From debates about historic rate hikes to federal management of public lands, 2023 was defined by moments of impassioned participation and sometimes protest. 

WyoFile’s photographers also captured emotional courtroom embraces, public art in unusual places and shifting mountain silhouettes. Here, in no specific order, are our photographs of the year. 

A train appears to emerge from the fog amid a sea of snow in the Powder River Basin. (Alan Nash)

Locomotive engineer Alan Nash risked arctic temperatures to capture a winter wonderland in northeast Wyoming.

Editor Tennessee Watson recast an ominous appearance as a good omen.

A raven perches in front of an Interstate 80 webcam near Laramie. DeEtte BabyJean Nichols shared a screenshot of the image on Facebook. (Wyoming Department of Transportation)

Residents and industry officials watched closely as the Wyoming Service Commission considered a historic hike to the cost of electricity. 

Wyoming AARP Director Sam Shumway presented the Wyoming Public Service Commission with a box of some 5,000 written comments from members opposing Rocky Mountain Power’s proposed electric rate increase during a formal hearing Oct. 25, 2023 in Cheyenne. (Dustin Bleizeffer/WyoFile)

Wyoming became the first state to outlaw the use of pills for abortion in 2023. Abortion, however, remains legal because the medication abortion ban and a separate overall ban are tied up in court. 

Two women hug as a third wipes tears from her eyes in the background
Jackson OB-GYN Dr. Giovannina Anthony, second from left, a plaintiff in a lawsuit challenging Wyoming’s new ban on most abortions, hugs her attorney after Ninth District Court Judge Melissa Owens issued a temporary order blocking the law Wednesday, March 22, 2023, in Jackson. (Kathryn Ziesig/Jackson Hole News&Guide/Pool)

Snow is far from extraordinary in Wyoming, but 2023 was record-breaking, and our reporters made some ingenious measuring devices.

A tower of frosty refreshments gives scale to the deep blanket of snow in Casper April 4, 2023. (Dustin Bleizeffer/WyoFile)

In western Wyoming, record snowpack left death in its wake.

The carcasses of 16 pronghorn are clustered on a hill overlooking Highway 191 south of Boulder in May 2023. The large concentrations of dead animals are a good indication that mycoplasma bovis, which causes respiratory infection, struck the herd. (Mike Koshmrl/WyoFile)

A law passed in 2023 directs the Wyoming Game and Fish Department to give Wyoming resident shed-hunters a one-week head start over nonresidents beginning in 2024. Photographer Natalie Behring captured the last scramble for antlers before the change took effect.  

Shed hunters laden with antlers walk back to their vehicle on the May 1, 2023 opening day of the shed hunt near Jackson. Several successful hunters said the key to finding sheds is to run. (Natalie Behring)

A giant rockfall forever changed what’s arguably the world’s most famous natural skyline — the iconic Cathedral Group view of the Grand Teton, Teewinot and Mount Owen.

The Cathedral Group profile today sports a distinctly sharper and smaller Second Tower. Click to enlarge. (Angus M. Thuermer, Jr./WyoFile)
The same view of the Cathedral Group as it looked before the partial collapse of the Second Tower. Click to enlarge. (Tim Mayo)

It’s unclear if this high-altitude denizen noticed the disturbance.

Bombus occidentalis buzzes through a patch of rosy spiraea above Lake Solitude in Grand Teton National Park. (Ellen Keaveny)

At 27, Bear 399 became the oldest monitored grizzly in the history of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem to birth a litter of youngsters. 

The expected emergence of 27-year-old Grizzly 399 in spring 2023 caused photographers to gather roadside in Grand Teton National Park for weeks. She emerged on May 16, lone cub in tow. (Mike Romano/Romanosphotography.com)

Barred owls taking residence in the Tetons also captured attention. While cute, the non-native bird raised concerns among conservationists. 

Tom Stanton first glimpsed evidence that barred owls had successfully bred in Wyoming on June 28, 2023, when two fluffy chicks poked their heads from the tree cavity. Their mother watched from the cavity. (Thomas Stanton)

After making history as the first openly transgender woman to join a Wyoming sorority, Artemis Langford watched right-wing media depict her as a monster. She turned to WyoFile to reflect on her experience. 

Artemis Langford holds up a scarf that was given to her as a gift after she came out as transgender. (Niki Chan Wylie)

Wyoming officials postponed the sale of a coveted square-mile property bordering Grand Teton National Park, delaying a public auction that generated widespread publicity and equally widespread outrage.

Jackson Vice Mayor Arne Jorgensen, right, attends the protest in Jackson on Nov. 6, 2023, challenging the proposed state auction of the 640-acre Kelly parcel in Grand Teton National Park. Pronghorn migrate through the state land, which could be sold for development. (Angus M. Thuermer Jr./WyoFile)

Wyoming’s passion for public lands also extended to pit toilets.

Laramie artist Rhiannon Jakopak adds detail to a mural in a U.S. Forest Service public restroom at Vedauwoo recreation area east of Laramie. (Lukas Todd)
A new mural by Laramie artist Olivia Ewing welcomes visitors to the Reynold’s Hill public restroom at Vedauwoo recreation area. (Olivia Ewing)

Gov. Mark Gordon is often at loggerheads with the federal government, especially when it comes to fossil fuel policies. But when EPA administrator Michael Regan visited Wyoming, Gordon found room for agreement: Advancing carbon capture technologies is vital to sustaining reliable energy while combating the climate crisis.

Gov. Mark Gordon and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan held a joint press conference at the University of Wyoming on August 9, 2023. (Dustin Bleizeffer/WyoFile)

The Bureau of Land Management released its draft environmental impact statement in August for its revised Rock Springs field office Resource Management Plan. The document, 12 years in the making, catalyzed challenging conversations about public land use.

In a breakout group to discuss the Rock Springs Area Resource Management Plan Revision stockmen John Hay III, president of the Rock Springs Grazing Association, and T. Wright Dickinson of the Vermillion Ranch work on the Wyoming alternative. (Angus M. Thuermer Jr./WyoFile)

May the seasons that lie ahead bring beauty, joy and adventure.

Aspen trees cast shadows on fresh snow in Lander Nov. 27, 2023. Winter arrived on Thanksgiving with a snowstorm that dumped more than 2 feet on the central Wyoming town. (Katie Klingsporn/WyoFile)
Passenger Lucie Lund, her daughter, Teri Lund, and pilot Maryalice Snider are all smiles during a ride on an electric-assisted trishaw through Laramie in August 2023. The Laramie Trishaw Project offers elderly people a way to enjoy pedal-powered cruises. (Mike Vanata)

But stay safe out there.

A typical view from the cab of a WYDOT snowplow on South Pass. (Katie Klingsporn/WyoFile)

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  1. Reply
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  3. Sororities/fraternities are traditionally gender based. No matter how a person identifies, if they have intact male genitalia, they don’t belong in a female club, or in female sports.

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    1. Completely irrelevant to this subject. The article reminds us of how wonderful Wyoming is. Your comment reminds us how bitter some right-wingers are.

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      1. Absolutely relevant to that portion of the article “first transgender woman”.I am not a “bitter right winger”. I am a traditional conservative independent. I’ve always believed in live and let live, but you cannot force me to live your life. Why would any person that seeks security and camaraderie choose a path that offers only stress to everyone involved. Are they being pressured by others to be a “ground-breaker”?

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  4. I am a life-long native Montanan but I love everything about Wyoming–travelling thru over the years–cycling all thru the Great Basin–Wind River, summitting the Grand.
    Thank you for your hospitality!
    clark swan
    Billings

    Reply

  5. Beautiful pictures with lots of information to learn ! Thank you for sharing ❤️🇺🇸🙏

    Reply