Many people watching the Democratic National Convention roll call on Tuesday night were surprised to hear the song that blasted through the arena when Wyoming’s delegates pledged their support for Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic presidential nominee.

To many people’s surprise, “I Gotta Feeling” by the Black Eyed Peas was played as the Cowboy State had its brief time in the national spotlight.

A different song was played for each U.S. state and territory during the roll call.

State Rep. Mike Yin, D-Jackson, one of Wyoming’s delegates, said “I Gotta Feeling” was not one of the song choices that Wyoming Democratic Party Chair Joe Barbuto had suggested to the DNC.

Nevertheless, that’s what played as Barbuto announced their commitment to Harris.

“I was more excited about the message he (Barbuto) gave and the energy we gave than about the song,” Yin said.

Repeated Cowboy State Daily requests for which songs Wyoming suggested weren’t answered by publication time.

Slighted?

Nearly all the songs had some type of connection to the state they were played for.

Massachusetts got a punk song about Boston. Kansas was represented by a song from the band Kansas. Minnesota’s roll call was to Prince, as the pop superstar spent much of his life there.

But there is no known connection of any kind between the 2009 dance hit “I Gotta Feeling” or the Black Eyed Peas and Wyoming.

“I wouldn’t have suggested that song,” Yin said.

If the song was in reference to the musical host of the evening, DJ Cassidy, “having a feeling” that Wyoming will vote for Harris in the upcoming presidential election, he’s making quite a leap of faith. The state hasn’t voted for a Democrat for president since 1964, and in 2020 and 2016 voted for former President Donald Trump by a larger margin than any other state.

It’s not that country-western tunes weren’t on the playlist during the roll call either.

For instance, Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama” was played for that southern state, while “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” was played for West Virginia.

Wyoming suffered the same fate as a few other states and territories like Maine and Guam that reportedly had their song choices snubbed.

DJ Cassidy told the New York Post on Wednesday that other picks — like Aretha Franklin’s “Respect” for Maryland, Stevie Wonder’s “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” for Connecticut and Wyoming’s song choice (whatever it was) — were more about the flow of music during the 75-minute show.

“So when there was an opportunity for a state to collaborate with me on a song, when there was an opportunity where there wasn’t necessarily a sure-shot obvious song, I posed … a master list of songs that I thought exuded the emotion of the night, and in several cases, I was able to, you know, put some of those songs into the puzzle,” he said.

15 Seconds Of Fame

When announcing that the 17 Wyoming delegates cast their votes for Harris, Barbuto mentioned how the state was the first to give women the right to vote and elect a female governor.

“With that legacy at mind and heart, the Equality State casts all of our votes for the woman who’s going to be the first woman president of the United States, say it with me now, Kamala Harris,” Barbuto yelled.

Cheering in the background was state Sen. Chris Rothfuss, D-Laramie, Rep. Ken Chestek, D-Laramie, Yin, Hot Springs County Democratic Party Chairman Kim Bartlett, and Albany County Democratic Party State Committeewoman Artemis Langford.

Yin said the energy of the moment greatly overshadowed any disappointment that the DNC didn’t pick a song that was more emblematic of Wyoming’s western heritage and rural culture.

“The roll call was a really exciting and energetic time for the delegates to represent their states,” Yin said. “Even if we weren’t able to pick our song, it allowed us the opportunity for the Equality State and Cowboy State to be noticed on a national level.”

Leo Wolfson can be reached at leo@cowboystatedaily.com.

Two Mountain West states are working together in a new way to try to get the grizzly bear taken off the endangered species list.

They recently trucked two bears from Montana to Wyoming in an effort to connect the two states’ populations. Experts say this move has a lot to do with politics and less to do with science.

The two states — along with Idaho — say the species has rebounded and no longer needs federal protections.

But that was overturned by a 2017 court ruling that said the Yellowstone population still needs to be more genetically diverse. Conservationists also argue that since the different grizzly populations are still not connected in the region, they’re not actually recovered.

So, in an effort to pressure federal agencies to delist the species, the states are starting to capture bears in one ecosystem and release them in another.

“It really is kind of a very preemptive action, so to speak, that addresses a concern that would normally be way down the road,” said Frank van Manen, who leads the interagency team studying these grizzly populations.

He said the grizzlies aren’t in a “dire situation” and that they’re naturally becoming more genetically diverse.

Right now, the Yellowstone and Northern Continental Divide populations are only about 60 miles apart and getting closer, according to van Manen. He added that some bears could have already made the crossover on their own, but it hasn’t been documented.

“Now, the challenge is there is a lot of transportation infrastructure, I-90 and other highways in between, a lot of human-occupied areas,” he said. “The permeability of that landscape is not the same as inside the ecosystem.”

Van Manen said his team will keep up with the bears that have been dropped off in Yellowstone National Park and near Dubois, Wyoming. They had no history of conflict and will be monitored with a GPS collar.

If they don’t reproduce, van Manan said the agencies may need to truck over more grizzlies.

A decision on the grizzly bears’ status on the endangered species list is slated to come in January.

A fire in northern Wyoming that exploded Wednesday to more than 5,000 acres has displaced about 10 families and shut down Interstate 90 between Buffalo and Gillette, an emergency management coordinator said.

The fire started around 11 a.m. or noon Wednesday south of Buffalo near Crook Road, Johnson County Emergency Management Coordinator Jimmy Cataline told Cowboy State Daily in an afternoon phone call.

That’s a rural area with a mini-community of between 10 and 15 houses around Deer Trail, plus farm, ranch and public lands, Cataline added.

High winds whipped up the flames across the dry fields. Pushing northeast, the fire grew rapidly and crossed over Interstate 90 toward Deer Creek.

Evacuate

Authorities gave evacuation orders, with Johnson County Sheriff’s deputies, Buffalo police officers and Bureau of Land Management rangers visiting homes door-to-door to deliver the message.

A shelter is now open at the Bomber Mountain Civic Center in downtown Buffalo, Cataline said.

As of 4 p.m. Wednesday, no one had taken refuge there. Cataline said some locals have been offering to help with food, water or other accommodations. Animals are welcome at the animal shelter and livestock or other pets are also welcome at the Johnson County fairgrounds, he said.

“I don’t have numbers on how many people have been evacuated because nobody’s come here,” said Cataline of the shelter.

Because the fire has crossed Interstate 90 (at around mile marker 72), the Wyoming Highway Patrol has closed the interstate between Buffalo and Gillette temporarily.

Cataline said personnel are diverting traffic up an old state highway that connected Sheridan and Gillette before the interstate and “up some smaller backroads.”

Johnson County Fire, Powder River Fire, Buffalo Fire, Story Fire and BLM Fire all are responding to fight the blaze, he said.

“The coordinated team effort going on among all those groups, and how quick to action they were is exceptional,” Cataline said. “The fire hasn’t slowed down and neither have they.”

Firefighters hope for the wind to die down this evening, and with a chance of rain.

“We’re all doing a rain dance now,” said the emergency coordinator. 

Cataline said he does not yet know the fire’s cause, though some are blaming lightning.

Johnson County Fire Control could not be reached immediately Wednesday.  

Forecast Not Encouraging

Cowboy State Daily meteorologist Don Day said Wednesday’s forecast isn’t encouraging. The wind should abate a little after dark, but the region will be warm and breezy again starting Thursday.

“There are showers and thunderstorms out there, but they’re more to the east – the South Dakota border, more towards Newcastle, Sundance – those areas,” said Day.

Chances of rain in Buffalo are low.

Day said he didn’t have exact lightning data at his fingertips, nor could he pinpoint the fire’s cause, but there was lightning activity in the area around the time the fire started.

Contact Clair McFarland at clair@cowboystatedaily.com

Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.