Wyoming

Should Wyoming loan or give out wildfire recovery funds? Legislature and Gov. Gordon don't agree. – WyoFile

Published

1 year ago

January 30, 2025

Should Wyoming loan or give out wildfire recovery funds? Legislature and Gov. Gordon don't agree. – WyoFile

WHEATLAND—Standing in the Platte County Agriplex on Monday afternoon, Bob Budd likened the governor’s fire recovery plans to the easy exchange of cash for cattle between two ranchers.

“I want to buy your bull. You want to sell your bull,” Budd said. “We agree, and I drive off with the bull.”

Budd, executive director of the Wyoming Wildlife and Natural Resource Trust, used the example to describe a grant program developed by Gov. Mark Gordon to assist landowners dealing with the destruction caused by Wyoming’s historic 2024 wildfire season.

Of the 810,000 acres burned across the state, about 70% were privately owned or state lands. As such, Gordon asked the Wyoming Legislature for $130 million to help landowners restore grasses, replace fences and rebuild private structures, among other things.

Gordon, Budd and Jennifer Doering with the state’s Office of Land and Investments traveled Monday to Wheatland, Gillette and Sheridan for informational meetings about the program.

“It shouldn’t be a long, drawn-out process,” Budd said at the Wheatland meeting, adding that providing the funds through grants was the path of least resistance.

Back at the Capitol, a different plan was brewing that involved loans. Rather than providing grants to landowners to bolster their recovery efforts, lawmakers want to spend less money and they want to be paid back.

Conflicting approaches

The Joint Appropriations Committee reduced Gordon’s fire recovery funding recommendation last week to $100 million, and voted to make the money available through loans rather than grants.

Gov. Mark Gordon received a briefing on the Pleasant Valley Fire on Aug. 2, 2024. (Courtesy Governor’s Office)

“I have grave concerns about a loan program for fire restoration and recovery,” Gordon said in a Tuesday press release. “I understand the Legislature’s intent with the proposal, but there is a lack of understanding of the circumstances on the ground. We need a program that is flexible and responsive to your needs. A loan program does not do that.”

Meanwhile, supporters of the loan system say it ensures landowners have skin in the game.

Rep. Abby Angelos is a Freedom Caucus Republican from Gillette, near where some of the worst fires burned. She brought the motion to the Appropriations Committee to move the funding to a loan system.

“The loan is a way of recognizing that this is the people of Wyoming’s money, and we are accountable to them for it,” Angelos previously told WyoFile.

Senate President Bo Biteman, a Ranchester Republican, also told reporters last week that grants are “just giving money away.” Sheridan County, where Biteman lives, was also hit hard by the fires.

As outlined by the Appropriations Committee, the loan program would include a 2% interest rate with a maximum term of 20 years. It would be administered by both the Wildlife and Natural Resource Trust and the Office of State Lands and Investments. The State Loan and Investment Board would be tasked with giving final approval of any loan.

The committee also voted to have the program cover all catastrophic natural disasters, not just wildfires.

Public meetings

“I’m inherently a little distrustful of grants,” Platte County Commissioner Ian Jolovich said at the Wheatland meeting. “But then, on the other hand, a loan is an interesting idea, but I can guarantee ya I’m not interested in it.”

Jolovich was one of about 50 members of the public at the meeting. Jaron Frederick, a rancher whose operation northeast of Guernsey was impacted by the Haystack Fire, also spoke up.

The House Draw Fire charred about 175,000 acres in northern Wyoming. (Chris Kirol)

“There aren’t any better stewards of the land than the ranchers, because we care about our property and we want to … be able to hand it down to a future generation,” he said. “So we want to do the right thing.”

Frederick’s operation was also hit by the Tracer Fire in 2006, the effects of which are still being felt today with cheatgrass and fallen timber, he said.

“I don’t know any rancher that’s looking for a handout, but it’s nice to have resources available to help us,” Frederick said.

In Sheridan, more than a hundred people showed up, including Johnson County Commissioner Bill Novotny.

“There are members of the Appropriations Committee from heavily impacted fire communities. I hope they’ll go home over the [President’s Day] break and talk to their producers, because my producers do not want loans,” Novotny told WyoFile on Wednesday.

The House Draw Fire charred about 175,000 acres in Johnson County — about the same size as the cities of Denver and Salt Lake combined. And the local government has been in the process of exhausting all of the available federal assistance, Novotny said.

As currently drafted, Wyoming’s recovery funds would only be available once landowners have exhausted federal assistance.

But that process in Johnson County was upended this week, Novotny said, when about $2 million in federal assistance was yanked out from under the county after the Trump administration paused disbursements appropriated through the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

Johnson County agricultural producers are simply not in a position to take out another loan, Novotny said.

“They cannot put themselves in second position with the state in first position,” he said. “These folks have already borrowed money for operating lines so that they can find additional pasture. They don’t have that ability right now.”

Both the Senate and the House will begin budget deliberations as soon as Friday, and Novotny is confident there will be an amendment to revert the program back to grants.

In the meantime, he said he’s grateful for his local lawmakers — Sen. Barry Crago and Rep. Marilyn Connolly, two Buffalo Republicans — who have both brought back-up bills to restore fire suppression funding as well as the governor’s original request.

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Wyoming

Wyoming Coaches Pick the Best of 1A & 2A Boys Basketball in 2026

Published

22 minutes ago

March 11, 2026

Press Room

Wyoming Coaches Pick the Best of 1A & 2A Boys Basketball in 2026

The top boys’ basketball players in Wyoming for Classes 1A and 2A were chosen for the 2026 high school season. The Wyoming Coaches Association has unveiled the all-state awards for this year, as voted on by the head coaches in the two classifications, respectively. The Wyoming Coaches Association only recognizes one team for all-state, and only these players receive an award certificate from the WCA. WyoPreps only lists all-state players as defined by the WCA.

WCA 1A-2A BOYS BASKETBALL ALL-STATE SELECTIONS IN 2026

Each class selected 14 players for all-state, reflecting a broad recognition of talent across Wyoming. Notably, congratulations go to Hulett’s Kyle Smith, Brady Cook from Lingle-Fort Laramie, and Carsten Freeburg from Pine Bluffs, who earned all-state honors for the third straight year. In addition, eight more players achieved all-state status for the second time in their prep careers.

Class 1A

Paul McNiven – Burlington

Bitner Philpott – Burlington

Ammon Hatch – Cokeville (All-State in 2025)

Hudson Himmerich – Cokeville

Kyle Smith – Hulett (All-State 2024 & 2025)

Anthony Arnusch – Lingle-Ft. Laramie

Brady Cook – Lingle-Ft. Laramie (All-State 2024 & 2025)

Tymber Cozzens – Little Snake River (All-State in 2025)

Corbin Matthews – Lusk

Max Potas – Meeteetse (All-State in 2024)

Jace Westring – Saratoga

Hazen Williams – Saratoga

TJ Moats – Southeast (All-State in 2024)

Nic Schiller – Upton

Read More Boys Basketball News from WyoPreps

WyoPreps 1A-2A State Basketball Scoreboard 2026

WyoPreps 3A-4A Regional Basketball Scoreboard 2026

WyoPreps Coaches and Media Final Basketball Poll 2026

1A-2A Boys Basketball Regional Scoreboard 2026

WyoPreps Boys Basketball Week 11 Scores 2026

WyoPreps Coaches and Media Basketball Polls 2-25-26

WyoPreps Boys Basketball Week 10 Scores 2026

WyoPreps Coaches and Media Basketball Polls 2-18-26

WyoPreps Boys Basketball Week 9 Scores 2026

WyoPreps Coaches and Media Basketball Polls 2-11-26

WyoPreps Boys Basketball Week 8 Scores 2026

WyoPreps Coaches and Media Basketball Polls 2-4-26

Class 2A

Caleb Adsit – Big Horn

Chase Garber – Big Horn

Carsten Freeburg – Pine Bluffs (All-State 2024 & 2025)

Mason Moss – Rocky Mountain

Oakley Hicks – Shoshoni

Kade Mills – Sundance

Cody Bomengen – Thermopolis (All-State in 2025)

Zak Hastie – Thermopolis

Ellis Webber – Thermopolis (All-State in 2025)

Joseph Kimbrell – Wright

Mitchell Strohschein – Wright (All-State in 2025)

Adriano Brown – Wyoming Indian

Heeyei’Niitou Monroe-Black – Wyoming Indian (All-State in 2025)

Cordell Spoonhunter – Wyoming Indian

The 2026 state champions were the Saratoga Panthers in Class 1A. They beat Lingle-Fort Laramie, 50-45, in the championship game. The 2A winners were the Thermopolis Bobcats, who repeated as champions, after a 45-38 victory over Wyoming Indian in the title game.

Lusk versus Rock River high school basketball 2026

Game action between the Tigers and Longhorns

Gallery Credit: Courtesy: Lisa Shaw

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Wyoming

New laws establish a statewide literacy program

Published

13 hours ago

March 10, 2026

Press Room

New laws establish a statewide literacy program

A pair of bills signed into law last week aim to build out a more comprehensive system of literacy education across Wyoming’s public schools.

One mandates evidence-based practices and requires regular screenings for dyslexia, while the other enables the Wyoming Department of Education (WDE) to hire a dedicated literacy professional to oversee statewide compliance.

Gov. Mark Gordon’s signing of both bills on Friday was the latest accomplishment of an ongoing push for improved literacy standards. That push has been spearheaded by State Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder.

“Wyoming is not going to let a single child fall through the cracks,” Degenfelder said during a public bill signing last week. “We are not going to fall behind when it comes to ensuring that our children can read at grade level.”

The primary bill, Senate File 59, establishes a statewide K-12 program for teaching students to read that is built on “evidence based language and literacy instruction, assessment, intervention and professional development that supports educators, engages families and promotes literacy proficiency for all Wyoming students.”

The bill defines evidence-based strategies as those that conform to the science of reading, a term that will be defined and updated by Degenfelder’s office. Nationwide, it generally means putting academic research into practice in classrooms. SF 59 specifically prohibits the exclusive use of “three-cueing” — a strategy once widely employed to teach reading but which education experts now say is outdated and less effective than other strategies.

It also requires annual dyslexia screeners for students below the third grade, and testing for reading difficulties for all students.

The screeners are used to identify the severity of reading difficulties in order to direct “tiered” support that offers the most intensive interventions to the students most in need, while still providing “evidence based” language instruction to all students.

Each school district must formulate an individualized reading plan “for each student identified as having reading difficulties or at risk for poor reading outcomes.”

Districts must now report to the state annually regarding their literacy-related work. Any district where 60% or more of the students are struggling will be required to implement “summer literacy camps or extended supports, including after school support and tutoring.”

The bill also requires literacy related professional development for teachers and specialists “appropriate to their role and level of responsibility” related to literacy education.

SF 59 was backed by dyslexia advocates and literacy specialists.

Senate File 14, the other literacy bill signed into law Friday, appropriates $120,000 annually for the next two years for a full-time position at WDE “to assist school districts in implementing a reading assessment and intervention program and language and literacy programs.”

Both bills go into effect July 1.

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Wyoming

Wyoming Announces 2026 Football Schedule – SweetwaterNOW

Published

1 day ago

March 10, 2026

Press Room

Wyoming Announces 2026 Football Schedule

Samuel “Tote” Harris. Photo from gowyo.com

LARAMIE — The University of Wyoming and the Mountain West Conference announced the Cowboys’ 2026 football schedule Monday, a slate that opens with the Border War and concludes with back-to-back home games in Laramie.

Wyoming opens the season Sept. 5 on the road against Colorado State in the 118th edition of the Border War. The Cowboys then host Northern Colorado on Sept. 12 in the home opener before traveling to Central Michigan on Sept. 19.

The Cowboys begin Mountain West play Sept. 26 at home against Hawaii in a matchup for the Paniolo Trophy. Wyoming then faces back-to-back road games at North Dakota State on Oct. 3 and San Jose State on Oct. 10.

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Wyoming returns to War Memorial Stadium on Oct. 17 to host conference newcomer Northern Illinois before facing Air Force at home on Oct. 24. The Cowboys will have an open week on Oct. 31.

The Cowboys open November with road games at UNLV on Nov. 7 and at UTEP on Nov. 14, marking Wyoming’s first meeting with the Miners as members of the Mountain West. Wyoming closes conference play by hosting New Mexico on Nov. 21 and wraps up the regular season with a nonconference game against UConn on Nov. 28 in Laramie.

Each Mountain West team will play four home and four road conference games during the 13-week season, which will conclude with the Mountain West Football Championship Game featuring the two teams with the highest conference winning percentages. The championship game date will be announced later.

With the conference schedule set, Mountain West television partners CBS Sports, FOX Sports, and The CW will begin selecting broadcast games, which could include moving some contests to non-Saturday dates. Network assignments and kickoff times will be announced at a later date.

Season ticket renewals for the 2026 Wyoming football season are now available. Fans can renew their tickets online by visiting gowyo.com/tickets and logging into their account.

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