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Tag: WY State Wire

  • US rejects bid to buy 167 million tons of coal on public lands for less than a penny per ton

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    BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Federal officials rejected a company’s bid to acquire 167 million tons of coal on public lands in Montana for less than a penny per ton, in what would have been the biggest U.S. government coal sale in more than a decade.

    The failed sale underscores a continued low appetite for coal among utilities that are turning to cheaper natural gas and renewables such as wind and solar to generate electricity. Emissions from burning coal are a leading driver of climate change, which scientists say is raising sea levels and making weather more extreme.

    President Donald Trump has made reviving the coal industry a centerpiece of his agenda to increase U.S. energy production. But economists say Trump’s attempts to boost coal are unlikely to reverse its yearslong decline.

    The coal-fired generation unit at Rawhide Energy Station in northern Colorado is seen Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Mead Gruver).

    The Department of Interior said in a Tuesday statement that last week’s $186,000 bid from the Navajo Transitional Energy Co. (NTEC) did not meet the requirements of the Mineral Leasing Act.

    Agency representatives did not provide further details, and it’s unclear if they will attempt to hold the sale again.

    The leasing act requires bids to be at or above fair market value. At the last successful government lease sale in the region, a subsidiary of Peabody Energy paid $793 million, or $1.10 per ton, for 721 million tons of coal in Wyoming.

    President Joe Biden’s administration sought to end coal sales in the Powder River Basin of Montana and Wyoming, citing climate change.

    A second proposed lease sale under Trump — 440 million tons of coal near an NTEC mine in central Wyoming — was postponed last week following the low bid received in the Montana sale. Interior Department officials have not said when the Wyoming sale will be rescheduled.

    NTEC is owned by the Navajo Nation of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.

    A mechanized shovel loads coal into a haul truck at the Spring Creek mine, in this Nov. 15, 2016 photo, near Decker, Mont. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown)

    A mechanized shovel loads coal into a haul truck at the Spring Creek mine, in this Nov. 15, 2016 photo, near Decker, Mont. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown)

    In documents submitted in the run-up to the Montana sale, NTEC indicated the coal had little value because of declining demand for the fuel. The Associated Press emailed a company representative regarding the rejected bid.

    Most power plants using fuel from NTEC’s Spring Creek mine in Montana and Antelope mine in Wyoming are scheduled to stop burning coal in the next decade, according to an analysis by The Associated Press.

    Spring Creek also ships coal overseas to customers in Asia. Increasing those shipments could help it offset lessening domestic demand, but a shortage of port capacity has hobbled prior industry aspirations to boost coal exports.

    The coal-fired generation unit at Rawhide Energy Station in northern Colorado is seen Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Mead Gruver)

    The coal-fired generation unit at Rawhide Energy Station in northern Colorado is seen Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Mead Gruver)

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  • Suspicious packages sent to election officials in at least 6 states

    Suspicious packages sent to election officials in at least 6 states

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    Suspicious packages were sent to election officials in at least six states on Monday, but there were no reports that any of the packages contained hazardous material.

    Powder-containing packages were sent to secretaries of state and state election offices in Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Tennessee, Wyoming and Oklahoma, officials in those states confirmed. The FBI and U.S. Postal Service were investigating. It marked the second time in the past year that suspicious packages were mailed to election officials in multiple state offices.

    The latest scare comes as early voting has begun in several states less than two months ahead of the high-stakes elections for president, Senate, Congress and key statehouse offices around the nation, causing disruption in what is already a tense voting season.

    Several of the states reported a white powder substance found in envelopes sent to election officials. In most cases, the material was found to be harmless. Oklahoma officials said the material sent to the election office there contained flour. Wyoming officials have not yet said if the material sent there was hazardous.

    The packages forced an evacuation in Iowa. Hazmat crews in several states quickly determined the material was harmless.

    “We have specific protocols in place for situations such as this,” Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate said in a statement after the evacuation of the six-story Lucas State Office Building in Des Moines. “We immediately reported the incident per our protocols.”

    A state office building in Topeka, Kansas, was also evacuated due to suspicious mail sent to both the secretary of state and attorney general, Kansas Highway Patrol spokesperson April M. McCollum said in a statement.

    Topeka Fire Department crews found several pieces of mail with an unknown substance on them, though a field test found no hazardous materials, spokesperson Rosie Nichols said. Several employees in both offices had been exposed to it and had their health monitored, she said.

    In Oklahoma, the State Election Board received a suspicious envelope in the mail containing a multi-page document and a white, powdery substance, agency spokesperson Misha Mohr said in an email to The Associated Press. The Oklahoma Highway Patrol, which oversees security for the Capitol, secured the envelope. Testing determined the substance was flour, Mohr said.

    State workers in an office building next to the Wyoming Capitol in Cheyenne were sent home for the day pending testing of a white substance mailed to the secretary of state’s office.

    Suspicious letters were sent to election offices and government buildings in at least six states last November, including the same building in Kansas that received suspicious mail Monday. While some of the letters contained fentanyl, even the suspicious mail that was not toxic delayed the counting of ballots in some local elections.

    One of the targeted offices was in Fulton County, Georgia, the largest voting jurisdiction in one of the nation’s most important swing states. Four county election offices in Washington state had to be evacuated as election workers were processing ballots cast, delaying vote-counting.

    The letters caused election workers around the country to stock up the overdose reversal medication naloxone.

    Election offices across the United States have taken steps to increase the security of their buildings and boost protections for workers amid an onslaught of harassment and threats following the 2020 election and the false claims that it was rigged.

    ___

    Salter reported from O’Fallon, Missouri. Volmert reported from Lansing, Michigan. Mead Gruver in Cheyenne, Wyoming; Jonathan Mattise in Nashville, Tennessee; Summer Ballentine in Columbia, Missouri; Sean Murphy in Oklahoma City and John Hanna in Topeka, Kansas, contributed to this report.

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  • Federal judge temporarily blocks Biden administration rule to limit flaring of gas at oil wells

    Federal judge temporarily blocks Biden administration rule to limit flaring of gas at oil wells

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    BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A federal judge in North Dakota has temporarily blocked a new Biden administration rule aimed at reducing the venting and flaring of natural gas at oil wells.

    “At this preliminary stage, the plaintiffs have shown they are likely to succeed on the merits of their claim the 2024 Rule is arbitrary and capricious,” U.S. District Judge Daniel Traynor ruled Friday, the Bismarck Tribune reported.

    North Dakota, along with Montana, Texas, Wyoming and Utah, challenged the rule in federal court earlier this year, arguing that it would hinder oil and gas production and that the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management is overstepping its regulatory authority on non-federal minerals and air pollution.

    The bureau says the rule is intended to reduce the waste of gas and that royalty owners would see over $50 million in additional payments if it was enforced.

    But Traynor wrote that the rules “add nothing more than a layer of federal regulation on top of existing federal regulation.”

    When pumping for oil, natural gas often comes up as a byproduct. Gas isn’t as profitable as oil, so it is vented or flared unless the right equipment is in place to capture.

    Methane, the main component of natural gas, is a climate “super pollutant” that is many times more potent in the short term than carbon dioxide.

    Well operators have reduced flaring rates in North Dakota significantly over the past few years, but they still hover around 5%, the Tribune reported. Reductions require infrastructure to capture, transport and use that gas.

    North Dakota politicians praised the ruling.

    “The Biden-Harris administration continuously attempts to overregulate and ultimately debilitate North Dakota’s energy production capabilities,” state Attorney General Drew Wrigley said in a statement.

    The Bureau of Land Management declined comment.

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  • Black bear mauls 3-year-old girl in tent at Montana campground

    Black bear mauls 3-year-old girl in tent at Montana campground

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    RED LODGE, Mont. (AP) — A black bear mauled and injured a 3-year-old girl in a tent at a private campground in Montana just north of Yellowstone National Park over the weekend, state wildlife officials said.

    The girl was attacked about 10 p.m. Sunday at a campground south of Red Lodge and taken to the hospital in Billings. Fish, Wildlife and Parks didn’t have any information on her condition on Tuesday, game warden Randy Hutzenbiler said.

    The campground was evacuated, and traps were placed in the area. A bear believed to have been involved was captured and shot on Monday afternoon, Hutzenbiler said.

    Fish, Wildlife and Parks investigators found garbage, a cooler and human food around and inside the tent where the attack occurred, the agency said.

    The black bear involved in the incident had no history of conflicts with people. However, it had likely become accustomed to human food and unafraid of people after accessing food and garbage in the area, the agency said.

    The wildlife agency recommends keeping food, garbage and anything with a scent out of tents and stored in bear-resistant containers or vehicles.

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  • Arizona, Nevada and Mexico will lose same amount of Colorado River water next year as in 2024

    Arizona, Nevada and Mexico will lose same amount of Colorado River water next year as in 2024

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    WASHINGTON (AP) — Arizona, Nevada and Mexico will continue to live with less water next year from the Colorado River after the U.S. government on Thursday announced water cuts that preserve the status quo. Long-term challenges remain for the 40 million people reliant on the imperiled river.

    The 1,450-mile (2,334-kilometer) river is a lifeline for the U.S. West and supplies water to cities and farms in northern Mexico, too. It supports seven Western states, more than two dozen Native American tribes and irrigates millions of acres of farmland in the American West. It also produces hydropower used across the region.

    Years of overuse combined with rising temperatures and drought have meant less water flows in the Colorado today than in decades past.

    The Interior Department announces water availability for the coming year months in advance so that cities, farmers and others can plan. Officials do so based on water levels at Lake Mead, one of the river’s two main reservoirs that act as barometers of its health.

    Based on those levels, Arizona will again lose 18% of its total Colorado River allocation, while Mexico’s goes down 5%. The reduction for Nevada — which receives far less water than Arizona, California or Mexico — will stay at 7%.

    The cuts announced Thursday are in the same “Tier 1” category that were in effect this year and in 2022, when the first federal cutbacks on the Colorado River took effect and magnified the crisis on the river. Even deeper cuts followed in 2023. Farmers in Arizona were hit hardest by those cuts.

    Heavier rains and other water-saving efforts by Arizona, California and Nevada somewhat improved the short-term outlook for Lake Mead and Lake Powell, which is upstream of Mead on the Utah-Arizona border.

    Officials on Thursday said the two reservoirs were at 37% capacity.

    They lauded the ongoing efforts by Arizona, California and Nevada to save more water, which are in effect until 2026. The federal government is paying water users in those states for much of that conservation. Meanwhile, states, tribes and others are negotiating how they will share water from the river after 2026, when many current guidelines governing the river expire.

    Tom Buschatzke, director of Arizona’s Department of Water Resources and the state’s lead negotiator in those talks, said Thursday that Arizonans had “committed to incredible conservation … to protect the Colorado River system.”

    “Future conditions,” he added, “are likely to continue to force hard decisions.”

    ___

    Associated Press reporter Amy Taxin contributed from Santa Ana, Calif.

    ___

    The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for coverage of water and environmental policy. The AP is solely responsible for all content. For all of AP’s environmental coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment

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  • Northern Wyoming plane crash causes fatalities, sparks wildfire

    Northern Wyoming plane crash causes fatalities, sparks wildfire

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    GILLETTE, Wyo. (AP) — A plane crash in a remote area of northeastern Wyoming caused an unspecified number of fatalities and sparked a wildfire, authorities said Friday.

    The plane crashed at about 1 p.m. north of the town of Gillette near the Wyoming state line, Campbell County officials said in a social media post. The number of fatalities was not immediately released.

    A distress signal was sent out by the plane before the crash, Campbell County Undersheriff Quentin Reynolds told the Gillette News Record. Callers later reported seeing smoke columns rising into the air near the suspected crash site, he said.

    The wildfire that resulted from the crash was being suppressed using aircraft, heavy equipment and engine crews, officials said.

    The National Transportation Safety Board was dispatching a team to investigate, local officials said.

    Federal investigators were not yet on the scene of the remote crash site as of Friday evening, NTSB spokesperson Keith Holloway said. More information was expected to be released Saturday.

    A spokesperson for Campbell County could not be reached immediately for further comment.

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  • 5 people escape hot, acidic pond after SUV drove into inactive geyser in Yellowstone National Park

    5 people escape hot, acidic pond after SUV drove into inactive geyser in Yellowstone National Park

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    MAMMOTH, Wyo. (AP) — Five people were able to escape a hot, acidic pond in Yellowstone National Park after the sport utility vehicle they were riding in went off the road and into an inactive geyser, park officials said Friday.

    The passengers were able to get out of the 105 degree Fahrenheit (41 degrees Celsius) water on their own after the crash Thursday morning and were taken to the hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries, park spokesperson Morgan Warthin said in a statement.

    The road was closed for about two hours Friday while the SUV was extracted from 9 feet of water, Warthin said.

    The Semi-Centennial Geyser has been inactive since a major eruption in 1922. It is located near Roaring Mountain between Mammoth Hot Springs and Norris Junction.

    Park officials did not release the names of those involved and said the incident is still being investigated.

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  • Rapidly growing Denver picks Mike Johnston as new mayor amid mounting big-city problems

    Rapidly growing Denver picks Mike Johnston as new mayor amid mounting big-city problems

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    DENVER (AP) — Former Colorado state senator Mike Johnston claimed victory as opponent Kelly Brough conceded Tuesday night in a runoff election to become Denver’s next mayor.

    Unofficial results showed Johnston with 54.05% of the vote to 45.95% for Brough late Tuesday night. Johnston was ahead by 8,000 votes shortly after polls closed and that lead grew to nearly 11,000 votes as the night went on.

    Johnston will be the city’s first new mayor in more than a decade, replacing Michael Hancock, who was elected in 2011 and was term-limited.

    Brough, the former president and CEO of the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, told supporters Tuesday night that she had called Johnston and “wished him godspeed in the work ahead because our city is challenged and it needs a lot of work.”

    The two moderates were the top vote-getters in a 16-way race in April, sending the race to Tuesday’s runoff.

    Denver has become the tech and business hub of the Mountain West but now faces problems similar to those in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Johnston will helm a rapidly growing city faced with out-of-control housing costs and increased homelessness.

    The job of Denver mayor has launched careers, notably that of John Hickenlooper, a Democrat who went on to become Colorado’s governor and is now a U.S. senator. Another Democratic mayor, Frederico Peña, went on to become U.S. Energy Secretary under former President Bill Clinton.

    Peña endorsed Johnston, who also had a larger warchest, including nearly $5 million raised from outside contributions.

    A tech and aerospace hub, the Denver metro area’s population has almost doubled over the past three decades, reaching 3 million. Fears that rapidly growing Denver is lurching toward a fate like other major cities defined the race.

    Candidates debated whether to enforce a ban on growing homeless encampments, further fund the police, impose rent control and allow what are often called “safe injection sites” — where people may use drugs under supervision to prevent overdoses.

    The ban was a legacy of Hancock’s administration.

    Johnston, who got slightly more votes than Brough in the April election, has said voters want the next mayor to do a good job of taking multiple approaches to problems.

    “We do have the same problems that San Francisco and Seattle face,” he said in April. “If we get that wrong, you end up like a lot of other big cities where no middle class people can live.”

    Brough campaigned on her knowledge of Denver and experience as a CEO. Besides leading the Denver chamber of commerce, she has been chief strategy officer for Metropolitan State University of Denver and was Hickenlooper’s chief of staff for three years when he was mayor.

    Denver’s homelessness rate has grown by over 12% over the past two years. Whether to enforce the ban divided candidates in the April election but Johnston and Brough both have said they would enforce it.

    The future mayor will also inherit a city experiencing a rise in gentrification, the highest crime rate in decades, and a surge in opioid overdoses that reached 473 deaths in 2021.

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