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 from the week of April 20th, 2025:
On Thursday, April 24th, this story appeared at Your Wyoming Link noting that despite federal budget reductions, Yellowstone National Park (YNP) will actually see more staff this year than it has during the past five years. A YNP spokesperson stated for the 2025 season a total of 769 permanent and seasonal employees will be working at the park. That's an increase from last year’s staff of 748, and more than 10% higher than the 693 employees in 2021 (the year the park saw record visitation). Correspondingly, the Jackson Hole News & Guide published this story today about Grand Teton National Park (GTNP) which will also have full staffing this season (comprised of some 180 permanent employees and 150 seasonal workers). The GTNP permanent employee staffing figure for 2025 is also above the park’s 10-year average of 175.
Also on Thursday, Cowboy State Daily published this story notifying us that clearing of the Beartooth Highway (U.S. 212) between Red Lodge Montana and the Northeast entrance of Yellowstone National Park (that takes you to Cooke City) is underway. Clearing snow from the Beartooth each spring is a joint effort between the Montana Department of Transportation (MDOT) and the National Park Service (NPS). MDOT started plowing from the Montana side of U.S. 212 around April 14th. The NPS won’t begin pushing snow from the Wyoming side until the first week of May. The collective goal is to have the 69-mile stretch of highway open by Memorial Day. Of course, remembering the huge snow-dump that occurred along the Beartooth on Memorial Day weekend last year, it’s fairly likely Mother Nature may have a little something to say about that!
And on Friday, April 25th, the Star Valley Independent published this story about the new nuclear energy certificate program being offered by the University of Wyoming (UW). UW Communications Director, Chad Baldwin, described the new program by saying “A certificate is adding a credential to your degree and that credential represents lots of knowledge and experience that’s going to help you either enter that field or advance in it.” Accordingly, the certificate program aims to help students enter the nuclear energy sector and can also be valuable to those seeking to transition from other careers. For folks in south Lincoln County where the TerraPower natrium nuclear project is currently underway, this sounds like a great opportunity for the work force.
That’s all for today folks! Thanks for reading and have a great week!
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