Wyoming

Wyoming Gov. Gordon on tariffs, energy and environmental stewardship

Published

1 month ago

February 20, 2026

Wyoming Gov. Gordon on tariffs, energy and environmental stewardship

Geoff Bennett:

President Donald Trump welcomed both Democratic and Republican governors to the White House this morning for a bipartisan meeting.

As that gathering was under way, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its major ruling on tariffs, a decision that could affect a number of states, including Wyoming, where trade and energy production play an important role in the state’s economy.

Wyoming’s Republican Governor Mark Gordon attended the morning’s gathering of governors, and joins us now.

Thanks for being here.

Gov. Mark Gordon (R-WY):

Wonderful to be here. Thanks so much.

Geoff Bennett:

I want to start with trade, since the Supreme Court, as you know, struck down the administration’s tariffs.

Well, how does that decision change the outlook for Wyoming producers and exporters, especially ranchers, energy companies, for instance, that rely on global markets?

Gov. Mark Gordon:

Well, I think that’s a good question.

What I would say is that we had already started some work with Japan and other countries in Asia to talk about getting our natural gas off the West Coast, be able to get our coal off the West Coast. It’s not really clear to us exactly how this trade decision will change that.

I think Japan, for example, was very high — Governor Lujan Grisham and I were in Japan last year, and they were very high on the notion of being able to buy American energy. We hope this continues, and that trade deficit is able to be decreased.

Geoff Bennett:

Well, what are you hearing from industry in your state?

Gov. Mark Gordon:

We were all beginning to adjust to it.

Geoff Bennett:

Right.

Gov. Mark Gordon:

Our ability to — first off, beef is a big part of our economy. Our concerns were domestic consumers. The market has been really quite good.

As far as energy is concerned, our interest is being able to get that offshore. We have tremendous amounts of energy, and we’re really looking at A.I. as being a boon to us. So we’re going to adapt kind of however it comes best for us.

Right now, it’s a little hard to know if it’s going to change our manufacturing, any of that stuff.

Geoff Bennett:

On energy, President Trump pledged to expand domestic energy production. What specifically has the administration delivered for Wyoming, and where do you still want action?

Gov. Mark Gordon:

Well, I think we’re very excited about this administration, because we are not constraining what we can produce.

So we have — Wyoming’s a powerhouse. We have tremendous amounts of fossil fuel. We have led the nation on carbon capture and other things that can make sure that we can both address climate issues and produce more energy, energy that’s available and can be produced easily. We have tremendous resources of wind and solar.

And then we have also built up our nuclear industry. TerraPower and BWXT are both doing work in Wyoming now. So we’re very excited about this administration kind of opening that up. There’s those legacy pieces that we’re working through. The last administration had put some constraints on some of our ability to develop, and we’re hoping that those can be done away with fairly quickly.

Geoff Bennett:

Let’s talk about that, because there’s news on environmental regulation today too. The administration announced it’s rolling back some clean air regulations for power plants, including limits on mercury and hazardous air toxins.

Wyoming has taken steps to regulate methane and wildlife conservation. So how do you balance environmental stewardship with economic competitiveness?

Gov. Mark Gordon:

Well, I think one of the most important things for Wyoming has been, if we do it locally, we have stakeholder engagement. The people that work in the energy business are also hunters. They love the outdoors. They love taking their family fishing.

So they care a lot about what we’re able to do, which is why we have tried to balance how we develop our energy in a way that preserves our migratory game pathways, makes sure that our sage grass populations are protected.

And the state has done that. And it has done it very successfully. I think, when we look at what we can do, as opposed to telling us what we can’t do, and we say we want to balance environmental protection with development, we don’t want to hold back the energy this nation needs, I think you look at the people who can solve those problems on the ground, and this administration has allowed us to do that.

Geoff Bennett:

Why do you think this has been controversial at the federal level, where it seems like you found a strategy for success in the state level?

Gov. Mark Gordon:

Yes, I — that’s a good question.

You look at the results that we have and, generally speaking, people are saying, gosh, that’s working with sage grass, that’s working with migratory game animals. There may be just this notion that Washington can cure everything. If we do it here, we can make it happen elsewhere.

But the real resistance I have to that is that we have private property interspaced with state and federal lands. And when you try to impose the federal will on that, you don’t have stakeholder engagement, you don’t have stakeholder belief in the outcome, and that’s the difference.

Geoff Bennett:

Wyoming is one of the most reliably Republican states in the country. Does that free you up to govern pragmatically?

Gov. Mark Gordon:

Yes, I think it does.

I think what Wyoming is really focused on is sensible solutions to making sure that we can still power our nation. We were the nation’s first national park. that’s deep in our DNA. And so I think what it has given us is the ability to kind of work carefully with property owners and others to find the best solutions.

We have worked also with Democrat administrations as well. And I think one of the friendships that I treasure most is my relationship with Governor Lujan Grisham. We both are energy states. We are not going to agree on everything, but we realize that together we can probably do a better job of representing what’s important to America, if we do work together.

Geoff Bennett:

Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon, thanks for coming in.

Gov. Mark Gordon:

Thanks so much.

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Wyoming

Momentum builds to reform Wyoming Public Records Act

Published

3 hours ago

March 23, 2026

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Momentum builds to reform Wyoming Public Records Act

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Wyoming

Wyoming Wrestling Finishes 12th at NCAA Championships with Three All-Americans – SweetwaterNOW

Published

15 hours ago

March 22, 2026

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Wyoming Wrestling Finishes 12th at NCAA Championships with Three All-Americans – SweetwaterNOW

CLEVELAND — The University of Wyoming wrestling team capped its 2025-26 season with a 12th-place finish and 38 points at the NCAA Championships inside Rocket Arena, marking the highest NCAA finish in head coach Mark Branch’s 18-year tenure. The Cowboys had three wrestlers earn All-American honors.

“It was a great weekend for the Cowboys,” Branch said. “I couldn’t be more proud of these guys for the way they fought through this incredibly difficult tournament. They handled themselves like champions. It was awesome to be around this, and it was awesome to celebrate this with them. Being an All-American is something they’ll have the rest of their lives, and I know how important that is, how big it is and how hard it is at this level.”

At 197 pounds, No. 5 Joey Novak earned his second consecutive All-American honor with a fourth-place finish. He defeated No. 11 Camden McDanel of Nebraska, 7-3, in the consolation semifinals before falling to No. 3 Stephen Little of Little Rock, 7-4, in the third-place match.

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“He embodies the Cowboy tough mentality,” Branch said. “He loves this program. It’s what you need in this day in age. You need guys like Joey. The leadership that Joey has shown is what we’ve been trying to build.”

At 184 pounds, No. 6 Eddie Neitenbach secured his first All-American recognition with a seventh-place finish. He won his final match via medical forfeit over No. 22 Zack Ryder of Oklahoma State.

“Eddie is awesome,” Branch said. “He came in with the most favorable seeding, meaning I was surprised how high a seed he was. Don’t let that fool you. He’d been hanging around 8/9/10 in all the polls. It wasn’t a given he was going to come in and place. He definitely had to show up, and he put together a heck of a tournament.”

Heavyweight No. 18 Christian Carroll also earned his first All-American honor, finishing eighth. Carroll dropped his final match to No. 10 David Szuba of Arizona State by disqualification.

“Christian was gutsy, and he’s learning a lot about himself,” Branch said. “He certainly was feeling the weight of this tournament on him. After losing that first match, his confidence was shaken a little bit. But he picked it up and battled back and showed a lot of grit there. He showed what he’s about and what he’s capable of. He’s been an awesome addition to our team.”

Elsewhere, Gabe Willochell went 3-2 at 149 pounds, advancing to the blood round, while Luke Willochell (133) and Riley Davis (174) each recorded one win in the tournament.

Penn State won the team title with 181.5 points, followed by Oklahoma State with 131 and Nebraska with 100.5.

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Wyoming

Wyoming’s Turkey Vultures Do Much More Than Hang Around Looking Creepy

Published

1 day ago

March 22, 2026

Press Room

Wyoming’s Turkey Vultures Do Much More Than Hang Around Looking Creepy

Many people in Wyoming aren’t terribly fond of turkey vultures. They poop all over trees, barf up “pellets” of leftover gristle and who knows what else, and just hang around looking creepy.

That’s a rush to judgment, vulture advocates say. They admire turkey vultures as a bird that can migrate from Canada all the way to South America and play a vital role in keeping the landscape clear of rotting carcasses.

One of the first signs of spring is vultures showing up in Wyoming, usually in March. They roost by the hundreds on the University of Wyoming campus, in Casper and elsewhere across the state.

They’ll fly out in the morning, usually between dawn and about 8 a.m., and spend the day soaring through the skies, looking for carrion to devour. Then they return in the evening to roost for the night.

Around October, they’ll leave, migrating south for the winter.

Much remains unknown about Wyoming’s turkey vultures. To help find out more, the UW Biodiversity Institute launched the Vulture Watch Wyoming volunteer program in 2024. A vulture-watching training session is set for March 24.

Turkey vultures show up in Casper in March, and stay until October, when they migrate south. (Courtesy: Joanne Theobald)
Every spring, hundreds of turkey vultures show up on the University of Wyoming campus and stay until fall. (Courtesy: Anna Petrey)
Every spring, hundreds of turkey vultures show up on the University of Wyoming campus and stay until fall. (Courtesy: Anna Petrey)

Here Come the UW Vultures

In Laramie, the UW campus is turkey vulture central; there have been as many as 297 of them counted roosting in trees or on buildings, mostly around the Old Main building or in clusters of spruce trees around 15th and Garfield streets.

Vultures seem to like spruce, cottonwood and poplar trees. They don’t seem to care much for pine trees, and nobody is sure why, said Elizabeth Wommack, curator and collection manager of vertebrates at the UW Museum of Vertebrates.

They first started showing up on campus around 2010, she told Cowboy State Daily.

“They sort of used that core group of spruces when they first arrived, and they spread out to other trees,” she said.

Anna Petrey, a Ph.D. student in Clinical Psychology at UW, told Cowboy State Daily that she developed a fascination with turkey vultures after spotting them on campus and joined Vulture Watch Wyoming.

“Vultures are a really precious and interesting bird to me,” she said.

She understands that most people don’t perceive vultures that way.

“I think it’s in part because people do find them to be stinky and gross. But I thought, ‘that can’t be fair, I need to learn more about them,’” she said.

“I think they’re pretty cool-looking; that might be an unpopular opinion,” Petrey added.

Even when there are hundreds of them roosting on campus, it’s easy to miss noticing them.

“They roost up high in trees, and people might not look straight up and see them,” she said.

Vultures are also incredibly quiet, because they basically can’t vocalize, she added.

“The best that they can do is a quiet hiss, and that’s all they can produce,” Petrey said.

Every spring and summer, hundreds of turkey vultures roost in trees on the University of Wyoming campus. (Courtesy: Mason Lee)
Turkey vultures scour the countryside across Wyoming, looking for carrion to eat. (Courtesy: Rena Parsons)
The turkey vulture on the left in this photo is a juvenile, identifiable by its gray head and beak, compared to the red head and white beak of an adult. (Courtesy: Joanne Theobald)

Roosting, Not Nesting

Wommack said that roosting spots are where turkey vultures go to rest and sleep. They don’t nest or raise their young in those places.

Vultures nest in hidden, isolated places, and don’t like their nests being disturbed, she said.

“The nests are hidden, in places like crevices, caves or hollow trees,” she said.

A turkey vulture nest was once discovered in the trunk of an abandoned car in Nebraska, Wommack said.

Juvenile turkey vultures are ready to leave the nest after a few months. They can be identified by their gray heads and dark-colored beaks.

That’s in contrast to the red heads and “bone-white” beaks of adults, Wommack said.

It’s uncertain just how many turkey vultures spend the spring, summer and early fall in Wyoming, she added.

That’s one of the mysteries that she hopes the Vulture Watch Wyoming program will help unravel, she said.

“It’s one of those common avian species that we sometimes take for granted,” she said.

“We decided that reaching out to the community and asking the community to help would be the best way to find out more about them,” Wommack added.

Turkey vultures show up in Casper in March, and stay until October, when they migrate south. (Courtesy: Joanne Theobald)
Turkey vulture have warts on their faces, called crunkles. (Courtesy: Joanne Theobald)

Nature’s Clean-Up Crew

Vultures are designed to consume dead animals, particularly in warm weather, Wommack said.

“They don’t have the same equipment that eagles do,” such as huge claws and sharp, curved beaks for catching prey and killing it, she said.

Those same features allow eagles to turn to scavenging during the winter, because they can rip into frozen carcasses.

Vultures, on the other hand, require softer carcasses that have started to rot a little, which is why they show up to scout the Wyoming landscape during the warmer months.

Vultures search for food by soaring at high altitudes. As one might expect, they have excellent eyesight for spotting dead animals below, Wommack said.

They also have an incredible sense of smell, which helps them find rotting carcasses from great distances, she added.

In Wyoming and across the Great Plains region, turkey vultures don’t have much direct competition.

Farther east or west, they must contend with black vultures or California condors, both of which are bigger and will bully turkey vultures off carcasses.

Adult turkey vultures weigh about four pounds on average and have wingspans of 4½ to 6 feet.

“They have about the same wingspan as golden eagles, but they weigh much less than golden eagles,” Wommack said.

There are written records of turkey vultures in Wyoming going back to the 19th century, she said.

Turkey vulture have warts on their faces, called crunkles. (Courtesy: Joanne Theobald)

‘Crunkles’ in Casper

Multitudes of turkey vultures roost in trees in Casper, said resident Joanne Theobald, a Vulture Watch Wyoming volunteer.

“I’m lucky enough to live in a tree neighborhood in Casper. So we’re lucky enough to have roosting vultures, including one right outside my window, in my neighbor’s tree. So I get the view without the mess,” she said.

Though vulture poop is remarkably clean, it builds up over time, so she understands why homeowners with trees get fed up with it.

“They also throw these pellets; they barf them up. And then there’s the feathers too,” she said.

“People just kind of develop this idea that vultures are dirty, or that they mean death, or they’re going to carry off your small animals,” Theobald said.

“People think they’re creepy, because they’re ugly, but that’s not their fault,” she added.

In addition to their bald heads, vultures develop white facial warts, called “crunkles,” she said.

That might make them even less visually appealing to some, but Theobald said she wonders if the differing number of crunkles on vultures’ faces could help identify individual birds.

Theobald hosts presentations to educate people about vultures and dispel some of the negative impressions about them.

And she thinks Wyoming makes a great place for turkey vultures to come hang out during the warm months.

“If I were a vulture, I would love Wyoming. It’s windy here and they just love to ride the thermals. And there’s wide open spaces with lots of things just dying of natural causes,” she said.

Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.

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