Around the 307
News, commentary, and other items of interest from the greater Wyoming landscape.
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Here are a few Wyoming news items of interest from the week of November 24th, 2024:
With the General Election now behind us, leadership positions in Wyoming’s 68th Legislature are beginning to take shape. The following are nominations at this point and will be finalized once the legislative session kicks off in January 2025. Sen. Bo Biteman (R-Ranchester) was selected as the next Senate president, with Sen. Tim Salazar (R-Riverton) as Senate vice president, and Sen. Tara Nethercott (R-Cheyenne) as majority floor leader. In the other legislative chamber, Rep. Chip Neiman (R-Hulett) was selected to be speaker of the House with Rep. Jeremy Haroldson (R-Wheatland) to be speaker pro tempore, and Rep. Scott Heiner (R-Green River) to be majority whip. Leadership positions hold considerable sway within the legislature in terms of committee memberships and legislative priorities. You can read this rundown from Cowboy State Daily for more detail on leadership slections for the upcoming legislative session.
Wednesday, November 27th, just in time for the Thanksgiving Day holiday, Cowboy State Daily published this story about the issue of wild turkeys flocking into downtown Sheridan and Casper. While this might sound like a boon for game bird enthusiasts, alas, no thunder chicken hunting allowed within the city limits of either municipality. The invasion of Meleagris gallopavo became such a problem in Casper that last year the city council outlawed feeding of the birds by residents (yep, that’ll keep ‘em around). And, in Sheridan, the local government is now mulling over the possibility of bowhunting to help cull the masses of urban turkeys. Sheridan already allows bowhunters to pursue deer within some undeveloped areas of the city limits. With that in mind, it would appear Boss Tom may need to keep his wattle down soon when wandering around emerald city!
It’s about that time again for closure of winter wildlife ranges in and around Grand Teton National Park. The voluntary travel closures within these areas is intended to protect wintering wildlife who may be adversely impacted when unfamiliar sights, sounds, and movements occur causing them to expend energy they cannot afford to lose when trying to survive the long winter months. On Friday, November 29th, Buckrail published this article summarizing the start of these seasonal closures. You can also read more about this subject at the Teton Conservation District’s Winter Wildlife Closure website.
Lastly—here are a few Wyoming historical events (some well known, others obscure) that occurred during the month of November.
November 13th, 1867—Union Pacific Railroad tracks arrive in Cheyenne, Dakota Territory.
November 21st, 1940—Novelist Ernest Hemingway, 41, marries war correspondent Martha Gellhorn, 28, at the Union Pacific Depot in Cheyenne.
Ernest Hemingway and his third wife Martha Gellhorn. [Photo courtesy of WyoHistory.org via John F. Kennedy Library.] November 26th, 1984—Remains of outlaw Big Nose George Parrott given to Carbon County Museum.
That’s all for today cowpokes! Note there will not be an “Around the 307” post next week; the next installment will be headed your way the week of December 8th! Thanks for reading and have a great week!
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