Wyoming missed out on last uranium boom, but planning for the future
Wyoming Public Radio has for years reported that the state is on the verge of a uranium boom. It turns out the state missed the peak of that boom, and is now betting on slower, more conservative growth. Wyoming Public Radio’s Irina Zhorov reports.
Study explores effects of receding glaciers on Wind River streams
Glaciers in the Wind River Mountain Range have been receding for a long time, and a new study looks at how that’s affecting the ecosystems in high alpine streams. Wyoming Public Radio’s Willow Belden spoke with Craig Thompson, one of the authors of the report. He’s a professor of engineering and applied science at Western Wyoming Community College, and he’s been studying these glaciers for more than two decades.
Are foreign herders the black sheep of immigration reform?
Debate over the immigration overhaul has found its way to the vast open spaces of Wyoming. Here, Peruvian guest workers on H2-A visas tend thousands of sheep. These shepherds make just $750 a month to be on the job around-the-clock, usually alone for months on end. That's around half of what other agricultural guest workers make because sheep ranchers receive a special exemption from minimum wage requirements. Ranchers say it’s needed in order to save this small, struggling American industry. But worker rights advocates say it’s exploitation. Wyoming Public Radio’s Sara Hossaini reports.
Cora’s Legacy: Letters allow Sheridan historian to uncover WWII POWs’ stories
Sheridan-based historian Val Burgess is passionate about World War II Prisoners of war. Through her non-profit, Wars’ Voices, she and her husband Jerry are working to record and archive the stories of World War II P-O-Ws.
Wyoming Trails Summit hopes to improve communities
For the first time, non-motorized trail enthusiasts will gather formally to discuss ways that communities, land managers, and others can improve trails across the state. Tim Young of Wyoming Pathways and Angela Emery, the Director of Casper’s Platte River Trails talk with Wyoming Public Radio’s Bob Beck about the Wyoming Trails Summit.
Growing sagebrush and other native seed: Crackpot idea or lucrative business venture?
Where some people see a weed, others see a gold mine... At least that’s the case in Richard and Claire Dunne’s Absaroka Farm in North Central, Wyoming. A farm that, if you drove past it, you might think was just another stretch of the prairie. Although sagebrush seed is in demand, growing it commercially is a niche marked… and some people think it’s crazy. Wyoming Public Radio’s Luke Hammons filed this report.
Sheridan author discusses “Snow Leopard” fable
Sheridan author Tom McIntyre has a new book out called “The Snow Leopard’s Tale.” It’s a story that takes place on a high Tibetan plateau and is written from the point of view of a snow leopard named Xue Bao. Wyoming Public Radio’s Willow Belden spoke with McIntyre about the book, and he described it as more of a fable than a novel.
Zarina Khan speaks about Sheridan’s Zarif Kahn on Mountain West Voices.
Poem: “Wild, Wild East: Finding Hints of Asia in the West”
As a graduate student in UW’s Creative Writing Program, LuLing Osofsky was fascinated by the various ways she saw Indian culture present in Laramie. South Asian students celebrated traditional festivals on campus, and the town had a good place to get curry. She writes about experiencing these pockets of India in her series of vignettes called “Wild Wild East: Finding Hints of Asia in the West