Failing dams, collapsing highways and wildfires: Gordon urges lawmakers to focus on Wyoming’s infrastructure

CHEYENNE—Gov. Mark Gordon encouraged lawmakers in his State of the State address Wednesday to focus on Wyoming’s infrastructure, citing three recent examples of need: the failing LaPrele dam, the collapse of Highway 22 over Teton Pass and last summer’s historic wildfires. 

“Infrastructure can serve our state for decades, even a century, but it doesn’t last forever,” Gordon said. “It’s no surprise then that its planning, repair and construction can take years. Ignoring warning signs is costly and can be deadly, as we’ve seen play out in other states and even here in Wyoming.” 

Addressing a new Legislature with dozens of freshmen lawmakers in the House chambers, Gordon also highlighted other priorities: increasing Medicaid funding to obstetrics providers, expanding the state’s coal litigation fund, expanding school choice and additional funding for an existing property tax refund program. 

He largely struck an optimistic tone. 

“I’m proud to report that Wyoming remains strong and vibrant,” Gordon said. “There are concerns to be sure, but our future is very bright.”

The governor also acknowledged a fact that could dramatically change how this legislative session operates. The Wyoming Freedom Caucus — whose opponents Gordon backed in the primary election — is now in charge. 

“There has been much said and much promised with the success of this year’s elections,” Gordon said. “The eyes of our citizens and the nation are upon us. The responsibility of actually governing rests solely upon our shoulders.”

The Freedom Caucus, which generally takes a more hardline approach than the governor, has taken to criticizing the size of Wyoming’s government. But Gordon offered a different view Wednesday, noting there are 300 fewer state employees than when he took office six years ago. He also defended his supplemental budget proposal, which largely focuses on the infrastructure needs highlighted in his speech. 

“Our constituents expect an efficient government that gets value for the dollar, one that allows them to keep as much of that hard-earned money as is reasonably possible,” Gordon said. “They don’t want cheap, short-sighted budgets that look good on paper, but may hurt them in their daily lives, or cause their kids to have to leave Wyoming.” 

Contrasting priorities

Above all, Gordon’s speech made clear that his priorities for the legislative session, and his vision for the state’s future, overlap very little with the stated aims of the Freedom Caucus. 

The group’s top-priority bill package does not include anything to address Wyoming’s infrastructure. Instead, it focuses on hot-button topics such as restricting voter registration, prohibiting diversity, equity and inclusion programming in higher education, banning state investments in environment, social and governance funds and bringing back a property tax relief bill vetoed by Gordon last year. 

Nonetheless, Gordon said “I know we can work together,” and that disagreement between the Legislature and the executive branch is to be expected. 

“That’s natural. That’s our system of checks and balances,” Gordon said. “Our founding fathers spoke eloquently of the temptation of one branch to usurp the other, and their design — our Constitution — relies on competition between those branches to keep each of them in their places. We are heirs to their wisdom.”

Litany of breakdowns

In 2019, during Gordon’s first year in office, a Fort Laramie Canal tunnel collapsed in Goshen County, cutting off water to hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland. 

“That is a lesson we need not repeat given the warning signs with the LaPrele dam,” Gordon said. 

The 116-year-old structure, which sits 20 miles west of Douglas, must be demolished as soon as possible to avoid catastrophic failure, state officials say. It serves more than 100 irrigators and will cost more than $118 million to replace (legislation introduced for this session would raise the total project budget to $182 million). 

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“Those who rely on the dam need to know that Wyoming will be there for them and will stand behind them. We don’t let our neighbors down,” Gordon said. “I call upon the Legislature to send me a proposal, not only to expedite the building of a new dam, to also defend existing use of storage rights, protect the safety of those living below the dam and provide appropriate assistance to those irrigators while the new dam is being built.”

Roads can also fail unexpectedly, Gordon said, pointing to Highway 22 and its collapse last June in Teton County. 

“The cascading collapse left this vital roadway impassable, cutting off Jackson’s workforce from the community,” Gordon said. He then thanked Wyoming Department of Transportation leadership and staff for their ingenuity and ability to construct a temporary detour in just a few days before completing a lasting repair a couple weeks later. 

“In short, when it comes to infrastructure we should never compromise on safety,” Gordon said. “Kicking the can down the road will only hurt our kids and our neighbors.”

Charred budgets

Wyoming’s historic 2024 wildfire season burned through 810,000 acres and completely depleted the state’s firefighting funds. 

It also wiped out the governor’s contingency account, the Homeland Security’s contingency funds and virtually all of the governor’s authority to borrow from the Legislative Stabilization Reserve Account, Gordon said. 

“If memory isn’t fresh enough, just look to Los Angeles to see how rapidly fire expands in dry times, and the catastrophe insufficient infrastructure can lead to,” Gordon said. 

Resources are needed to fight future fires and to begin recovery, Gordon added.