Wyoming

Wyoming wants more money and say over fossil fuels on federal lands

Published

3 weeks ago

February 13, 2026

Wyoming wants more money and say over fossil fuels on federal lands

Federal government shut downs and financial breaks to the fossil fuel industry have Wyoming lawmakers worried about the state’s bottom line.

Making their way through the Legislature are two resolutions, which are formal asks of Wyoming’s Congressional delegation to take action. Resolutions can’t change law themselves and have been described as a “formal opinion” by one Wyoming lawmaker.

HJ 2, Federal mineral royalties-state share, would increase Wyoming’s split of federal mineral royalty rates from a little less than 50% to 87.5%, leaving 12.5% for the feds. These royalties are paid by companies when they take coal, oil or gas out of the ground on federal lands. Wyoming’s share of the revenue helps fund schools, roads and local governments.

Royalties sparked lawmakers’ attention this summer in the interim after the GOP policy bill, known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, was signed into law by Pres. Trump. It lowered royalty rates for fossil fuel companies, meaning they will pay less for the resources they extract. The hope is it’ll incentivize more business. But it also means less immediate revenues for Wyoming, which is a top producer of coal, oil and gas.

Specifically, the act cut coal royalty rates by nearly half through 2034. Economists crunched the numbers and estimated that’ll be a roughly $50 million cut to Wyoming annually.

To avoid that loss, the Legislature’s Federal Natural Resources Committee wants to formally ask Congress to beef up Wyoming’s share of those royalties. Currently, most U.S. states have what Wyoming has now, about a 49% cut of the pie.

Lawmakers noted that since it’s a resolution, it won’t change anything unless Congress takes action.

“I doubt this will get any traction, but if you don’t throw a ball out there, you’ll never know,” said Rep. Bob Davis (R-Baggs).

HJ 2 is making quick progress through the House, passing out of committee on Tuesday and second reading in the House on Thursday.

Also spawning out of federal government woes is SJ 1, State management-federal mineral leases. It asks Congress to introduce a bill to give Wyoming the authority to manage mineral leasing on federal lands in the state.

“The idea was if we get in a situation where we have the [federal] government shut down, that has the potential to have dire consequences for us,” said Rep. Bob Wharff (R-Evanston) while presenting the resolution to the Senate Minerals, Business & Economic Development Committee on Feb. 11.

During a government shutdown, there’s a risk of federal lease sales for energy development to be paused. Last fall, a federal coal lease sale in Montana still happened during the government shutdown. But a Wyoming sale was postponed and has yet to be rescheduled.

Some Wyoming lawmakers think that if the state can administer the sales, a federal government shutdown wouldn’t be a factor.

“Basically allow the state of Wyoming to still function even if our federal government shuts down,” said Wharff.

Wharff noted that state lawmakers sent a letter to Wyoming’s congressional delegation this summer with a similar request.

“The letter that they [state lawmakers] got back kind of offended us a little bit,” Wharff said. “It came from a staffer who just said, “Yeah, [if] we get time. We’ll look at it.””

Wharff said passing this resolution would be a more direct ask.

Some lawmakers, along with the Wyoming Wilderness Association, voiced concern that managing the lease sales would be too great of an administrative burden for Wyoming.

“This is one of those really good ideas that’s, as presented, is pretty much a pipe dream,” said Sen. Ed Cooper (R-Ten Sleep).

But Wharff said he thinks it’s an opportunity to prove that Wyoming can take on federal lands.

“So that if in fact the federal lands are ever transferred to the state, that we’ve demonstrated to the people that live here that we can responsibly manage the lands that are entrusted to this state to be managed for the people,” Wharff said.

An amendment was passed to address concerns. It clarified that Wyoming would only take over leasing for lands agreed upon with the federal government and that the state would be compensated for administrative costs.

The committee passed SJ 1, and it’ll now go before the full Senate for a second vote.

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Wyoming

Wyoming 3A and 4A Boys Basketball Regionals Tip Off Postseason Play

Published

7 hours ago

March 6, 2026

Press Room

Wyoming 3A and 4A Boys Basketball Regionals Tip Off Postseason Play

The 2026 postseason has arrived for Wyoming High School boys’ basketball teams in Class 3A and 4A. They participate in regional tournaments from Thursday through Saturday. The regionals will be in Buffalo, Evanston, Gillette, and Lovell. Three sites will use the format: two wins qualify a team for the state tournament next week in Casper, or two losses eliminate a team. The 4A East Region has three loser-out first-round games on Thursday, followed by two days of games for seeding. The 4A East Regular Season champ draws a first-round bye and has qualified for the state tournament.

WYOPREPS 3A-4A BOYS BASKETBALL REGIONAL TOURNAMENT SCHEDULES

Except in the 4A East Regional, Friday starts with elimination games. The regional semifinals are on Friday night. The final seeds for next week’s state tournament will be determined on Saturday. The schedules below for this weekend are based on the brackets sent to WyoPreps. It is subject to change.

THURSDAY, MARCH 5:

Final Score: (3) Pinedale 58 (6) Mountain View 40

Final Score: (2) Cody 58 (7) Powell 46

Final Score: (1) Lovell 75 (8) Lyman 43

Final Score: (4) Lander 65 (5) Worland 40

FRIDAY, MARCH 6:

Game 5: Mountain View vs. Powell, noon – loser out

Game 6: Lyman vs. Worland, 1:30 p.m. – loser out

Game 7: Pinedale vs. Cody, 6 p.m. – semifinal

Game 8: Lovell vs. Lander, 7:30 p.m. – semifinal

SATURDAY, MARCH 7:

Game 9: Winner Game 5 vs. Loser Game 8, 11 a.m. – loser out

Game 10: Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 7, 11 a.m. – loser out (at LMS)

Game 11: Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 10, 5 p.m. – 3rd Place Game

Game 12: Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8, 2 p.m. – Championship Game

THURSDAY, MARCH 5:

Final Score: (3) Douglas 85 (6) Rawlins 50

Final Score: (2) Wheatland 57 (7) Burns 40

Final Score: (5) Torrington 35 (4) Newcastle 28

Final Score: (1) Buffalo 69 (8) Glenrock 44

FRIDAY, MARCH 6:

Game 5: Rawlins vs. Burns, noon – loser out

Game 6: Newcastle vs. Glenrock, 1:30 p.m. – loser out

Game 7: Douglas vs. Wheatland, 6 p.m. – semifinal

Game 8: Torrington vs. Buffalo, 7:30 p.m. – semifinal

SATURDAY, MARCH 7:

Game 9: Winner Game 5 vs. Loser Game 8, noon – loser out

Game 10: Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 7, 1:30 p.m. – loser out

Game 11: Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 10, 7:30 p.m. – 3rd Place Game (if necessary)

Game 12: Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8, 4:30 p.m. – Championship Game

Read More Boys Basketball News from WyoPreps

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

Nominate A Boys Basketball Player For Athlete Of The Week 2025-26

THURSDAY, MARCH 5:

Final Score: (NW-3) Kelly Walsh 64 (SW-2) Riverton 49

Final Score: (NW-1) Natrona County 77 (SW-4) Jackson 23

Final Score: (NW-2) Green River 50 (SW-3) Evanston 40

Final Score: (SW-1) Star Valley 62 (NW-4) Rock Springs 60 – Erickson makes a turnaround jumper at the buzzer off an offensive rebound for the Braves.

FRIDAY, MARCH 6:

Game 5: Riverton vs. Jackson, noon – loser out

Game 6: Evanston vs. Rock Springs, 1:30 p.m. – loser out

Game 7: Kelly Walsh vs. Natrona County, 6:30 p.m. – semifinal

Game 8: Green River vs. Star Valley, 8 p.m. – semifinal

SATURDAY, MARCH 7:

Game 10: Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 7, 11:30 a.m. – loser out

Game 9: Winner Game 5 vs. Loser Game 8, 1 p.m. – loser out

Game 11: Winner Game 10 vs. Winner Game 11, 4:30 p.m. – 3rd Place Game (at EMS)

Game 12: Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8, 4:30 p.m. – Championship Game

THURSDAY, MARCH 5:

Game 1: (1) Sheridan = Bye

Final Score: (2) Cheyenne Central 75 (7) Cheyenne South 35 – Bison are eliminated

Final Score: (3) Thunder Basin 75 (6) Laramie 59 – Plainsmen are eliminated; Bolts qualify for state

Final Score: (4) Campbell County 59 (5) Cheyenne East 39 – loser out; Thunderbirds are eliminated; Camels qualify for state.

FRIDAY, MARCH 6:

Game 6: Cheyenne Central vs. Thunder Basin, 4:30 p.m. – semifinal

Game 5: Sheridan vs. Campbell County, 7:30 p.m. – semifinal

SATURDAY, MARCH 7:

Game 7: Loser Game 5 vs. Loser Game 6, 11:30 a.m. – 3rd Place Game

Game 8: Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6, 2:30 p.m. – Championship Game

James Johnson Winter Showcase Basketball Tournament 2026

Photos from game action at the James Johnson Winter Showcase tournament in Cheyenne.

Gallery Credit: Courtesy: Shannon Dutcher

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Wyoming

Explore small streams of Wyo. with WGFD XStream Angler challenge

Published

19 hours ago

March 5, 2026

Press Room

Explore small streams of Wyo. with WGFD XStream Angler challenge

WYOMING — The Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD) is rolling out its 2026 XStream Angler challenge, open to anyone looking to fish the smaller streams of Wyoming. The XStream Angler challenge is an opportunity for anglers in the state to explore over 150 streams with instream flow water rights. According to WGFD, instream flow […]

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Wyoming

Governor Gordon attends signing of Wyoming’s Healthy Choice Waiver in Washington D.C.

Published

1 day ago

March 5, 2026

Press Room

Governor Gordon attends signing of Wyoming’s Healthy Choice Waiver in Washington D.C.

CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Governor Mark Gordon’s office recently announced that the governor and Director of Family Services (DFS) Korin Schmidt traveled to Washington D.C. on Wednesday to meet with Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., as well as other Trump Administration officials, to sign the Wyoming’s Healthy Choice Waiver. A release […]

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