Veteran Wyoming journalist Kerry Drake started writing “The Drake’s Take” for WyoFile weekly in 2013. He is a communication specialist for Better Wyoming.
Columnist Rod Miller is a Wyoming native, raised on his family’s cattle ranch in Carbon County. He graduated from Rawlins High School, home of the mighty Outlaws, where he was named Outstanding Wrestler in 1968. He attended Casper College and the University of Northern Colorado. Miller spent half his life as a working cowboy and the other half doing odd jobs in the public and private sectors. He has published poetry, fiction and nonfiction, and lives in Cheyenne.
Columnist David Romtvedt arrived in Wyoming as a Ucross resident and soon found a home in the mountains and plains of what some call the Big Empty, though it’s not so empty at all. After growing up in Arizona, Romtvedt lived and worked in Oregon, Washington, Alaska and British Columbia; Mexico, Guatemala, and Nicaragua; Iowa and India; the Congo and Rwanda; Greece, Texas and the Basque Country. Following 10 years teaching in Artist-in-Schools programs throughout the western United States, he spent 22 years with the University of Wyoming’s MFA program and now lives in Buffalo. A recipient of two NEA fellowships, the Pushcart Prize, and the Wyoming Governor’s Arts Award, Romtvedt served as the poet laureate of the state of Wyoming from 2003 to 2011
Columnist Walt Gasson is a fourth-generation Sweetwater County native, storyteller, writer and son of the sagebrush sea. He spent 47 years in wildlife conservation in the public, nonprofit and private sectors. He is the author of “Craven Creek: A Collection of Essays.” He and his wife Kim live in Laramie.
Columnist Khale Lenhart is a Cheyenne-based attorney. Raised outside Sheridan, he attended Lee University and Harvard Law School before returning to Wyoming to practice civil litigation. He has been politically involved for over two decades, including a stint serving as a chairman of the Laramie County Republican Party and as an advisor to candidates and elected officials at all levels of government. He lives in Cheyenne with his wife and two daughters.
Columnist Jessica Brauer is a Wyoming nonprofit leader and writer whose work centers on the intersection of rural development and the creative economy. As the executive director of the Laramie Plains Civic Center, she manages the preservation of one of the state’s most historic multi-use facilities, fostering a vibrant hub for artists and community organizations. Her leadership extends to the Laramie Main Street Alliance, where she began her community work in 2011 and currently serves as the board chair, championing the revitalization of downtown spaces.
Her professional and creative work is shaped by the wide-open spaces and resilient people of the West. She remains a passionate advocate for equitable growth and economic prosperity in the state that raised her. A native of Casper and a graduate of the University of Wyoming, Jessica is also an alumna of Leadership Wyoming, a program that deepened her perspective on the unique challenges facing the state.
Reporter Christine Peterson has covered wildlife, the environment and outdoor recreation in Wyoming for more than 15 years for various publications including the Casper Star-Tribune, High Country News, Outdoor Life and Vox. She is an Alicia Patterson Foundation journalism fellow and lives and reports from her home in Laramie. Contact her at petersonoutside@gmail.com or @she.will.roam.
Mike Vanata, a photographer and cinematographer who has called the Equality State home for over 25 years, is drawn to a lifestyle where work and play exist side by side in the wide-open landscapes of the American West. With a background in broadcast journalism from Northwest College in Powell, he began honing his storytelling skills early, including a formative internship with CBS in New York City.
Mike is a co-creator of Western AF, a field-recording YouTube channel dedicated to documenting contemporary songwriters in raw, authentic settings.. When he’s not filming or shooting, he embraces the Wyoming lifestyle — especially his love for bison. He is currently making a documentary about their return to the Wind River Reservation.