Barrasso reclaims FE Warren desk

CHEYENNE - Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso is sitting at the desk first used by Francis E. Warren in 1890.

Warren was one of Wyoming's first U.S. senators and is the namesake of the F. E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne.

Barrasso obtained the desk from Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama. Shelby gave it up after he managed to get a desk with significant historical value to Alabama. Both senators are Republicans.

Barrasso's office says historians are able to trace the occupants of each desk by reading the names carved inside the desk drawers. Thirteen U.S. senators have sat at the Warren desk since it was delivered to the Senate at the time of Wyoming's statehood.

UW approves 2 new energy field degrees

LARAMIE - The University of Wyoming Board of Trustees has approved the addition of two energy-related undergraduate science degrees.

The trustees on Friday accepted the faculty's recommendation to add degrees titled "Energy Resource Science" and "Energy Systems Engineering" starting this fall.

Both degrees are designed to give students interdisciplinary training in preparation for careers in the energy field.

The School of Energy Resources is offering the energy resource science degree in collaboration with other colleges. Curriculum will include study of engineering, science, law, business and natural resources.

The College of Engineering and Applied Sciences will offer the energy systems engineering degree. The program will address energy-development challenges from technological, environmental, social, political and economic perspectives.

Building permits strong in Cody

CODY - Despite a downturn in the real estate market and the national economy, construction projects in Cody continue to look up in 2009.

City of Cody Building official Scott King says that building permits issued for both residential and commercial projects are at high levels this January.

At the end of last year, King says that residential permits slowed down in December, but he says that's normal.

King says that historically people do pull more building permits at the beginning of the year, but he says based on the size of the projects planned, the community looks strong for 2009.

State wants to sell land near Sheridan

SHERIDAN - The state is proposing to sell more than 1,200 acres of land near Sheridan.

But some say the state should swap for the land about 20 miles northeast of Sheridan rather than sell it.

Chase Farms NX Bar Ranch of Sheridan has proposed buying the land, which lacks legal public access. The state would retain mineral rights.

The land has been appraised at $704,000.

The state is currently making $1,415 per year in grazing fees from the land.

The Office of State Lands and Investments conducted a hearing on the proposal this week.

The state Board of Land Commissioners will consider the sale at its next meeting Feb. 12.

Some Wyoming rail workers furloughed

GILLETTE - Some railroad workers have been furloughed in Gillette despite record coal shipments out of Campbell County in 2008.

Both Union Pacific Corp. and Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. are facing uncertainty about the national economy and the new Obama administration.

BNSF has furloughed 43 in Gillette.

Union Pacific hasn't announced a specific number of furloughed employees or where those employees are located.

Company officials say future coal shipments will depend on new jobs, but no one knows how soon that will happen with the new administration's economic plans.

Conservation group gains interim executive

BOZEMAN, Mont. - A man instrumental in starting the Greater Yellowstone Coalition more than 25 years ago is the conservation group's interim executive.

Rick Reese is filling in while the Bozeman-based organization seeks a successor to Michael Scott, who left the executive director's job Oct. 1 to work for the Hewlett Foundation. Responsibilities were handled by Mike Clark under a two-month agreement.

Reese, 66, emerged from retirement to be the interim executive. His background includes work in the education field in Montana and Utah, most recently as community relations director at the University of Utah.

He had a key role in calling for the 1983 convention that led to establishment of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, and was its first president. The coalition has offices in Idaho and Wyoming, as well as in Bozeman.