Continuing the Crook County News Since 1884
Continuing the Crook County News Since 1884
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Established last fall, a new collaborative covering the northeast of Wyoming is looking to improve outdoor recreation in this area – and needs your help for its first steps towards doing so. The Northeast Wyoming Outdoor Recreation Collaborative (NEWORC) has two ideas for projects this summer, but first needs to discover the identity of the Eagle Scout who installed a life jacket kiosk at Keyhole State Park. “We need to find out who this person was or if anyone remembers anything about it,” says Commissioner Jeanne Whalen, who is part of the NE...
Workshops about invasive grasses and weeds are scheduled in early May in Gillette, Sheridan and Sundance. Sponsored by University of Wyoming Extension, the free public workshops – all covering the same topics – are scheduled for 3-6 p.m. in: • Gillette: Tues., May 3, George Amos Memorial Building Cottonwood Room • Sheridan: Tues., May 10, UW Extension Center, 1090 Dome Loop • Sundance: Tues., May 17, Crook County Courthouse Community Room The workshops are for those wishing to learn more abou...
Wyoming Game and Fish is asking cavers, climbers and explorers to clean their shoes and gear both before and after visiting caves after white-nose syndrome (WNS) was identified for the first time in Carbon and Platte counties. WNS, a disease that has been devastating for bats across the nation over the last few years, is already known to be present at Devils Tower. Cleaning gear helps to prevent unintentional spread. WNS erodes the skin of hibernating bats and causes them to wake up more often, taking up valuable energy. It kills bats through...
Site Name Elevation (ft.) Current Snow Depth (in.) Current Snow Water Equivalent (in.) 30-Year Median SWE Last Year’s SWE Current Percent of 30-Year Median SWE Bear Lodge Divide 4680 0 0 1.1 0 0 Blind Park Snotel 6870 2 1 7 4.3 14 Cole Canyon Snotel 5870 8 2.6 5.2 4.4 50 Ditch Creek 6880 3.4 1 3.6 4.5 28 Little Bear Run 6240 0 0 2.5 1.2 0 Mallo 6420 .1 .6 5.9 3 10 Mount Tom 5560 0 0 2.9 0 0 North Rapid Creek Snotel 6250 8 4.2 6.6 5.7 64 Reuter Canyon 6280 4.2 1.1 7 1.5 16 Upper Spearfish 6500 7.2 1.1 5.8 3.7 19 Submitted by Sherry Burr, N...
Unless the long-term weather forecast undergoes a pretty dramatic change, 2022 is shaping up to be another potentially dangerous fire season. Fire Warden Doug Leis is warning Crook County citizens to take care when burning slash piles even now, and expects there will be fire restrictions in place as early as April. “The conditions right now are the same as what they would be in September, really. It’s not greened up and if we don’t get some moisture, we’re not going to get a lot of green-up,” he says. “These spring fire conditions are as bad...
SHERIDAN — Starting in July, Wyoming hunters will have increased chances to hunt the big five game animals in Wyoming: moose, bighorn sheep, mountain goats, bison and grizzly bears. During its recently completed session, the Wyoming Legislature passed House Enrolled Act 10, which aims to increase local hunting opportunities for some of Wyoming’s rarest and most coveted animals. It does this through a two-prong plan. The first prong is to limit big five hunting licenses to once-in-a-lifetime events: once you receive a license for one of the...
It's a nice day for a stroll along North 3rd St for this band of turkeys on the hunt for the first springtime forage....
Tessa Garman and her sister, Taylor were greeted by this rare visitor to the feed ground Monday night, Mar. 14, as they made their way out to the cows....
Beginning April 1, 2022, Devils Tower National Monument will be accepting entrance fee payments via card and digital payments only. Reducing cash collected in fee operations allows a park unit to be a better steward of our visitor’s dollars. It allows our park unit to: 1. Reduce the amount of time park staff spend managing cash (i.e. reduce our administrative burden); 2. Increase the amount of fee revenue available to support critical projects and visitor services; 3. Improve accountability and reduce opportunities for improprieties. C...
The Wyoming Game and Fish Department will once again be holding public open houses around the county this month to discuss the proposed hunting seasons for 2022. Meetings are scheduled in both Sundance and Hulett and comments will be accepted until April 1. The first of the two meetings will take place in Sundance on March 21 in the courthouse basement from 4 to 6 p.m. The next day, March 22, the Greater Hulett Community Center will host a meeting from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. The intent is to gather...
The Muley Fanatic Foundation welcomed almost 200 people to its live banquet this year, raising thousands of dollars for the local chapter of the organization. The proceeds will be used for the Muleys’ goals to support wildlife and habitat in this area. Of the $38,359.49 raised once all bills had been paid, the local chapter will receive $26,851.64, which represents 70% of the total. The Northeast Wyoming Chapter will have the opportunity to decide where those funds are allocated, while the remaining 30% is committed to the organization’s headqu...
The Black Hills National Forest is proposing to reduce fire hazard on isolated National Forest parcels adjacent to the western edge of the Bear Lodge Mountains. High fuel loading on these parcels poses a risk to surrounding lands and communities. The proposed area consists of ten scattered blocks of land. Detailed maps can be found at https://www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=61415. There is no public or Forest Service access to these parcels. For this reason, the project would be implemented primarily via Good Neighbor Authority agreements with...
A pair of bull elk soak in a bit of warm morning sun as they lazily graze along Highway 116 south of Sundance during last week's frigid weather....
The U.S. Forest Service is looking to introduce a forest-wide project to increase resiliency by diversifying the tree species within the Black Hills National Forest (BHNF). The Public has until March 24 to submit comments regarding the proposal. “The purpose of the Spruce Vegetation Management Project is to reduce the number of acres dominated by white spruce (Picea glauca) and increase the number of acres of pine and aspen forest-wide with the objective of increasing overall forest resiliency,” said Jerry Krueger, Deputy Forest Sup...
Site Name Elevation (ft.) Current Snow Depth (in.) Current Snow Water Equivalent (in.) 30-year Median SWE Last Year’s SWE Current Percent of 30-year Median SWE Bear Lodge Divide 4680 5.1 1 2.1 1.4 48 Blind Park Snotel 6870 17 4 6.6 4.6 61 Cole Canyon Snotel 5870 18 3.7 4.7 3.5 79 Ditch Creek 6880 14.4 2.4 3.5 2.9 69 Little Bear Run 6240 10.2 2.1 3.6 2.2 58 Mallo 6420 18.3 3.3 6.5 4 51 Mount Tom 5560 12.4 2 4.3 2.5 47 North Rapid Creek Snotel 6250 17 4.7 5.8 5 81 Reuter Canyon 6280 20.7 3.6 8.2 3.7 44 Upper Spearfish 6500 18.4 3.8 6.2 4.6 61 S...
Site Name Elevation (ft.) Current Snow Depth (in.) Current Snow Water Equivalent (in.) 30-Year Median SWE Last Year’s SWE Current Percent of 20-Year Median SWE Bear Lodge Divide 4680 2.2 .4 1.8 .6 22 Blind Park Snotel 6870 11 2.6 4.7 2.9 55 Cole Canyon Snotel 5870 11 2 3.2 2 63 Ditch Creek 6880 10.7 1.4 2.4 1.8 58 Little Bear Run 6240 8.3 1.3 2.7 1.2 48 Mallo 6420 13.5 1.8 4.7 1.3 38 Mount Tom 5560 9.5 1.5 3.3 .8 45 North Rapid Creek Snotel 6250 10 3 4.7 3.7 64 Reuter Canyon 6280 14.5 2.9 6 2.4 48 Upper Spearfish 6500 10.2 1.8 4 2 45 S...
A former range research technician is the new agriculture and natural resources educator for University of Wyoming Extension in Crook County. Alex Orozco-Lopez began his job duties Jan. 4. Most recently, Orozco-Lopez worked as a range research technician for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's (UNL) Panhandle Research and Extension Center in Scottsbluff, Nebraska. In that position, he collected and analyzed data on research projects in the Nebraska Panhandle and in the Sandhills. He previously...
Black Hills National Forest officials are asking the public to avoid parking in front of closed Forest gates. Gates are closed to provide a seasonal refuge for wildlife, protect road surfaces and other resources, and provide for public safety as some of the roads are converted into part of the snowmobile trail in the winter. Seasonally closed roads and trails are identified on the current Motor Vehicle Use Map (MVUM). “We would like to remind Forest users that even though a gate on a road might not look like there is any activity occurring b...
The Sundance Chain Gang Mountain Bike Association has extended its bicycle trails past the edge of White Ranch Park, but who’s on the hook to pay for maintaining it? This unexpected question arose during Tuesday’s meeting of the Sundance City Council, when City Attorney Mark Hughes presented an agreement document that had been brought to him by Adrian Whitmore of the association. Surprised to receive it, Hughes asked the council for clarification on what had been agreed to regarding the bike trail. In July, 2021, the council granted permission...
With ice forming on lakes and reservoirs throughout the state, the Wyoming Division of State Parks, Historic Sites and Trails reminds anglers of potential dangers on the ice. Ice fishing and other ice-related activities are a great way to enjoy Wyoming’s state parks and sites in the winter. However, ice is always in a state of flux, so anglers and other recreationists are reminded that driving any kind of motorized vehicle, and in some instances even walking on the ice, is risky. Pressure ridges can cause thin patches in the ice that cannot s...
BUFFALO — Stakeholders are again exploring increasing residents’ share of big game hunting licenses from 80% to 90%, which would decrease the percentage of licenses available to nonresidents. The issue is a delicate one, and one that has come before the Wyoming Legislature at least three times before, including during the 2021 and 2020 sessions. Though the bill was unpopular, the conversation has made it to the Wyoming Wildlife Taskforce, an 18-member board of stakeholders who study the state’s wildlife policies. Adam Teten, a Buffalo resident...
Commerce has announced that the Sundance Winter Festival is officially coming back to town. Doubts were raised over the future of the popular event when the original organizers stepped down and the chamber struggled to find replacement volunteers to take on the planning and cover Main Street in the requisite piles of snow. Fortunately, says Jamie Jessen, a solution has now been found in the form of a contract with the organizers of Campbell County's own version of the winter sport contest,...
The local chapter of the Muley Fanatics has made a name for itself by pursuing worthy goals to support wildlife and habitat, many of which have focused on the younger members of this community. Of special importance to Kyndell Flint, chapter founder, is a project introduced for the first time in 2021 that gave youngsters with life-threatening illnesses the chance to experience the joys of hunting. "We had four total kids that we took out this year. Two deer hunts, one elk hunt and a turkey...
The Crook County Natural Resource District (CCNRD) is encouraging the public to read two documents that outline both the past and future: an annual report and a plan of action for the year ahead. These documents have been published as a guide to the work that was accomplished over the last twelve months, and the accomplishments CCNRD will be aiming for in 2022. Road Ahead In 2022, CCNRD will continue its work to improve water quality by focusing on impaired stretches of the Belle Fourche River and Donkey Creek, according to its plan of action....
Jan. 1 Site Elevation (ft.) Current Snow Depth (in.) Current Snow Water Equivalent (in.) 30-Year Median SWE Last Year’s SWE Current Percent of 30-Year Median SWE Blind Park Snotel 6870 5 1.8 3.2 1.9 56 Cole Canyon Snotel 5870 8 .8 2.5 .8 32 Ditch Creek 6880 7.9 .8 1.9 1 42 Little Bear Run 6240 6.5 .7 1.7 .7 41 Mallo 6420 8.1 .9 3 1.4 30 Mount Tom 5560 8 06 2.3 .9 26 North Rapid Creek Snotel 6250 5 1.6 3.2 2.3 50 Submitted by Sherry Burr, NRCS...
