Governor Mark Gordon

Wyoming and Utah’s governors said we no longer have to choose between protecting the environment and burning fossil fuels. Energy researchers disagree.

The governor spent the week teasing priorities in his budget ask to lawmakers, which is expected to be released Monday.

The effort is a response to the ongoing back-and-forth about funding for federal SNAP benefits, formerly known as food stamps.

The money will go to organizations and churches running food banks and food pantries across the state.

Roughly 28,000 Wyomingites receive SNAP benefits each month, with an average payment of about $185 per person.

Gordon said a working group will present a strategy for investments in education, applied research, and innovative farm and ranch management.

The federal government shut down at midnight on Oct. 1. Gov. Gordon’s chief of staff has shared short-term protocols with state cabinet members.

For most of the last decade, Wyoming has had one of the highest suicide rates in the U.S.

The emergency declaration allows the Wyoming National Guard and the Wyoming Office of Homeland Security to aid in response. Another fire south of Afton has grown substantially since it started Friday.

The declaration allows the state to access more federal firefighting resources and directs the Office of Homeland Security to participate in firefighting responses. There is an immediate evacuation alongside the Fremont and Host Springs county lines as a result of the Red Canyon Fire.