Episode Details

It's time to take a look at what's happening around Wyoming for Friday, June 27th. I'm Wendy Corr, bringing you headlines from the Cowboy State Daily newsroom - Brought to you by Cheyenne Frontier Days. Ten days of rodeo thrills, Xtreme Bulls, live concerts, carnival rides, western heritage, and unforgettable cowboy spirit in Cheyenne, Wyoming! Don't miss the 129th Daddy of 'Em all July 18-27th.

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A proposal to sell millions of acres of federal lands in 11 Western states might have been doomed from the start because it was slipped "unvetted" into a budget bill.

That's what Wyoming resident and former Assistant Interior Secretary Rob Wallace told Cowboy State Daily's Mark Heinz. He said that U.S. Senator Mike Lee essentially cut the public out of the discussion on their public lands.

"He's a former Assistant Secretary of the Interior, so he understands Land Policy and the congressional wrangling that goes on all around that quite well, and his analysis of the situation with what we've been writing about, this public land sales bill… they should have just put it before the committee as a committee bill and open it up to debate in public hearings. He said that is a necessary and messy and complicated process. But really that's way to get things done, because the way they did it, just trying to write it in and slip it in as part of a measure within this greater budget bill, without really opening it up for debate. That just that sent the wrong picture, gave the wrong impression, open them up to criticism."

Lee is calling for the sale of between 0.5% and 0.75% of Bureau of Land Management and National Forest System parcels, but opponents of the plan say it opens the door to sell much more. And hunters say there's no amount of federal public land they'd be OK with selling.

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At least 400 people converged on Wyoming's Capitol Thursday evening to oppose the proposal to sell federal land in Wyoming and 11 other Western states.

Cowboy State Daily's Matthew Christian attended the event, which was organized by Karlee Provenza, a state representative from Laramie. He reports that outdoor enthusiasts from both sides of the political spectrum showed up to vocally oppose the sale of federal land.

"One lady was holding up a sign that said, Don't pave paradise and put up a parking lot. Another guy held up had what he called an Anti Fascist flag. In general, most of the signs that were there really were hands off our public lands. Public Lands should stay in public hands. A lot of them referenced senators Barrasso and Lummis saying, Please don't sell our public lands. There were a few addressed to Representative Hageman as well, with a similar message."

Other demonstrations are planned around the state, including Friday at 10:30 a.m. at Senator John Barrasso's regional office in Sheridan, and on Saturday in Pinedale on the courthouse lawn.

Read the full story HERE.

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Republican Party leaders at the national level are asking a federal judge to let them help defend Wyoming's new election proof-of-citizenship law, saying the trust of Republican voters in Wyoming election systems is at risk.

Cowboy State Daily's Clair McFarland reports that the Republican National Committee filed a motion Thursday to intervene in the lawsuit that the Equality State Policy Center is waging against Secretary of State Chuck Gray, and Wyoming's new law requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote.

"The RNC has to show, okay, we have a protectable interest here that's at risk, and Chuck Gray isn't going to represent our interests adequately… Unless the judge just