House panel bars filmmaker from Wyo. pollution hearing

The House Science subcommittee hearing on water contamination in Pavillion, Wyo., took an unusual turn Wed. morning when filmmaker and drilling opponent Josh Fox was handcuffed and led away by Capitol Police... Read the full article...
A mom-and-pop oil company prospects for gas in central Wyoming

John Wold is one of Wyoming's most notorious wildcatters. At the age of 95, he still enjoys the thrill and challenge of making new oil and gas discoveries... Read the full article...
EPA moving in on state regulation of drilling

Several ongoing investigations conducted by EPA are generating friction between the agency and state officials across the country over the management of oil and gas drilling, and hydraulic fracturing in particular... Read the full article...
State warms to call for bigger OSHA role in stemming workplace fatalities

After resisting more workplace inspections and increased enforcement of safety regulations, some state officials are now considering a bigger role for the Wyoming Occupational Safety and Health Administration in addressing the state’s high workplace fatality rate... Read the full article...
Wyoming Billionaire Backs Santorum

Friess has made national headlines in recent weeks thanks to his contributions to a super PAC that supports Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum. Friess is the main benefactor of the Red White and Blue Fund, which spent $537,000 on ads to help Santorum win the Iowa caucuses... Read the full article...
Wyoming cautiously reviews insurance exchanges

There are approximately 83,000 uninsured people in Wyoming — a situation that puts families at risk of illness, bankruptcy and death — and an insurance exchange could make insurance more affordable for both small employers and their workers... Read the full article...

The Sage Grouse

Winter in the Tropics

by The Sage Grouse January 31, 2012

The Sage Grouse unpacks a few photos from his recent trek to the Galapagos Islands, where it wasn’t just the tortoise, iguana and birds that left an impression.

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Georgia June

by The Sage Grouse January 24, 2012

Ladies and Germs, I have an announcement: The Sage Grouse is not always a grouch. Can you fathom the possibility that something could turn a Grouse into a warm mushy …

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Societal Meltdown
Remember the shockingly sudden loss of civility during the debate over reform of what everyone knows is a failed health care system; loud, rude shouting anti-government maniacs appeared at …

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Chuck Townsend

by The Sage Grouse January 10, 2012

Chuck Townsend was one of my favorite people. I thought about that a lot at his funeral on January 2. Chuck worked his ass off in the family businesses, devotedly …

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Huntsman-Barrasso 2012?

by The Sage Grouse January 3, 2012

The Sage Grouse revels in the time-honored tradition of speculating about the final GOP ticket.

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Boehner let the Tea Party bare its rear

by The Sage Grouse December 27, 2011

John Boehner, according to The Sage Grouse, has somehow saved face in the last-minute deal to get the extension, leaving folks like Eric Cantor baring their true intentions before a …

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Newt Attacks the Courts

by The Sage Grouse December 20, 2011

The Sage Grouse reacts to recent comments by GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich about going after “activist judges.”

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The Problem With Elections is Re-Election

by The Sage Grouse December 13, 2011

The Sage Grouse contemplates how current term limits have fallen victim to extended campaign seasons, essentially neutering the opportunity for real policy work.

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Abel lost long ago, Cain loses now

by The Sage Grouse December 6, 2011

Abel lost long ago, Cain loses now

Folks, we in Wyoming were maybe not that far from the Great Fall, the exit from the Garden of Eden, preceding or during the …

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Support WyoFile’s successful mission

by The Sage Grouse November 22, 2011

The Sage Grouse makes an important pitch to readers: consider supporting WyoFile and its mission of in-depth reporting on Wyoming’s people, places and policy.

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Gaffes

by The Sage Grouse November 15, 2011

The Sage Grouse returns with a commentary on recent gaffes by those seeking to be the next President of the United States, and by our current president.

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Carbon Shock

by The Sage Grouse October 25, 2011

The Sage Grouse challenges readers to prove him wrong on what he surmises may be futile efforts to capture and sequester carbon dioxide.

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I’m With Stupid

by The Sage Grouse October 18, 2011

The GPS in my Mazda CX-9 shows a lot of roads and streets. In an urban setting, it probably works beautifully with the voice prompting feature. It ain’t so good …

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Civil Discourse

by The Sage Grouse October 11, 2011

What happens when persistent rain leaves two hunting buddies stranded inside with nothing to do but talk and drink? When one an oil and gas attorney and the other a …

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Local Control

by The Sage Grouse October 4, 2011

The authority of the federal government can be a pain sometimes, but it isn’t necessarily better when a school board, city or county is running the show…

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BugShot (part 2)

by The Sage Grouse September 27, 2011

After attending the BugShot workshop, your humble neophyte is working on photographs of insects and spiders at ranges of 1/2 to 2 inches…

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Let’s Not Kill All The Lawyers

by The Sage Grouse September 20, 2011

Lawyers are not generally held in high esteem these days. But in many instances they are heroes of personal rights and freedom — at least that’s what The Sage Grouse …

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BugShot (part 1)

by The Sage Grouse September 13, 2011

I just spent three exhilarating days at the Shaw Nature Reserve near St. Louis, Missouri, the place where everyone who made the West into a European-culture dominated landscape started out. …

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A Real Wyoming Legend

by The Sage Grouse September 6, 2011

John Winchester lived in an isolated location near Buffalo, Wyoming. He either was a bachelor who hired females to keep house or was a serial consumer of mail-order brides, I …

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History: Condemned Over and Over

by The Sage Grouse August 30, 2011

I heard in high school that those who do not learn from history are condemned to repeat it. I thought that this meant that if we did not study Greek …

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Chicken-Ducking Topics

by The Sage Grouse August 23, 2011

Alert readers have failed to note or comment that The Sage Grouse has not (perhaps for good reason) weighed in on the following controversial topics…

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Aliens and Cowboys

by The Sage Grouse August 16, 2011

We make up movies showing aliens as crafty, cunning or just plain brutal invaders, with plots always reaching a nasty, evidently inevitable, horrifying moment when all human life is about …

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This May Be The Last Time

by The Sage Grouse August 2, 2011

The tea party folks are acting a bit like lemmings, friends. But, what’s a mere cliff in the course of life’s journeys?

The debt ceiling increase was predestined, even required, by …

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Unsung Heroes of Compassion

by The Sage Grouse July 26, 2011

In the course of the flight she mentioned that there was only one surgeon in eastern Bhutan, Lotay Tshering, who was constantly on the road from village to village. …

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Flew the looking-glass

by The Sage Grouse July 22, 2011

Some websites have ideas on how to prevent birds striking your windows. I know there’s no perfect answer to this problem, and won’t pretend it is entirely preventable, but there …

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Makin’ Bacon

by The Sage Grouse July 19, 2011

Makin’ Bacon
In the midst of historic mineral revenues and state reserve accounts, Governor Mead is celebrating a huge infusion of federal dollars for the Greater Sage-grouse and is asking for …

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Horse Shibboleth

by The Sage Grouse July 12, 2011

My last piece on wild horses generated a lot of blow-back, including a comment (not published) by a reader who wished upon me certain death, preferably a slow death. That, …

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Roads and Views: I got mine, why should I give you one?

by The Sage Grouse June 21, 2011

Here comes New Neighbor, who hired a surveyor to prove that the front third of our parking lot and the back third of the two outhouses are on his land. …

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Ban Lead Hunting Ammo: We Are Not Survivalists Any More

by The Sage Grouse June 14, 2011

The controversies over curtailing use of lead shot for bird hunting pale in contrast to the latest debate about banning use of lead ammunition for all hunting. At first blush, …

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Sen. Barrasso: Grandma or The Big Bad Wolf?

by The Sage Grouse June 7, 2011

Sen. Barrasso: Grandma or The Big Bad Wolf?
I got a fund-raising letter from John Barrasso, boasting that he is now regarded as the “most conservative member of the U.S. Senate.” …

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Insurance and Personal Responsibility

by The Sage Grouse May 31, 2011

If only the sick buy health insurance coverage, no one can afford it. Insurance is by definition a sharing of risk. All responsible individuals should participate, and if they will …

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Guns Again: No License, Registration or Insurance Needed

by The Sage Grouse May 24, 2011

Instead of abolishing reasonable requirements, shouldn’t we instead require basic safety training and a background check for buyers of firearms? Yes, there are outlaws who will evade these requirements, just …

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Leaving The South for Wyoming

by The Sage Grouse May 17, 2011

Leaving The South for Wyoming
In January 1961, the entire student body at my Indianola, Miss., grade school assembled in the gym to watch John F. Kennedy’s inauguration on a black-and-white …

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Of Birds and Blades

by The Sage Grouse May 10, 2011

Since many communication towers are erected by public agencies, often for public safety purposes, the public should push such agencies to implement strategies to build self-standing towers instead of guyed …

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Energy Quandaries

by The Sage Grouse May 3, 2011

The legislature should repeal the exemption of wind energy from the right to use eminent domain and do whatever is needed to provide certainty in the market place, so that …

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A Conversation With Rod Blagojevich: Big Hair

by The Sage Grouse April 26, 2011

Politics generate subjects a lot more fun than almost anything else. After a boring hiatus politics is heating up again. A recent morning:

The Sage Grouse rolls cursing out of bed, …

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A Brief History of Cars: A Personal Perspective

by The Sage Grouse April 19, 2011

I, sans motor vehicle, stuck out my thumb and caught a ride with some Harley enthusiasts to Rock Springs, whereupon a gigantic snowstorm shut down all forms of travel (except …

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Nemesis Birds

by The Sage Grouse April 12, 2011

“Nemesis,” when used while referring to birds which do not cooperatively reveal themselves, is a euphemism for an opportunity for swearing. Well, at least for some of us.

Some birders are …

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The Spider and the Caterpillar

by The Sage Grouse April 5, 2011

This enterprising spider, with a body about 3/8-inch in diameter and legs quite a bit longer, had surprised a 7/8-inch caterpillar on a branch, wrestled the caterpillar off the branch …

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Imperial Hotel Part 2 — The Ivory Question

by The Sage Grouse March 29, 2011

The dealer reassured me, with broken, earnest and enthusiastic English, that I would have no problems with customs. Yeah, right. Not his problem, just mine. Who would know whether he …

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Imperial Hotel Part 1 — Reflections on Independence

by The Sage Grouse March 22, 2011

Is The Sage Grouse a neocolonialist? Is The Sage Grouse a plain, old, ordinary 1800s-era colonialist? These questions did go through my head, but I had an interesting question to …

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Small World: The politics of public and private lands

by The Sage Grouse March 15, 2011

Everyone in Wyoming is worried that the sage-grouse will cause a shutdown of everything from ag to industry. Hmm, I wonder. If the sage-grouse had more cover, would it tolerate …

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The OBNT

by The Sage Grouse March 8, 2011

The OBNT lives in central Mexico. They are drab and reclusive, although the song is loud and unmistakable.

Until a few months ago, there were only two records of the OBNT …

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Winter Discontent

by The Sage Grouse March 1, 2011

Meanwhile, in Wyoming, the Legislature apparently feels no need to deal much with finance and spending. So, freed from fiscal anxiety by a flush of mineral revenue, they spend their …

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Caring citizens will face Westboro hate-mongers

by The Sage Grouse February 22, 2011

Why should any Christian or otherwise caring human being interrupt a family’s tragic funeral to heap mockery and pain upon their suffering, unless to reap self-aggrandizing fund-raising benefits from …

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‘The Dave’ Roast

by The Sage Grouse February 15, 2011

Actually, the event we attended was the Roast of Governor Dave, a hugely successful event. Al Simpson, Tom Buchanan, Mike Sullivan, Pete Williams, Terry Cleveland and Rob Hurless piled it …

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Death Panels

by The Sage Grouse January 31, 2011

There are debates out there about euthanasia. But we are not there, folks. “Obamacare” nowhere approaches this topic. The bill provided for payments to professionals to advise people about end-of-life …

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Is there an app for that?

by The Sage Grouse January 25, 2011

If we want to focus on weighty social issues which do affect the public purse, together with crime and morality, let’s talk about juvenile justice. Let’s talk about how to …

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