development essential to take care of our people and accommodate development essential to our economy — all of it within federal and state land laws.

Within that framework, we can accommodate all essential needs. It’s necessary to see the whole state and all its interests in every decision.

Is there anything else you’d like voters to know about you?

Some biographical info:
I have lived around the world as part of a U.S. Air Force family and eventually moved to Cheyenne as a reporter for The Associated Press in 1980. I have lived in the neighborhoods of Senate District 8 for all of the 44 years since then. I was twice elected to the LCSD1 Board and remain involved with K-12 education on local and state levels. As a lobbyist for the League of Women Voters, I have been an advocate for free and fair elections. I am known for working with diverse groups to seek practical solutions to real problems. In 2006, I wrote a 400-page guide to state government, “A Look at Wyoming Government.” I hold master’s degrees in education and journalism.

I have been a business owner and have been active in many organizations, including Wyoming State Board of Nursing, Wyoming Children’s Trust Fund, League of Women Voters, Cheyenne Schools Foundation, COMEA (homeless shelter), Wyoming Breastfeeding Coalition, Wyoming Girls State, Wyoming High School Mock Trial, St. Mary’s Cathedral music and Hispanic Organization for Progress and Education (HOPE).

This year, I am again photographing the Pittsfield 4th of July parade after a two-year hiatus. I’ve also photographed the Williamstown 4th of July parade and countless others including the annual Fall Foliage parade in North Adams.

Last year, while in Wyoming for my wedding, I participated in the town of Dubois’ annual parade as the ranch had a wagon to ride in, and not surprisingly I took photos as well. It was fun to stand on the wagon as some of us shot water cannons into the crowds of spectators along the parade route.

As parades reflect the communities in which they are held, the contrast of the two parades — one in Massachusetts and the other in Wyoming — couldn’t have been more different even if the reason for celebration was the same.

Independence Day is our annual celebration of nationhood, marking the ratification of the Declaration of Independence by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776.

As we approach the 2024 presidential election and the divisions in our country, we must reflect on the fabric of our country and just how diverse it is.

While Massachusetts was settled earlier and is part of New England, Wyoming, wild and vast, was settled much later as Americans moved westward. After becoming a territory of the U.S., it became the 44th state on July 10, 1890.

I love the state of Wyoming. The first time I visited was in 1993, then again in 1995. Thirty years later in 2023, I was there a third time, spending a week there around the July 4th holiday on a family trip at a dude ranch, riding horses, enjoying the gorgeous scenery and getting married to my beloved Dan. I have an archive of photographs, mostly slide and negative film images, capturing the beauty of the area from my two previous trips. I took even more last year, many with a digital camera and my cellphone. A large majority of those images were taken on horseback.

During this trip, I was impressed by the landscape and the diversity of the staff at the dude ranch. The majority of the wranglers at the ranch were women. I probably wouldn’t have really noticed, but my husband Dan said that when he was there in the 1980s as a teenager, all of the wranglers were men.

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Wyoming is not particularly diverse in its population. The least populated state in our union, the racial make-up of the state is 88.65 percent white. When Dan and I went to get our wedding license, we drove to Lander, about an hour and 15 minutes from Dubois. In the municipal offices, I saw one person of color who looked to be Native American. It wasn’t until we left Dubois and drove to Salt Lake City via Jackson Hole that I saw a Black man.

During the parade, I took some photos of our group in the parade and then hopped on the wagon with our fellow dude ranch guests and employees to enjoy the revelry of the Fourth of July in the Wild West.

While the parade included all the usual fanfare celebrating the town’s charm and local businesses, I was stunned to see army tanks traversing the streets in the parade.

The show of at least a half-dozen tanks were apparently from the nearby National Museum of Military Vehicles. While the show of these historic, world-class military vehicles seemed relevant given that the museum was in town and a parade is a good excuse to bring them outside of the museum’s walls, the display of them in the streets caused me to feel a bit uneasy. I recalled how President Donald Trump had desired a military parade, like those in Russia and China, after seeing one in France in 2017.

Not surprisingly, I didn’t see any floats to show any support for Black Lives Matter or support of the LBGTQ community. Wyoming is a predominantly Republican state, and while there are probably small pockets of residents who support Democratic agendas, I imagine people don’t talk about it since on the range “seldom is heard a discouraging word.”

Former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney ended up losing her reelection bid when she joined nine other Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives to impeach Donald Trump after the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol. That, too, is a reflection of the Cowboy State’s mostly Republican electorate.

So as I cover the Pittsfield Fourth of July parade this year, I will have a new appreciation for it and relish the diversity of our beautiful Berkshires. I am grateful to be living in New England and cannot imagine living anywhere else. I still love Wyoming and hope to be able to visit it again some day in the not too distant future.

Cyanobacterial blooms in Wyoming rivers and reservoirs can be harmful or even deadly for people, pets and livestock. So state agencies, including the Departments of Health and Environmental Quality, and the Wyoming Livestock Board, are warning residents to keep their distance.

Sometimes called blue-green algae — despite not technically being algae — these cyanobacterial blooms can produce neuro and liver toxins that are harmful and sometimes even deadly to humans, dogs and other animals.

The Department of Health warns against drinking, swimming in or even just touching water that looks like it might contain cyanobacteria — for example, if the water appears scummy or discolored.

Suspected blooms can be reported to the state. While the Wyoming Department of Health follows up on potential HCB-related illnesses, Wyoming DEQ investigates reported blooms to determine if they are harmful.

DEQ then issues advisories for specific bodies of water across the state. Both agencies recommend that outdoor recreators check for these advisories online before heading outside.

“HCBs [Harmful Cyanobacterial Blooms] typically develop in mid to late summer and can occur in flowing and non-flowing waters such as streams, rivers, lakes, and reservoirs,” notes an advisory published by Wyoming DEQ. “HCBs may be green, tan, brown, or blue-green in color. HCBs may float in or on the water and look like spilled paint, grass clippings, clumps, or scums. HCBs may also be attached to aquatic plants, rocks, or other material and look like films, mats, or gelatinous balls.”

If you do come into contact, rinse off immediately with fresh water. Seek medical attention if you or a pet starts experiencing any symptoms, like vomiting, fatigue, difficulty breathing or skin, throat or other irritations.

“Young children, pregnant women, people with weak immune systems, and animals are especially at risk,” notes Wyoming DEQ.

Despite the health risks posed by cyanobacteria today, humans could not have evolved without it.

About 2.4 billion years ago, these blooms filled earth’s atmosphere with the oxygen we now breathe, establishing the environment in which humans, dogs and all other large oxygen-breathing multicellular organisms evolved.