Willow Belden

The Game and Fish Department has drawn up a new management plan for mule deer in the Platte Valley. The herd there has been declining for some time, and the management plan is aimed at reversing that trend.

The plan includes measures to limit mule deer hunting, improve the animals’ habitat and curb predation by bears and lions.

Regional Wildlife Supervisor Rick King says currently, an unlimited number of mule deer licenses can be sold.

“If you just go down to your local license-selling agent or come into a Game and Fish office, you can buy a general license,” he said. “They’re not limited in number, and you can use that license in any hunt area in the state that has a general season.”

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In its budget request, the University of Wyoming asked for nearly 10 million dollars for salary increases for its employees. But the legislature’s Joint Appropriations Committee rejected pay raises for all state employees, including those at UW. Average pay at UW is below market average, so University President Tom Buchanan tells Willow Belden that salary increases were the university’s highest budget priority.

A helicopter on a rescue mission in Teton County crashed yesterday, killing one person on board. The snowmobiler they were trying to help also died.

The Sherriff’s Department says the snowmobiler’s party called and reported an accident just before noon, and Teton Search and Rescue sent a helicopter to help. The chopper landed at the accident scene but left to get additional personnel. It crashed on Togwotee Pass.

Search and Rescue member Ray Shriver was killed. The pilot and second Search and Rescue member were transported to St. John’s Medical Center.

The causes of the snowmobile crash and the helicopter crash are under investigation.

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Company proposes boosting Wyoming’s energy economy with coal-to-oil plant
The town of Medicine Bow is currently planning for a DKRW proposed coal to liquids conversion facility. The plant would be a financial boom for the state and bring jobs to the county. But this isn’t the first time Wyoming is looking into a project that would add value to its coal so it’s undergoing close scrutiny.

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As we’ve just heard, existing coal-to-liquids plants emit a lot of greenhouse gases. But the proposed Medicine Bow plant is being touted as exceptionally green. Still, environmentalists have concerns about the plant’s effect on air quality and water reserves. And even if this plant is comparatively eco-friendly, future facilities may not have any incentive to follow suit.

A plant that will turn coal into gasoline might be coming to Medicine Bow, and officials from the Biodiversity Conservation Alliance say it could have devastating effects on the area’s sage grouse.

“This big industrial facility is going to get plopped down right in the middle of this sage grouse habitat, and it’s going to wipe out some of the most populous sage grouse leks in the state,” said Erik Molvar, who heads the BCA. “And the sage grouse populations are going to decline.”

Molvar expects to see the sage grouse population disappear entirely within a two- or three-mile radius of the plant.

Tourism is up in Wyoming after a two-year dip. Visitors also spent more than ever in 2011, generating 116-dollars in tax revenue for the state.

Diane Shober, director of the Wyoming Office of Tourism, says tourism has suffered nationwide because of the recession, but that Wyoming has been doing an intensive advertising campaign to counteract that trend.

“Our job … is to make sure that those who are going to travel – that Wyoming is top of mind as a vacation destination – that it’s in that consideration pool,” Shober said.

She added that her agency has advertised across the country to remind people that iconic places like Yellowstone National Park are in Wyoming, and to entice them to other destinations around the state.

Representative Tom Lubnau has drafted legislation aimed at improving workplace safety in Wyoming.

The bill would allocate $250,000 dollars in grant money for companies who want to conduct trainings or purchase safety equipment but don’t have the resources to do so. It would also enable the Department of Employment to hire five additional safety consultants, who would do courtesy visits to work sites.

“It’s a non-punitive inspection,” Lubnau said. “The consultants will go to Wyoming employers and just meet with them, examine their facilities, and make recommendations on how to make the workplaces safer.”

Wyoming children need more education about alcohol, drugs and sex. That’s according to Marc Homer of the Wyoming Children’s Action Alliance.

The group released a study last week which found that children in Wyoming are faring worse than they were a decade ago. The report considered factors such as teen alcohol use, child and infant mortality rates, the number of children qualifying for free meals at school, and availability of prenatal care for expectant mothers.

Homer says part of the solution is to warn kids about substance abuse.

“We also know that there should be education about teen pregnancy and birth control,” he said.

Homer added that some parts of the state need better access to quality child care.

Most Wyoming voters view the state’s national parks, forests and wildlife areas as an essential part of the economy. That’s according to a bipartisan poll conducted at Colorado College.

The survey found that Wyomingites support a broad range of environmental protections but also support energy development on public lands.

Bob Budd with the Wyoming Wildlife and Natural Resource Trust says that’s not a contradiction.

“Wyomingites really do believe that we can have it all,” Budd said. “I think our track record is pretty good that way. We’re bullish on development to some degree, and at the same time we’re very protective and bullish on our natural resource heritage.”

Budd says surveys like this are important in helping policy makers plan for the future.

The town of Jackson is looking to buy a piece of property from the U.S. Forest Service.

The Forest Service plans to get rid of the 10-acre parcel on the outskirts of town and would normally auction it off to the highest bidder. But Jackson officials have asked the agency to consider a direct sale, where they would skip the auction and just negotiate a price with the town.

“Any time you can get 10 acres of dirt in Jackson Hole in one parcel, it’s worth looking into,” said Town Administrator Bob McLaurin. “I think one of the things that you will hear from folks around town is that they would like for this property to remain under public ownership.”

The Wyoming Women’s Foundation and Wyoming Women’s Legislative Caucus want more women to run for public office, and they’re hosting a series of workshops to encourage women to do so.

There are only 13 women in the state legislature, and Richelle Keinath of the Women’s Foundation says that’s not enough.

“The conversation changes if women are involved in decision making,” Keinath said. “We’re half the population, so why wouldn’t we want to be half the people that are making decisions about our communities?”

Keinath says juggling work, family life and leadership responsibilities can be tough for anyone – especially women.

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Wyoming has one of the highest rates of workplace fatalities in the nation. Recently, the state epidemiologist issued a report looking at why that’s the case and making recommendations about what should be done. Workers’ rights advocates are pushing for tougher penalties for companies that violate safety regulations. But for now, it seems the state plans to take a softer approach. Wyoming Public Radio’s Willow Belden reports.

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Protecting pronghorn migration routes is a big deal in Wyoming. The same goes for mule deer. But making sure the animals have unimpeded routes between their summer and winter ranges is only part of the puzzle. Recent research shows that it’s even more important to protect the places where the animals stop along the way. I spoke with Matt Kauffman, who heads the Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, to find out more about the studies that have been done. Kauffman says he and his colleague Hall Sawyer discovered some surprising things about mule deer migration.