By Elsa Partan

By Bob Beck

By AP

Cheyenne, WY – Wyoming and Montana are enjoying a relatively calm wildfire season so far this summer.

Wyoming State Forester Bill Crapser and Montana State Forester Bob Harrington report fewer fires and less acreage burned this year.

They cite good late spring and early summer moisture and fewer dry lightning storms.

Crapser says there was little fire activity in the state until mid-July. Normally, the fire season starts in mid-June.

By Bob Beck

Laramie, Wyo. – Republican candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives say Barbara Cubin did a good job listening to constituents and preserving private property rights. But they say they would take the office in a new direction.

Cynthia Lummis, referring to Cubin's attendance record, said she would not miss many votes in Washington.

By AP

Worland, Wyo. – The Bighorn Basin barley crop is shaping up to be a good one.

The barley season is a couple weeks behind schedule. But farmers say the barley looks excellent. Pat Vandersloot, an agronomist with MillerCoors in Worland, says yields appear to be on par with previous years.

Meanwhile, prices are up. MillerCoors is paying growers $11.50 per 100 pounds of barley this year. That's up $4 from last year, setting a new record.

By Elsa Partan

Laramie, Wyo. – Governor Dave Freudenthal says the state will help pay to keep Sylvan Pass safe from avalanches.

Freudenthal made the statement in a letter to the Yellowstone National Park superintendent Friday.

The governor says he will include 35-thousand dollars in the next budget to pay for a howitzer, which would be used to knock down dangerous snow build-up.

By Elsa Partan

Laramie, Wyo. – Governor Dave Freudenthal says the state will help pay to keep Sylvan Pass safe from avalanches.

Freudenthal made the statement in a letter to the Yellowstone National Park superintendent Friday.

The governor says he will include 35-thousand dollars in the next budget to pay for a howitzer, which would be used to knock down dangerous snow build-up.

Lander, Wy – One conservation group that supports the roadless rule says Congress should make it a law. The Wyoming Outdoor Council's Lisa McGee argues with all of the development on public lands recently, it doesn't make sense to get rid of the Clinton-era policy that forbids development in certain national forests.
"There's a good argument to be made that times have changed since the Clinton rule was promulgated. Initially, all of the Western states opposed the roadless rule and today almost all of them support it."

Cody, Wy – The Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody
says it's eliminating seven full-time and three part-time positions.
The museum has 102 full-time and 30 part-time workers and
employs an additional 60 people during the busy summer months.
The layoffs are occurring amid concern that higher fuel prices
are causing tourists to spend less time and money in Cody.
Bruce Eldredge, the museum's executive director, says the
layoffs should come as no surprise to employees. He says the

Gillette, Wy – The State Engineers office is moving forward with efforts to shut down production of Coalbed Methane Wells that produce water but little gas. Already permits have been revoked for 240 such wells in the Powder River Basin and this week State Engineer Pat Tyrell sent letters expressing concern about 992 wells. He says the goal is to stop wasting groundwater.
Tyrell says most operators are very cooperative and do shut down wells. He adds that the vast majority of wells in the Powder River Basin do produce gas.