THE U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE has decided not to protect the Wyoming pocket gopher as an endangered species, the agency announced today. This decision came in response to a 2007 petition to list the animal as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act. You can read the official 12-month finding by clicking here. […]

Video: An expert from the University of Wyoming explains some of the basics about pocket gophers. There are a variety of pocket gopher species, including the Wyoming pocket gopher. Credit: ONOW2008 via YouTube

By Sophie Osborn IN EARLY MARCH, WYOMING BRACED FOR A DECISION by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on whether to list the greater sage-grouse as a threatened or endangered species under the Endangered Species Act. (The bird was not listed.) Now south-central Wyoming is facing another listing decision that could influence energy development and […]

HOW DO WE ENSURE GOOD STEWARDSHIP OF THE BIGHORN BASIN? Wyoming’s Bighorn Basin is almost completely surrounded by mountains. The jagged Absaroka and Beartooth ranges are to the west, the tall, rounded Bighorns are to the east and northeast, the Pryor Mountains to the north, and the Owl Creek and Bridger ranges form its southern […]

A MESSAGE TO WYOMING OUTDOOR COUNCIL MEMBERS AND FRIENDS: WE HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO HELP the Shoshone National Forest buy a piece of land near the Sunlight Basin from a private landowner who wants to sell it to the agency. Please contact Senator John Barrasso and ask him to support a $2.5 million appropriation from […]

  THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY PROPOSED NEW SMOG STANDARDS in January with the aim of bringing health benefits to millions of Americans. The deadline to submit comments to the EPA on its proposed rule changes for ground-level ozone is March 22. Please see below for where and how to make sure your voice is heard. […]

IF YOU HAVEN’T DONE SO ALREADY, now is your chance to support a new proposal by the U.S. Forest Service not to lease 44,700 acres in the Wyoming Range for oil and gas development. The deadline to comment on the agency’s preferred alternative is March 22. See details below for where and how to comment. […]

By Richard Garrett, Jr. GOV. DAVE FREUDENTHAL HAS VETOED two bills: Senate File 13, called “Economic Analysis” and House Bill 97, the nuclear energy production study. The Wyoming Outdoor Council was happy to hear of these two decisions, and is grateful to the governor for his careful stewardship. While we did ask the governor to […]

THE GREATER SAGE-GROUSE will not be protected as an endangered species, at least not this year. In a much-anticipated decision—with big implications for Wyoming and other western states—Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced Friday that the iconic western bird is indeed in dire straits. But it will not be afforded protections under the Endangered Species Act. […]

WYOMING GOV. DAVE FREUDENTHAL HAS ANNOUNCED he will not run for re-election in 2010. “We are here today, in part, to confirm that I will not be a candidate for Governor in 2010,” Freudenthal said. “This decision is not made lightly but enjoys strong support from my family. I suspect this statement comes as no […]