Wyoming post offices studied for potential closure

Like so many things in Wyoming, delivering the mail tends to require more time, covering more miles, enduring more isolation and spending more money than almost any other state.

So it’s no surprise that Wyoming has quite a few post offices on a list released today by the U.S. Postal Service detailing outposts that are being studied for potential closure. Many of these post offices serve only a few people and are located far from anything else. But then again, isn’t that true for so much of our state?

Advocates of closures could certainly make a compelling case about the skewed cost-benefit ratio of keeping these post offices open. But for those living in one of these communities, a post office is often the hub of civic affairs — a place to run into a neighbor you might only see once every couple of months, and only then when you’re both checking the mail.

There’s certainly something wonderful about being able to mail a letter from Van Tassell, Wyo. (pop. 3) to Key West, Fla. and paying the same postage as a letter from Manhattan to Brooklyn. But that one-size-fits-all approach which has made our postal system such a unifying part of American culture is also part of why it struggles to cover costs.

For plenty more on the financial woes of the USPS, check out Devin Leonard’s fantastic May 26 story in Business Week, The U.S. Postal Service Nears Collapse. As bad as you might think it is for the USPS financially, the reality is probably worse.

In the meantime, check the list below to see if your neighborhood post office might be on the chopping block.

Contact Ruffin Prevost at 307-213-9321 or ruffin@wyofile.com.