A new survey from United Today, Stronger Tomorrow (UTST) found artificial intelligence (AI) and transparency in government as big issues facing rural communities. UTST conducted local conversations across nine western states, including Wyoming. The survey is presented as a reflection of rural Americans and their feelings toward the country turning 250.
For Wyoming, UTST conducted an online conversation featuring Shoshoni resident Micki Herbert, National Forest Foundation Program Coordinator and Laramie City Councilor Jim Fried and Principal of Arapahoe High Charter School in Fremont County Katie Law. For the small group of Wyomingites, AI, communications in politics and a lack of a social safety net were major concerns. UTST Tanner Ewalt hosted the meeting and noted that these are political topics that they heard from numerous other rural communities.
Ewalt said Wyoming had the most interviews out of any other state involved in the survey. Those leader interviews were done with elected officials, health care workers, members of law enforcement, faith leaders, business leaders and more.
Corruption and a movement toward authoritarianism were major concerns that UTST found across the West. Even more talked about was AI and data centers.
“The thing that everybody wants to talk about right now,” said Ewalt, “AI.”
That included Fried, who spoke primarily about the concerns around potential data center development in Albany County.
”People are passionate about how we decide to develop. And so that's led to a lot of conversations,” said Fried.
There are no known plans to build data centers in Albany County, but Laramie locals have tried to organize and prevent development from starting. Laramie’s I-80 neighbors in Cheyenne failed to pass a moratorium on data center development as the state’s capital continues to grow into a data center hub.
Fried said he's been hearing from people at coffee shops, on trails, and during council meetings about numerous issues, however, Laramie locals were spurred into action when the city council talked about the possibility of data center development down the line.
“ [That meeting] started spurring conversations,” said Fried. “And so we have a work session coming up with city staff, our planning department, [and] hopefully members of our county commission, to talk about the future of data center development. And that was really driven by people being passionate and engaged at a local level and bringing those issues up.”
Herbert mentioned transparency and accountability. She said she feels a lack of communication from elected leaders to Wyomingites creates an environment where some politicians move quickly and make decisions before people can react.
“ When was the last time that any of you received a phone call, an email, or a mailing discussing what the important issues are that [lawmakers are] working on?” said Herbert. “Or perhaps even inviting you and letting you know where any of these meetings are to express your views?”
Herbert also said she’s reached out to U.S. Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) to address issues of transparency but was never satisfied with the responses she received.
Law spoke on the dangers of not having safety nets in rural communities where individuals can be in a socially or economically vulnerable position without any options. Given her work with kids, she said she’s seen numerous different young people struggle to navigate social hardships and mental health challenges without a safety net of services to assist them.
”When people think about Wyoming, they picture [this] Old West, neighbors helping neighbors, communities coming together in times of need,” said Law. “For many of us who grew up in Wyoming, that wasn't really a stereotype. It was a reality. Unfortunately, just over the years, I've seen that culture become increasingly polarized. Too often, we have these issues that are no longer that shared understanding. And these decisions are being made about people and families based on assumptions of families, schools, communities, and what they should look like rather than what they actually look like.”
In one instance, Law spoke about a student who passed away after abuse and multiple mental health crises.
”The tragedy of the situation was not that people didn't care, it's that every part of the system in which we were working with was stretched beyond its capacity,” said Law. “Mental health providers had these huge waiting lists. Social services are overwhelmed with their caseloads. A lot of the treatment facilities are so far away, they're not physically accessible to some of us in rural Wyoming and there's no backup system.”
When asked by Wyoming Public Radio what the material result of these local engagements was, Ewalt said these conversations did not necessarily lead to organized action, but were a step in that direction.
“ People like the systems of our government, they don't love that it has become so disconnected from the actual needs of people on the ground,” said Ewalt. “Talking to folks about the issues doesn't move them to organizing, but showing them that they have agency does…. [and] for a state like Wyoming, that is the most effective thing anybody who's concerned about any issue can do is find the people who have agency over those decisions and talk to them. Jim [Fried] is a normal guy who will have a normal conversation with you about whatever it is here in Laramie, and I know that's true across our state.”
The other states involved in the survey were Alaska, Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Montana, Nebraska, South Dakota and Utah.
This reporting was made possible by a grant from the Corporation For Public Broadcasting, supporting state government coverage in the state. Wyoming Public Media and Jackson Hole Community Radio are partnering to cover state issues both on air and online.
