Willow Belden

A new report tracks the amount of oil and gas drilling that’s gone on over the past 10 years in different counties across the Rocky Mountains.

Julia Haggerty, one of the authors of the report, says the pace and scale of drilling has a profound effect on local communities – not only during the height of a boom, but in the time right before and after. Haggerty says more research needs to be done on how counties rebound after a bust.

The Game and Fish Department has drawn up a new management plan for mule deer in the Platte Valley. The herd there has been declining for some time, and the management plan is aimed at reversing that trend.

The plan includes measures to limit mule deer hunting, improve the animals’ habitat and curb predation by bears and lions.

Regional Wildlife Supervisor Rick King says currently, an unlimited number of mule deer licenses can be sold.

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A helicopter on a rescue mission in Teton County crashed yesterday, killing one person on board. The snowmobiler they were trying to help also died.

The Sherriff’s Department says the snowmobiler’s party called and reported an accident just before noon, and Teton Search and Rescue sent a helicopter to help. The chopper landed at the accident scene but left to get additional personnel. It crashed on Togwotee Pass.

Search and Rescue member Ray Shriver was killed. The pilot and second Search and Rescue member were transported to St. John’s Medical Center.

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As we’ve just heard, existing coal-to-liquids plants emit a lot of greenhouse gases. But the proposed Medicine Bow plant is being touted as exceptionally green. Still, environmentalists have concerns about the plant’s effect on air quality and water reserves. And even if this plant is comparatively eco-friendly, future facilities may not have any incentive to follow suit.

A plant that will turn coal into gasoline might be coming to Medicine Bow, and officials from the Biodiversity Conservation Alliance say it could have devastating effects on the area’s sage grouse.

“This big industrial facility is going to get plopped down right in the middle of this sage grouse habitat, and it’s going to wipe out some of the most populous sage grouse leks in the state,” said Erik Molvar, who heads the BCA. “And the sage grouse populations are going to decline.”

Tourism is up in Wyoming after a two-year dip. Visitors also spent more than ever in 2011, generating 116-dollars in tax revenue for the state.

Diane Shober, director of the Wyoming Office of Tourism, says tourism has suffered nationwide because of the recession, but that Wyoming has been doing an intensive advertising campaign to counteract that trend.

“Our job … is to make sure that those who are going to travel – that Wyoming is top of mind as a vacation destination – that it’s in that consideration pool,” Shober said.

Representative Tom Lubnau has drafted legislation aimed at improving workplace safety in Wyoming.

The bill would allocate $250,000 dollars in grant money for companies who want to conduct trainings or purchase safety equipment but don’t have the resources to do so. It would also enable the Department of Employment to hire five additional safety consultants, who would do courtesy visits to work sites.

Wyoming children need more education about alcohol, drugs and sex. That’s according to Marc Homer of the Wyoming Children’s Action Alliance.

The group released a study last week which found that children in Wyoming are faring worse than they were a decade ago. The report considered factors such as teen alcohol use, child and infant mortality rates, the number of children qualifying for free meals at school, and availability of prenatal care for expectant mothers.

Homer says part of the solution is to warn kids about substance abuse.

Most Wyoming voters view the state’s national parks, forests and wildlife areas as an essential part of the economy. That’s according to a bipartisan poll conducted at Colorado College.

The survey found that Wyomingites support a broad range of environmental protections but also support energy development on public lands.

Bob Budd with the Wyoming Wildlife and Natural Resource Trust says that’s not a contradiction.

The town of Jackson is looking to buy a piece of property from the U.S. Forest Service.

The Forest Service plans to get rid of the 10-acre parcel on the outskirts of town and would normally auction it off to the highest bidder. But Jackson officials have asked the agency to consider a direct sale, where they would skip the auction and just negotiate a price with the town.

The Wyoming Women’s Foundation and Wyoming Women’s Legislative Caucus want more women to run for public office, and they’re hosting a series of workshops to encourage women to do so.

There are only 13 women in the state legislature, and Richelle Keinath of the Women’s Foundation says that’s not enough.

“The conversation changes if women are involved in decision making,” Keinath said. “We’re half the population, so why wouldn’t we want to be half the people that are making decisions about our communities?”

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Wyoming has one of the highest rates of workplace fatalities in the nation. Recently, the state epidemiologist issued a report looking at why that’s the case and making recommendations about what should be done. Workers’ rights advocates are pushing for tougher penalties for companies that violate safety regulations. But for now, it seems the state plans to take a softer approach. Wyoming Public Radio’s Willow Belden reports.

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Researchers hope to determine how much development mule deer can tolerate on their migration routes.

Biologist Hall Sawyer found in a recent study that when mule deer travel between their summer and winter ranges, they spend 95 percent of their time stopping and eating.

“If we consider these migration routes highways, the stopovers would be like the hotels, where you crash in for the night and grab a bite to eat,” Sawyer said. “And maybe you stay there for a night, maybe you stay for a week.”

The Wyoming Business Council is conducting a survey to determine what parts of the state have inadequate Internet access.

Leah Bruscino is the Council’s northwest regional director. She says some rural areas have nothing but dial-up, and it’s hard to run a business that way.

“Mountain lodges that cater to, say, snowmobilers or summer trade – you know, obviously being tourism businesses, they’d like to have rich, vibrant sites and be able to send clients nice, rich information.,” says Bruscino. “That’s a challenge.”

Gov. Matt Mead is hoping to more than double the number of Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspectors in Wyoming.

Wyoming has one of the highest rates of workplace fatalities in the nation.

In a recent report to the governor, former State Epidemiologist Tim Ryan recommended fixing the problem, in part, by encouraging more OSHA courtesy inspections. That’s where a company invites OSHA to check out their operations and help them comply with safety regulations.

But Ryan says there aren’t enough OSHA employees.

The Game and Fish Department is coming up with a new management plan for mule deer in the Platte Valley.

The mule deer population has declined by at least 30 percent over the past few decades, and last fall, Game and Fish solicited input from the public about how to address the problem.

After a meeting with Gov. Matt Mead’s staff on Thursday, workers’ rights advocates say they’re optimistic that Mead will take steps to ensure safer work environments in Wyoming.

Wyoming has one of the highest rates of workplace fatalities in the country, and a recent report by the state epidemiologist documenting injuries and deaths over the past 17 years has put the problem back in the spotlight.

Kim Floyd of the AFL-CIO says the meeting with the governor’s staff was productive.

Wyoming’s ski resorts are benefitting from the lack of snow elsewhere in the country.

  Some areas in the Tetons have gotten more than 12 feet of snow so far this season, and both major resorts near Jackson say they’re getting visitors who would normally have gone to resorts in other states.

  Grand Targhee Resort has been honoring season passes from other ski areas, provided visitors stay at least two nights. And Jackson Hole Mountain Resort says skiers who had planned to vacation in Colorado or Utah are changing plans last minute and coming to Wyoming.

The Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality says oil and gas companies in the Pinedale area are improving efforts to curb emissions on high ozone days.

The area is not in compliance with federal Clean Air Act standards, and the DEQ held a public meeting Tuesday, to brief residents on its efforts to combat the high ozone levels.

A group of residents in Laramie are trying to make it easier for new mothers to breast feed their babies and go back to work. Women who breast feed their children typically have to pump milk during the workday, but many workplaces don’t give their employees time and space to do that.

Gov. Matt Mead says tougher regulations aren’t the only answer to improving workplace safety.

“I want to be careful before we move down that path, because I also think that industry, on a voluntary basis, has a role to play,” Mead said. “I think enforcement is also part of it. But … we need to make sure that we have the data on what are the cause of these accidents and what are possible corrections for those accidents.”

Mead was speaking to the Wyoming Press Association in Laramie.

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