Wyoming
Wyoming Elk, Antelope Adapt Better To Housing, Energy Developments Than Mule Deer
Being set in their ways could be a disadvantage to Wyoming’s mule deer as housing and energy development continues in parts of the state, a wildlife biologist said.
“Elk are very plastic (flexible) in their movements. Pronghorn are a little less plastic, but they’re able to roll with the punches. With mule deer, they almost put their hooves in the exact same place their mothers did,” Kristen Barker told Cowboy State Daily.
She’s the Cody-based research coordinator for the Beyond Yellowstone Program, a collaborative effort between the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, the University of Wyoming and the University of California, Berkeley.
The group recently completed a study of how land development affects big game in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Research was conducted around Cody, Pinedale and along big game migration corridors in the Red Desert.
It revealed that for the most part, critters avoid development, she said.
“Even if there’s good stuff right around the development, if the animals are going to avoid it, it doesn’t really count as habitat anymore,” Barker said.
Avoidance Tactics
Development for housing or energy can have a big effect on how elk, deer and antelope behave, according Beyond Yellowstone Program’s research brief.
“Our work reveals land development is one of the strongest single influences on migratory big game, affecting everything from where herds live within the broader landscape to where individual animals walk each day,” the brief states.
And it doesn’t take much. A little as 3% of the land in a given area being developed can be enough to disrupt animals’ movement patterns, according to the brief.
But there doesn’t seem to be a one-size-fits-all pattern for Wyoming’s premier big game species — elk, mule deer and antelope, Barker said.
Elk seem to be best at just avoiding human activity and are willing to go out of their way to do it, she said.
“Those Cody elk herds, they can still make big, broad movements” to avoid human activity, she said.
Antelope, not so much. But they still might alter their routes to get around things.
Stubborn Mule Deer Take Long Journeys
But mule deer are “set in their ways and very loyal” to their ingrained migration routes, Barker said.
That’s why people might see mulies showing up in their back yards, she said. It might not be that the deer are completely comfortable being around people, but because homes were built along migration routes, and the deer were just too darn stubborn to change their ways.
And those who see mule deer in their yards should appreciate they might have come from a long way off and still have a long journey ahead of them.
Some deer herds in Wyoming frequently travel great distances as they move between summer range, typically high in the mountains, and winter range in lowlands such as the Red Desert, Barker said.
One Wyoming long-distance record-holder is a mule deer doe, Deer 255, which logged 242 miles one way during her seasonal migration, according to radio collar data.
The Curious Case Of The Estes Park Elk
Of course, many rules in nature have exceptions. As Barker noted, her group’s research indicates that as a general rule, elk like to avoid development.
But here are the huge elk herds that spend part of the year camping out right in the middle of Estes Park, Colorado. Those elk trace their ancestry back to Wyoming. During migrations in and out of Rocky Mountain National Park, they take over the town, grazing in city parks and loitering in downtown business parking lots.
“The situation in Estes Park shows how flexible elk are. One reason they’ll hang out in an area where there’s a bunch of people is, there’s also a bunch of food there,” Barker said. “If there’s not a big cost associated with them being around people, if they’re not being hunted or they’re not being chased around by dogs, they will stick around if the food rewards are there.”
With mule deer, however, their hard-set migration routes might hurt their food supply, she said.
They’ll likely still go through developed spots on their migration routes, but they’ll hurry through. So, they might miss the prime growth periods for certain types of forage along the way, Barker said.
What’s Next
It’s evident that big game animals prefer a “buffer zone” between themselves and human development, Barker said. But just how much distance is required for which species remains unclear, so that could be the subject of further research.
How research might affect policy isn’t up to the Beyond Yellowstone Program, Barker said.
“We’re more of a research group than an advocacy group. We have a mission of getting the information out there in a way that is more digestible than typical scientific research papers,” she said.
And there needn’t be a zero-sum “either-or” between development and wildlife movement, she added.
“It’s possible to have both. It’s possible to have good, solid development and to preserve wildlife migration routes, if we do it the right way,” she said.
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
Since moving to Wyoming many years ago, and having lived in a few towns around the state, I find that some town and city rivalries must be addressed. Some are based on past conflicts that still cause pain to this day. Some are unexplained.
For example, to this day, all of Johnson County still does not trust Cheyenne after the Johnson County War of 1892. Cattlemen in Cheyenne sent a hit squad hired by the barons to invade Johnson County to eliminate alleged rustlers. A shootout that lasted several days ensued.
Other town rivalries include:
Green River vs. Rock Springs: The two towns are close together and share one of the most intense and oldest community, cultural, and athletic rivalries in the state.
Lander vs. Riverton: Located in Fremont County, this rivalry dates back to 1922 and divides the area over high school football bragging rights. They talk a lot of smack about each other.
Cheyenne vs Casper: The towns just HATE each other. I’ve lived in both, and I can tell you that there is nothing wrong with either town. But I’ve come across people in both towns who talk about their hatred of the other.
There is not a lot of love across Wyoming for Jackson, mostly because of the mega-rich liberals who live there. Many of those mega-rich liberals look down on the rest of Wyoming.
Folks talk smack about Laramie, but in a very different way than people talk smack about Gillette.
Having traveled around Wyoming, I can tell you that most of this hate is just nonsense and a waste of time. In the end, we are all Wyomingites. Just one big bickering family who still have each other’s backs when it comes down to it.
The Charmingly Odd Town Of La Grange Wyoming
It is well worth the long drive to see one of the most interesting and quirky little towns in Wyoming.
Stay for lunch. You won’t regret it.
Gallery Credit: Glenn Woods
Jay Em, Wyoming, Frozen In Time
Jay Em, what an unusual name for a town.The few people who live there are proud of what their spot on earth once was, and they work to preserve it. They keep this little community frozen in time.
Gallery Credit: Glenn Woods
Wyoming
Hoping to draw Colorado interest, construction begins at $80M betting facility in Laramie County
CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Foundation work is beginning this week on Wyoming’s next horse betting and gaming house.
The $80 million Wyoming Downs facility in Laramie County, one of two the company is investing in over the next couple of years, is poised to be one of the largest facilities of its kind in the state. The company is aiming for a spring 2027 opening.
The facility will host upwards of 600 historic horse racing machines, Wyoming’s largest TV wall, multiple dining options and more across 58,000 square feet. More land was bought for future hotel development. Commuters driving between Cheyenne and the Colorado border can see clearly from Interstate 25 the expansive development.
That placement along the travel corridor is purposeful, Wyoming Downs and 307 Horse Racing President Kyle Ridgeway said.
“I think that the targeted consumer for this is from Colorado or from the Front Range,” Ridgeway said. “I anticipate we’re going to have plenty of people from Cheyenne come down here to play and enjoy the amenities, but when you look at 600,000 people within a 30-minute drive, that’s what justifies this investment and brings all that tax revenue in from another state, which is fantastic.
“We don’t get the opportunity to do that in Wyoming very often.”
There is still plenty to offer Cheyenne residents besides the facility’s amenities. Ridgeway said in a speech to attendees at the project’s groundbreaking Tuesday, June 2, that more than 150 permanent jobs will be supported by the facility on top of the dozens supported by the companies’ corporate offices and the 400-plus involved in the project’s construction.
Groathouse Construction, a Wyoming business, is the project’s general contractor. Wyoming Downs said it believes putting the project in local hands also helps keep the project uniquely Wyoming-focused.
Ridgeway added the facilities have already proven themselves to be effective tax revenue generators for the local governments. The Wyoming Gaming Commission’s 2025 report, released in late May, shows bettors wagered $2.49 billion on historic horse racing machines last year, a jump from the $2.11 billion wagered in 2024.
Wyoming Downs facilities generate roughly $25 million in taxes annually across the state, and Ridgeway estimated after the ceremony that the upcoming $80 million facility alone will generate an additional $3 million for Laramie County once the property has been in operation for a few years.
Horse betting sites have been increasingly popping up across Wyoming this decade. The Wyoming Downs location will be Cheyenne’s second large-scale horse betting facility since 2024, when the 30,000-square-foot Horse Palace at Swan Ranch opened. Ridgeway said Wyoming Downs is still offering something fresh for tourists and residents.
“This’ll have amenities that Swan Ranch doesn’t have, including the largest TV wall in Wyoming and a pretty super-cool sports viewing area with a restaurant and just a level of finish and class that I don’t think Wyoming has quite seen yet with these types of properties,” he said.
Ridgeway said he thinks resident fatigue with these facilities isn’t as strong as it appears, especially given the tourism benefits of off-track betting.
“Wyoming’s been built on mineral extraction and tourism, and what this is is a touristic facility. I’m not aware of any particular pushback about this specific facility outside of — you see random social media comments where people say, ‘Oh, another gambling facility.’ But where this is located, I think people in Cheyenne have generally been supportive of,” he said.
The Laramie County facility will be just one part of a larger project Wyoming Downs is working on over the next few years. Construction will begin in early 2027 on a similar facility in Evanston looking to draw in Utah and western Colorado crowds.
Some of the company’s current facilities, notably in Casper, Cheyenne and Rock Springs, will see millions poured into renovations as well. New smaller-scale parlors will also go up in Gillette and Green River this year, according to an information packet provided by the company.
More details will come as the construction process develops, Ridgeway said. Details about amenities, such as what the complex’s dining options will look like, remain undisclosed, though Ridgeway promised that options will be “excellent.”
“We haven’t made final selections on what the options are, but we have a number of different options on the table that we’re considering for what we want to offer for the customers,” Ridgeway said. “You have to have something that’s high quality for where this is located. If somebody’s going to drive 25 or 35, or even 45 minutes to come here, they got to be able to sit down and have a quality meal.”
For more information as it becomes available and to learn more about Wyoming Downs facilities and 307 Horse Racing‘s events and offerings, see the companies’ websites. Renderings for the upcoming Cheyenne facility commissioned by the company are available for viewing below.
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