Episode Details

It's time to take a look at what's happening around Wyoming, for Wednesday, October 16th. I'm Wendy Corr, bringing you headlines from the Cowboy State Daily newsroom - brought to you by the Cowboy State Daily Morning Show with Jake! From 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. Monday through Friday, Cowboy State Daily's Jake Nichols brings to life the latest news, weather, sports and in-depth conversations that matter to you.

--

The volunteer search orchestrated by a missing hiker's father in Yellowstone National Park hit a devastating obstacle Monday night, when Yellowstone National Park authorities declined to authorize a private helicopter flight to drop experienced climbers on the southwest side of Eagle Peak.

Cowboy State Daily's Clair McFarland reports that the flight was meant to be one last effort to find 22-year-old Austin King, who vanished Sept. 17 after summitting the park's highest mountain.

"There's still searchers out there but it's dwindling, because the big thing they wanted to do was on the southwest side of the mountain, and there were some really nasty terrain that was largely unsearched. But they think that Austin King dropped down into there just based on some phone pings, based upon how disoriented he seemed there when he was last heard from… the park would not authorize the private helicopter to drop the rope crew down in there… what Cam Sholly said was, you know, if that helicopter blew up and killed five people, everyone would be asking why Yellowstone did not vet the helicopter and the pilot thoroughly."

Snow is forecast for the early-morning hours of Thursday in Yellowstone. If the storm brings more than a dusting, it could block search efforts until summer.

Read the full story HERE.

--

When a horse dies in the Wyoming backcountry, sometimes the best way to keep it from attracting grizzly bears is using explosives to blow the carcass into tiny pieces.

And Cowboy State Daily's Mark Heinz reports that blowing carcasses to bits is a common enough practice that the Forest Service even created a guidebook for doing it properly. Titled "Obliterating Animal Carcasses With Explosives," Heinz says the book is not for the squeamish - but he adds that the reason behind the practice is actually human safety.

"Not to be too gross, but scattered chunks of carcass across a wide area isn't likely to draw on a grizzly that's going to come and sit on that spot and claim the carcass. Because if you look back over the history of bad bear encounters and bear attacks, that's how a lot of them are prompted."

Heinz reports that it's so hot and dry right now, the Forest Service can't explode the carcasses of two horses that slipped and tumbled to their deaths Friday on a remote trail near Cody, out of fear that the blasts would ignite a wildfire.

Read the full story HERE.

--

As people across Wyoming and the nation have their focus on the Elk Fire burning in western Sheridan County, the state's largest active wild