JACKSON HOLE HEADLINES

The Wyoming legislature will convenes for its biennium budget session Monday.   While financial issues will be the focus, Governor Dave Freudenthal does have a couple of other proposals in mind…including implementing recommendations from the wind task force, some recommendations from the work place safety task force, a couple of economic development bills. The Governor also expects some discussion to begin on recalibration of K-12 education funding formulas. He wants to see it tied to results in student achievement.

 

Although it may be potentially vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, the US Fish and Wildlife Service will not seek Endangered Species Act protection for the American Pika.   The agency says studies indicate the pika would be able to survive in its high elevation environment. Grand Teton National Park started surveying Pika populations as part of a long term study late last year.

 

Blayne “Bud” Streeper of Fort Nelson, British Columbia won the eight day International Pedigree Stage Stop Sled Dog Race at Park City, Utah Saturday with an overall time of 22 hours, 35 minutes and 35 seconds. ( 22:35:35) . Streeper also won the race in 2004.   A minute behind, Lina Gladh…also from Fort Nelson…finished second.

 

Missing some money? Wyoming State Treasurer Joe Meyer is holding about 35 million in unclaimed property and would like to return it.  It includes things like wages, un-cashed money orders, oil and gas royalties, stocks, bonds and mutual funds. The state opened a “Wyoming Windfall” web site Sunday and will open phone banks all this week in an all-out effort to find rightful owners. Hundreds of telephone calls are received and claims are mailed to potential owners/heirs during a two week period. Please be patient, though. With thousands of names being advertised, you may get a busy signal. For persons who wish to avoid possible telephone delays, you may write to the Unclaimed Property Division at 2515 Warren Avenue, Suite 502, Cheyenne, WY 82002. In spite of the high volume of expected calls and questions, we will try to respond to your request within 8-10 weeks. Treasurer Meyer stressed that Unclaimed Property is not a scam, nor is it the result of winning a contest. This money belongs to the owners or rightful heirs. Meyer said the average claim is less than $100; however, some owners have claimed $100,000 or more.

 

The website address to search for unclaimed property is: www.wywindfall.gov. The website will be available for preview beginning Sunday, February 7. Phone banks will be open beginning February 8. 

 

Even if you don’t see your name on the website, you should contact the Unclaimed Property Office at 307-777-5590 or at the address noted above to determine if we are holding unclaimed property for you.

 

Teton County Commissioners have upheld a summary judgment ruling against a Wilson man who tried to re-package a 32 acre parcel of property along Fish Creek. An independent hearing officer upheld County Planning Administrator Jeff Daugherty’s finding that the move was illegal under the state family subdivision statute as it applied to county ordinances. Daugherty says that statute “allows you to not have to go through the county zoning process in order to divide your property if it is for the purpose of housing a member of your immediate family and if you are not using it to otherwise evade the intent of the subdivision statutes and local planning regulations.”

In this case, Daugherty says Kip Konigsberg attempted to deed 98% of the ground to himself and 2% to two minor children. Daugherty added, “I absolutely support…and I think the community absolutely supports…the use of family subdivision as long as it’s for the purpose of housing family members. But, what he did was he deeded 98% of these parcels to himself, so…we believed his family subdivision was illegal.”

The decision is complicated by the fact that a bank foreclosed on equity loans on three of the lots… that now don’t exist… last fall. The ruling could ultimately set the stage for a Wyoming Supreme Court test case. 

 

The US House has passed a measure effectively raising the national debt by a record $1.9 trillion.   Wyoming Congressman Cynthia Lummis did not vote for it. ”Simply recovering unspent stimulus funds, redeemed TARP funds and returning to 2008 spending levels would have averted the need to increase the debt limit.”

Lummis said the action raises the national debt limit to a total $14.2 trillion.

 

The Jackson Hole Energy Sustainability Project has formally begun its effort to cut energy consumption and expenses.

Jackson and Teton County have each put in for two separate five million dollar federal grants that would be used towards retrofitting the entire community for energy conservation. Jackson Hole Energy Sustainability Project Chairman Mayor Mark Barron says that with or without those grants the project will move ahead.  

Right now, the Wyoming constitution forbids the use of public funds in the private sector for private benefit.   The group hopes to win a declaratory judgment stating that energy conservation is a public benefit.

The project will also pursue amending legislation.   With a projected need for an additional 25 to 30 megawatts of electricity at two to three times existing rates…Barron says that “public benefit” should be fairly easy to show.

 

A swarm of earthquake activity on the west side of Yellowstone National Park is continuing. Since January 17th, there have been over 17 hundred (1719) events. Activity picked up again over a six hour period Tuesday (Feb. 2)…including at least two events that were felt in the Park. The two largest were magnitude 3.1 and 2.8 and happened within 15 minutes of each other beginning at around 7:30 Tuesday night.   The largest, so far, has been a magnitude 3.8….but there have been 14 larger than 3 and 135 between 2 and 3.   They’re still considered to be the result of slip on pre-existing faults and are not thought to be caused by underground movement of magma.

Western States CAT has wound up its “Dump Hunger” food campaign. It started just after Christmas and ended January 24th in each of the company’s 13 markets. And it ended with more than enough groceries to meet the company’s goal of filling three CAT 730 rock trucks.  

Jackson residents donated more 21,608 pounds of food to the Jackson Cupboard.

Idaho Falls raised 23 thousand pounds for the Idaho Falls Food Bank.

Albertson’s joined in too…donating $25 thousand worth of groceries to the overall effort.

 

The US Fish and Wildlife Service has authorized the Shoshone-Bannock tribes to conduct a limited bison hunt on the National Elk Refuge. Historically, the tribes had a presence in the Jackson Hole Valley. The refuge plan specifically allows the ceremonial hunts. Spokesperson Lori Iverson says it’s tentatively scheduled Thursday and Friday.   ”This will be the third year that the tribes have been allowed to come onto the National Elk Refuge and harvest up to five bison as part of a traditional ceremonial activity. But, it’s dependent on our feeding schedule. We have not started supplemental feeding for the 2010 season…there’s still plenty of food for the elk and bison to eat and snow cover has not limited their ability to paw through the snow.”

If supplemental feeding does begin, it may alter time frames for the Sho-Ban hunt. This will be the third year for the ceremonial hunt.

 

Wyoming Highway Patrol troopers racked up another pair of I-80 drug busts Friday. 20 pounds of high grade marijuana were confiscated after a traffic stop west of Elk Mountain. Two California suspects were arrested. Two Alabama men were arrested Friday night near Rawlins. Three pounds of pot and supplies for a growing operation were recovered from their rental truck. Together, the marijuana had a street value of around $58 thousand.

 

Wyoming Senator John Barrasso is co-sponsoring a bill to cut off funding for civilian trials of 9-11 conspirators. Barrasso said the terrorists are not average street criminals and shouldn’t receive the same protections as US citizens. “The Administration’s decision to try the 9/11 terrorists in civilian court is beyond irresponsible.  These people are at war against the United States and our values.  They deserve a military judge and jury, not a soap box and a megaphone.”    Barrasso said a military trial would keep secret US intelligence, tactics, techniques and procedures.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner took the President’s budget plan to the Senate Finance Committee Tuesday. Wyoming Senator Mike Enzi focused on proposals to remove tax preferences…and/or subsidies…for the oil, gas and coal industries. “That will cost jobs in places like Wyoming and it will increase the taxes on the oil and gas industry and on the coal industry and that’ll be passed on to consumers in their electricity bills and at the pump.”

Geithner responded the move is part of an effort to encourage clean energy and he doesn’t believe the action will raise prices.

Enzi also pressed the Obama administration to back off its tampering with AML…or abandoned mine land…funds.   Enzi argued the fund is protected, not as an appropriation…but as a law.

Wyoming has about $115 million on the line.

 

The Teton County, Wyoming Sheriffs Department is asking for the public’s help in identifying a possible witness. They’ve posted video of a suspect wanted for questioning in connection with a theft at a Teton Village hotel. 

 

 

The University of Wyoming women's Nordic ski team pulled off a pair of Rocky Mountain Conference wins last weekend while the men had high finishes in a two-day competition at the Mesa State College Invitational.

The Cowgirls won both the freestyle 1K sprint Saturday and the next day took the classic 10K race at Grand Mesa, located near Grand Junction, Colo. The Cowboys won the team title Saturday and were second the following day.

The UW women had a team-low 11 points in the classic competition, with league newcomer Mesa State College scoring 19. Western State College (Gunnison, Colo.) placed third with 26 points and the United States Air Force Academy had 47.

Four UW women finished in the top 10 -- Gwynn Barrows of Laramie in second place; Morgan Cropsey, Casper, fourth; Marie Cartwright, Lander, fifth; and in eighth, Cara Noseworthy, Medford, N.J.

Western State College took the men's classic competition Sunday with nine points, followed by UW with 15 and Air Force scored 36. UW's Dan Lewis from Jackson was the top skier and the overall race winner. Also finishing among the top 10 competitors for the Cowboys were Adam Karges of Grand Rapids, Minn., and Adam Looney of Anchorage, Alaska, who were ninth and 10th, respectively.

The UW women took the freestyle 1K sprint overall team title with 12 points, followed by Western State College with 22, Mesa State scored 24 and the Air Force Academy had 55. The Cowboys took the men's team title with 11, eight better than Western State and Air Force scored 43 points for third place.

Five Cowgirls finished among the top 10 skiers. Barrows was the runner-up; Gracey Lewis of Jackson took fourth ahead of Cartwright; Sarah Dixson of Steamboat, Colo., placed seventh; and Cropsey came in ninth.

Dan Lewis was the winner again in the men's division while Casper teammates John Kirlin and Justin Kinner were third and fourth, respectively. Placing seventh through 10th were UW members Devin Oderwald of Granby, Colo., Fitzgerald, Karges and Looney.

For the season, Barrows, Cartwright and Cropsey are second through fourth overall in the individual standings among the leagues skiers. Daniel Lewis is just a single point out of first place in the overall men's competition, while Kirlin is fourth among the top five.

The UW Nordic ski teams' next conference race will be the Owl Creek Chase, Feb. 14 in southern Colorado. UW will compete in an NCAA Division I race this weekend in Red River, N.M.

UW's lone home race will be Feb. 20-21, with a benefit dinner that Friday evening. For more details, visit the Web site at http://www.uwyo.edu/ski/cowboychase.htm.

 

President Obama sent his budget to Congress Monday. Wyoming Congressman Cynthia Lummis doesn’t like it. ”His proposal is nothing more than an aggressive agenda of more government spending, more taxes and more deficit spending with a little window dressing to give the illusion of restraint.”

Wyoming’s congressional delegation says it’ll fight the President’s proposal to cut nearly $115 million in Abandoned Mine Land money. It’s the same cut President Bush proposed in each of his budget plans.

 

South Jackson Wyoming Game and Fish wildlife biologist Gary Fralick has been honored by the Wyoming Outfitters and Guides Association. He was recognized at their annual winter convention for “consistently performing at a level above and beyond his normal job duties.”   Outfitters noted his dedication to the Wyoming Range mule deer herd and his ability to balance stakeholder interests.

 

Based on the recommendations of an interim task force, Governor Dave Freudenthal is proposing a four-bill set of ground rules for wind energy development. He’s proposing a $3 per megawatt excise tax to be split 60-40 between the state and affected counties.   He estimates that could be worth $5.9 million per year to the six counties that already have wind projects in operation.  

Another would require adequate bonding and financial assurances.

He believes that could also help separate speculators from legitimate players. Freudenthal also wants to eliminate the threat of imminent domain as energy companies look for private land for collector lines.