Episode Details

It's time to take a look at what's happening around Wyoming, for Thursday, May 29th. I'm Wendy Corr, bringing you headlines from the Cowboy State Daily newsroom - Brought to you by the Wyoming Community Foundation, who asks you to give back to the place you call home. "5 to thrive" is YOUR opportunity to leave a legacy for generations to come. Support the community nonprofits you care about with a gift through the Wyoming Community Foundation. Visit wycf.org to learn more.

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Some retired and current National Park Service officials claim federal cuts will cause chaos in the parks this summer. However, others — including the person who used to oversee the National Park Service — say the parks will be just fine.

Cowboy State Daily's Mark Heinz spoke to Teton County resident Rob Wallace, who was assistant secretary of the Interior during the first administration of President Donald Trump. Wallace said things apparently went smoothly at Grand Teton and Yellowstone over Memorial Day weekend, which traditionally kicks off the ramp-up to peak summer season.

"With everything going on with the federal cuts, staffing cuts and budget cuts to the Park Service and other federal agencies, there's been some concern. There's a coalition of retired Park Service officials who've… put out a warning from from their perspective, that this, it could be a pretty bad, even terrible, season for visitors in national parks across the country, because services could could be down. They said you could run into things like long lines, filthy restrooms, garbage not being emptied, things like that. Apparently, we haven't seen that, at least not yet in Yellowstone and Grand Teton."

The parks rely heavily on seasonal employees to provide many of the basic services to visitors. And so far, that seems to be working, but as the season wears on, some of the seasonal staff will likely start to leave, particularly students who must get back to college. That will put more pressure on the full time employees, at a time when the Parks are still very busy.

Read the full story HERE.

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Things are beginning to come into focus for the CK Gold Project 20 miles west of Cheyenne.

U.S. Gold Corp., which owns the CK Gold Project located in Wyoming's old Silver Crown Mining District, has its state permits in hand, a local permit process with Laramie County underway, and, as Cowboy State Daily's Renee Jean reports, a gold market that's exciting investors about gold in general.

"They're using a very conservative $2100 an ounce for their feasibility study… They're not relying on top dollar for gold to make this project work, and yet, here we are with $3,300 per ounce on the spot market right now. So you know, there's a lot of optimism and enthusiasm around this project right now. A New York analyst, for example, is rating them a buy… It's a good time to get in on the act, according to this analyst."

A 2021 study of the asset projects a resource of around 1.01 million ounces of gold and 248 million pounds of copper over a 10-year lifespan - but the potential economic impact of the mine is huge. Estimates are that the project will create 2,600 direct and indirect jobs, as well as $70 to $80 million in taxes and royalties.

Read the full story HERE