Wyoming
New Fires Add To Wyoming’s Wildland Inferno, More Than 55,000 Acres…
Firefighters battling the Pleasant Valley fire near Guernsey, Wyoming, have barricaded the massive wildfire in the steep terrain of the Haystack Range that is blamed for burning the homestead of U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman, the state’s lone congresswoman, and briefly threatened historic Fort Laramie.
Meanwhile, two separate wildfires in the northeastern part of Wyoming have grown to about 24,000 acres combined, stretching resources in that part of the state as the Pleasant Valley fire is slowly getting tamped down in the Cowboy State’s southeastern corner.
“We are making progress on both of them, and we’ll be helped with cooler weather coming in,” said Stuart Burnham, fire marshal for the Campbell County Fire Department, of the new fires in the northeastern part of the state. “The temperatures have been in the upper 90s, but we’re hoping for 10-20 degrees of cooler temperatures that will help us.”
A third fire, called the Clearwater Fire, has been burning in the steep Shoshone National Forest about 11 miles west of Wapiti, Wyoming.
That fire is 7% contained and has burned 1,786 acres, said Ranae Pape, a spokeswoman for fire agencies fighting that fire, which began July 19 from a lightning strike.
The fire indefinitely closed several campgrounds in the Elk Fork vicinity and has 100 firefighting personnel on the line, Pape said.
The Clearwater Fire briefly shut down the East Entrance of Yellowstone National Park.
Most of the state’s attention, however, has been in the Guernsey area 350 miles to the southeast of Yellowstone’s East Entrance in Park County.
As of Monday, the Pleasant Valley Fire had burned nearly 29,000 acres and is reportedly 65% contained, said Tyson Finnicum, a spokesman for the Wyoming Type 3 Team working the incident.
Finnicum’s Type 3 team is an emergency classification level used by fire tracking agency National Interagency Fire Center and is made up of a small group of local, state and federal officials needed to help in the management of combating a wildfire.
It’s the same kind of team that Pape is working with in the Clearwater Fire in the Shoshone National Forest.
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The Pleasant Valley Fire just north of Guernsey, Wyoming, has burned close to 30,000 acres in Gosen and Platte counties. (Wyoming State Forestry Division) -
The Pleasant Valley Fire just north of Guernsey, Wyoming, has burned close to 30,000 acres in Gosen and Platte counties. (Wyoming State Forestry Division) -
The Pleasant Valley Fire just north of Guernsey, Wyoming, has burned close to 30,000 acres in Gosen and Platte counties. (Office of Gov. Mark Gordon) -
The Pleasant Valley Fire just north of Guernsey, Wyoming, has burned close to 30,000 acres in Gosen and Platte counties. (Office of Gov. Mark Gordon)
Famous Structure Casualty
The Hageman homestead, a rustic cabin-like structure with plastered walls and built into the side of a hill near McGinnis Pass, was destroyed by an uncontained fire in rough terrain littered with huge granite boulders and tinder fueled with juniper pinions and sagebrush.
“It’s been pretty devastating,” Hageman told Cowboy State Daily last week.
The homestead likely burned sometime Wednesday afternoon after the Haystack Fire and Pleasant Valley fires combined to form one big inferno now known as the Pleasant Valley Fire.
The historic town of Fort Laramie was briefly threatened Wednesday, but firefighters and ranchers dug their heels in to stop the fire’s advance at a canal located about 2 miles from the western edge of town.
Since Wednesday, the fire has pulled back from U.S. Highway 26 and headed deep into the Haystack Range.
The burn area in the Haystack Range is between McGinnis and McCann passes in Goshen County at about 5,000 feet in elevation. The range passes are located east of Whalen Canyon Road 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.
Evacuations were twice briefly called for the communities of Hartsville and Sunrise north of Guernsey and for people who live along the Waylen Canyon and Pleasant Valley roads.
Prairie Fires
The latest threat in the state has emerged from two roaring grass fires on open prairies in Campbell and Weston counties.
Those fires have consumed a total of 23,000 acres in the northeast corner of Wyoming, Burnham said.
In one, the Wildcat Creek Fire is burning southeast of Wright off Rochelle Hills Road.
“It’s burning in the Rochelle Hills area, where there are some rolling hills, ravines and ridges,” said Burnham of the fire that began Aug. 2.
Wright is a tiny energy community about 40 miles south of Gillette, the central city in Campbell County’s energy-rich Powder River Basin.
The cause of the Wildcat Creek Fire is still under investigation, Burnham said.
The fire rapidly grew due to strong winds and dry vegetation.
On Sunday evening, the fire was estimated to be about 17,258 acres. The fire has burned into Weston County to the east of its origin, Burnham said.
There are no reports of injuries or structures lost.
Burnham said that the fire is about 30% contained.
The Deer Creek Fire located about 25 miles west of Gillette has multiple agencies involved in fighting the 7,000-acre fire, which is not contained.
The cause of this fire is still under investigation, Burnham said.
The grass fire erupted Aug. 3 west of West Echeta Road.
The fire quickly spread due to the dry weather, winds and hot temperatures.
The Bureau of Land Management has assumed command of this incident, with fire departments in Campbell, Johnson and Sheridan counties, as well as the Wyoming State Forestry Division and U.S. Forest Service helping fight the wildfire.
Burnham said that the region is experiencing a lack of moisture and hot weather, which has fueled the quick spread of the wildfires.
Multiple heavy air tankers, helicopters and bulldozers have been used to try and contain the fire. It is anticipated fire crews will be on scene for multiple days, Burnham said.
Meanwhile, Near Pinedale
Another wildfire burning on the Bridger Teton National Forest is the Leeds Creek fire, a blaze that’s burned about 1,230 acres and is 13% contained, the U.S. Forest Service reprts through its InciniWeb wildlife fire tracker tool.
The fire was firest reported the morning of Aug. 1 and its cause is unknown. It’s burning a mix of conifer and heavy dead and down fuels about 18 miles southwewt of Dubois, according to the report. So far, a crew of 95 is working the fire, along with building a dozer line to “lock up the fire’s edge and gain containment.”
Contact Pat Maio at pat@cowboystatedaily.com
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The Wildcat Creek Fire southeast of Wright, Wyoming, has burned more than 17,000 acres and is about 30% contained, fire officials report. (Robby’s Radar via Facebook) -
The Wildcat Creek Fire southeast of Wright, Wyoming, has burned more than 17,000 acres and is about 30% contained, fire officials report. (Robby’s Radar via Facebook)
Pat Maio can be reached at pat@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.”
Related
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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