State Briefs

Wyoming gasoline prices down slightly in the past week

CHEYENNE WNE) — Wyoming gas prices have declined 0.5 cents per gallon in the past week, averaging $3.37 per gallon Monday, according to GasBuddy.com’s daily survey of 494 stations in Wyoming.

Gas prices in Wyoming are 6.4 cents per gallon lower than a month ago, and stand $1.22 per gallon higher than a year ago.

According to GasBuddy price reports, the cheapest station in Wyoming was priced at $2.79 per gallon Monday, while the most expensive was $3.84, a difference of $1.05 per gallon.

The national average price of gasoline has fallen 5.3 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $3.34 per gallon Monday. The national average is down 6.9 cents per gallon from a month ago, and stands $1.19 per gallon higher than a year ago.

In historic tourism season statewide, Campbell County had solid year

GILLETTE (WNE) — Campbell County had a successful tourism season this year, although no records were broken.

Jessica Seders, executive director of the Campbell County Convention and Visitors Bureau, said that from Memorial Day to Labor Day, the visitors centers in Gillette and Wright saw more than 7,000 people. That was very close to the numbers seen in 2019, when the Pyrotechnics Guild International was in town.

While Gillette won’t ever be Yellowstone, it can be a place tourists stop in for a day or two on their way to Yellowstone, Seders said.

The healthy tourism numbers, combined with the increase in lodging tax that happened this spring, has led to a good year overall for the visitors center.

Campbell County’s 4% lodging tax began in April. It was a 100% increase from the 2% lodging tax that had been in place for years.

So far this fiscal year, which started July 1, the visitors center has collected about $480,000 in lodging tax, which is a 226% increase compared to last fiscal year up through the same point, Seders said.

And for the calendar year, $634,314 has been collected, is a 108% increase over 2020.

Seders attributed Wyoming’s record tourism season to the state having something for everyone, no matter how they felt about COVID-19.

People who were worried about the pandemic came to Wyoming because its wide open spaces and low population made it easier to social distance. And those who didn’t care about the pandemic appreciated that Wyoming had fewer restrictions than most other states, Seders said.

“I think Wyoming has proved itself and natural beauty,” Seders said. “I think we’re going to continue to see increases in tourism. I don’t believe this is going to be the end.”

New conservation easement protects 280 acres along crucial migration routes

JACKSON (WNE) —A new conservation easement will add another piece to the puzzle of protecting big game migrations, open space and agricultural heritage along the edges of the Bridger-Teton National Forest.

The Green River Valley Program of the Jackson Hole Land Trust has secured a 280-acre conservation easement along Sublette County’s Jack Creek just northeast of Bondurant, the trust announced in a Thursday news release.

Surrounded by national forest, the ranch lies at the northern end of the 150-mile Red Desert to Hoback mule deer migration corridor. In addition to mule deer, the property also supports pronghorn and elk migrations and provides crucial winter habitat for moose.

“Our family finds value in preserving part of the migration corridor for wildlife while allowing grazing for the domestic animals that are part of our ranching heritage,” 

Jo Mack, rancher and wildlife artist, said in the news release.

The Mack family purchased the ranch in 1948. The conservation easement was inked Nov. 22.

“The Mack family has thoughtfully stewarded this property for over 70 years and this easement ensures the key conservation and agricultural values they have worked hard to preserve will be protected in perpetuity,” Land Trust President Max Ludington said in the release.

According to the Land Trust, the easement encompasses a mosaic of diverse habitat, including open grassland, riparian willow shrubland, wetland, sage-steppe and stands of mixed aspen and conifer forest.

Approximately 1.25 miles of Jack Creek run through the ranch, combining with several freshwater springs to create almost 60 acres of wetlands. Coupled with open pastureland, the riparian corridor provides prime habitat for a variety of native birds like great blue herons, neotropical migrant songbirds, sandhill cranes, waterfowl, and shorebirds.

Sleeping Giant delays opening

CODY (WNE) — This year may not be offering the snow start to the season Sleeping Giant Ski Area owner Nick Piazza was hoping for, but he said the mountain is still moving full steam ahead in preparation for the upcoming season.

“I’m not going to lie, it’s been frustrating,” he said. “It is what it is.”

Last week, Sleeping Giant pushed back its planned opening date from Dec. 4 to Dec. 17 due to lack of natural snowfall and cold temperatures needed to make snow.

Piazza said by pushing back opening day by two weeks, it will ensure the mountain can offer solid riding conditions when it does open. Although the hill was already open at this point last year, it was operating with a very thin base layer with rocks exposed in numerous spots.

Piazza said the mountain was able to make snow on 3-4 nights earlier this year, but that snow mostly melted away. On one recent night, his snowmakers waited on standby all night for temperatures to get cold enough, only to be taunted by Mother Nature as temperatures actually increased through the night.

Piazza said he is optimistic the late start to winter will be followed with a correspondingly late finish.

“Last season, we had some of our best conditions in March,” he said.

Driver in fatal hit and run pleads guilty

CHEYENNE (WNE) — A local man accused of hitting and killing a woman with his vehicle while drunk and then leaving the scene pleaded guilty Tuesday morning in Laramie County District Court. 

Kyle A. Ziemer pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicular homicide (DUI) as part of a plea agreement. The state agreed to cap its sentencing argument at 10 to 14 years in prison, while Ziemer and his attorney are free to argue for any sentence they feel is appropriate, including probation. 

Andrea Martinez, 38, of Cheyenne was identified by Wyoming Highway Patrol as the victim. Martinez was taken to Cheyenne Regional Medical Center shortly after the incident, where she died from her injuries. 

According to court documents, the evening of March 24, Martinez was walking eastbound on the asphalt part of a median on Nationway when the driver of a red 2014 Chevy Silverado pickup truck, later identified as Ziemer, swerved into the median and struck her, witnesses said. 

Ziemer was identified by witnesses of the accident who followed him from the scene to his residence, where he was apprehended by police. 

Officer Logan Warren said Ziemer failed one field sobriety test, and further tests were not conducted because Ziemer had fallen over several times while in police custody. During interviews with police, Ziemer said he’d had six beers at a work party, and initially said he had been driven home by a friend, Warren testified. Later, at the hospital, Ziemer told police officers he’d hit Martinez with his vehicle.

State gets $63M for water projects

CASPER (WNE) — Wyoming will receive $63 million next year to support drinking water and wastewater projects as part of the more than $1 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced Thursday. 

In total, the action will distribute $437 million of the more than $50 billion allocated toward water management by the infrastructure deal to Wyoming, Colorado, Montana, the Dakotas and Utah. 

The EPA expects to give out a total of $43 billion to states, tribes and territories over the next five years, beginning with $7.4 billion in 2022. 

Close to half of the infrastructure funding will be provided in the form of grants or forgivable loans.

“In addition to creating jobs across our states, these funds will improve the health of our watersheds and expand access to safe drinking water for homes, businesses, schools, and childcare centers; including the disadvantaged communities who need it most,” EPA regional administrator KC Becker said in a statement. 

The agency sent individual letters to each state governor, urging them to use the money to reduce lead contamination and address increasingly worrying PFAS, or “forever chemicals,” and to prioritize funding for historically underserved communities, which often experience the highest environmental burdens. 

The infrastructure package is expected to bring nearly $2 billion in federal funding to Wyoming. The vast majority of the money will pay for highway work, but it will also fund bridge repairs, broadband coverage improvements and airport development.