Natural Resources & Energy

Rock-covered glaciers in Wyoming are helping scientists understand the glaciers on Mars.

Even in the height of the pandemic last summer, visitors came rushing to national parks and forests in Wyoming. Officials are preparing for an even crazier summer season this year.

U.S. Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) is looking to a bipartisan innovation bill, the Endless Frontiers Act, to expand research into critical and rare earth element mining, resources used widely in military and civilian industries.

University of Wyoming Professor Tara Righetti will head to France this summer to study how the European state transitioned its economy and culture away from fossil fuel production.

Wyoming Stargazing, an astronomy non-profit, is hosting a free online speaker series this spring and summer. The next featured speaker is Suzanne Ramsay from the European Southern Observatory in Munich.

The University of Wyoming has won two awards from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to support research on critical minerals.

The Wyoming Office of Tourism has released its 2020 Tourism Economic Impact Report and it shows a decline in revenue and visitors last year.

In 2020, Wyoming's travel economy declined 23 percent, while travel across the U.S. was down 36 percent. Nearly seven million visitors in 2020 brought in $160 million in state and local taxes.

The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded $51.7 million dollars to a California-based carbon capture company called Membrane Technology and Research (MTR) in order to set up a large-scale pilot demonstration in northeast Wyoming.

MTR is expected to set up at the partially-state funded research site Wyoming Integrated Test Center, located next to the Dry Fork Station, a coal-fired power plant in Gillette.

The newly established Pilot Hill Recreation Area opened late last year for non-motorized recreation. More recently, the Pilot Hill Wildlife Habitat Management Area opened May 1.

The 5,500-acre parcel is managed by the nonprofit Pilot Hill Inc. and provides a natural laboratory for researchers interested in the effects of non-motorized recreation on wildlife.

Mule deer migrate twice a year, moving between low elevation winter ranges and higher elevation summer ranges. In the spring they "surf the green wave," following the nutritious young spring plants upwards in elevation.

Previously, it was thought that does timed giving birth to peak green up during this wave, giving their fawns easy access to the most nutritious forage.

Last year was one of the worst wildfire seasons on record in the West. But certain seeding treatments may help prevent more fires in the future.

Conserving energy is important for bears, especially in the fall, when they're getting ready for hibernation. According to new research, their travel habits have a lot to do with that goal.

Sheridan College has been honored by the Arbor Day Foundation for its tree management practices. It's the eighth consecutive year the college has received the Tree Campus USA distinction and was the first in the state to do so.

Sheridan College Grounds Maintenance Supervisor Zack Houck said there are 44 varieties and 23 different species of trees, with more than 500 trees total on campus.

A number of conservation groups are joining the legal battle over President Biden's oil and gas leasing pause, filing a motion to defend the president's actions.

One scientist thought he wasn't going to be able to go out into the field due to the pandemic, so he started looking for fossil plants from his desktop.

Wyoming Game and Fish Department officials updated the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission on the public engagement process as it looks to update its elk feedground management plan.

A study done by University of Wyoming researchers and a food justice non-profit shows some evidence that farmers market coupon programs for low-income people can improve fruit and vegetable consumption.

It took place at the Wyoming Food For Thought Project's summer farmers market in Casper.

Hunters and anglers are required to have a Conservation Stamp when they're in the field. Starting July 1, though, the price of Conservation Stamps will increase 72 percent from $12.50 to $21.50. The $9 increase will generate $1.6 million in additional funds for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD) every year.

Last year, the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team estimated the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem grizzly population was around 700. The team did that by using a calculation that uses several different data points.

Methane has a larger impact on global warming than carbon dioxide. Some states are releasing a lot of it through abandoned oil and gas wells, but a new study finds Wyoming is not one of them.

Two winners have been announced for the $20 million NRG COSIA Carbon XPRIZE: one that used flue gas from natural gas combustion in Canada, the other, from a coal-fired power plant in Wyoming.

The competition aimed to scale up young demonstrations of carbon capture utilization technology: tech that uses carbon dioxide to create products.

A new study finds that liberals and conservatives not only hold different beliefs about climate change, but they also pay attention to different aspects of it.