Wyoming
Wyoming lawmakers step toward bill clarifying corner crossing’s legality – WyoFile
Corner-crossing public land users have had their legal access rights repeatedly affirmed, and on Friday, the sheriff of the county where it all started was asked if state statute changes could help his deputies navigate the new legal landscape.
Carbon County Sheriff Alex Bakken retorted that his officers are acting under the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision upholding corner crossing’s legality, while also being “very, very careful” to ensure that those public land users aren’t contacting or damaging private property. Current deputies are “fairly well versed in this issue,” he said.
“As time progresses and new deputies [come on board] and this issue becomes more and more prevalent, I think more clarification would be beneficial,” Bakken told members of the Wyoming Legislature’s Travel, Recreation, Wildlife and Cultural Resources Committee gathered in Dubois.
Minutes later, the panel of Wyoming senators and representatives voted in a show of hands to prepare language addressing law enforcement’s desire for more legal clarity.
Corner crossing is defined as stepping from one piece of public land to another where the landscape consists of a checkerboard-like pattern with alternating public and private ownership. Corner crossers needn’t touch kitty-corner pieces of private ground, but they necessarily pass through the airspace above it.
The proposition of a bill further cementing the public’s right to access 3 million acres in Wyoming was not without its controversy.
“This issue is not settled at the federal level,” Wyoming Farm Bureau Federation lobbyist Brett Moline testified in Dubois. “Until it is settled, I don’t think there’s much that we can do.”
Moline’s remark alluded to the prospect that the Supreme Court of the United States might take on the corner-crossing case. That’s considered unlikely — several people said in the meeting. Nevertheless, it’s being sought by lawyers for Fred Eshelman, the wealthy North Carolina pharmaceutical executive who owns Elk Mountain Ranch in Carbon County. Checkerboarded public land next to and throughout the ranch was the site of the showdown that so far has affirmed the public’s right to access that public land.
Wyoming Stock Growers Association lobbyist Jim Magagna also urged lawmakers to wait on SCOTUS before tinkering with state statute.
“If it is heard by the Supreme Court and upheld, then I think where we will be coming to the Legislature and need your assistance … would be in defining the parameters of it,” Magagna said. “There’s going to be so many things that would need to be addressed from a Wyoming perspective.”
The longtime lobbyist threw out some suppositions: Could someone invent a ladder that could accommodate a side-by-side or even a pickup truck that could enable motorized corner crossing?
But other parties encouraged action, translating the 10th Circuit’s decision into clear-cut Wyoming law.
“Is this complicated? Wildly,” Wyoming Backcountry Hunters and Anglers lobbyist Sabrina King said. “Do we probably need clarification at some point that says, ‘Corner crossing, if you don’t touch the surface of the private land, is not a crime.’ That would be helpful.”
“It’s wild that we have to lay out in statute that not committing a crime is not committing a crime,” she added, “but with the complication of this issue, that may be necessary.”
Efforts to amend Wyoming law to recognize the federal courts’ corner-crossing decisions have so far fallen short. Democrat Rep. Karlee Provenza, of Laramie, ran a bill during the Legislature’s 2025 general session — prior to the 10th Circuit’s decision — but it went nowhere after being held in the drawer by Republican Speaker of the House Chip Neiman, a Hulett rancher.
Five months later, Provenza is working with legislative staff on the language of a bill that might gain support of the Travel, Recreation, Wildlife and Cultural Resources Committee, of which she’s a member.
“It’s a whole lot easier to point to a statute in the green book than it is to say, ‘Here’s this however-many-page court document that tells us that we can do this, this and this,’” Provenza told WyoFile. “If we have it in our state statute, it’s just a lot clearer for law enforcement on the ground. It reduces disputes between law enforcement and landowners who are potentially trying to [prevent] sportsmen from being able to hunt on their public land.”
The Travel, Recreation, Wildlife and Cultural Resources Committee meets next on Aug. 19 in Casper.
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.”
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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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