Posted: Wednesday, February 11, 2004 12:00 am
Charges filed in timber theft case
CHEYENNE - After a 2.5-year investigation, the U.S. District Attorney has brought charges in a timber theft case involving illegal clear-cutting and road construction in the Pennock Mountain Roadless Area of the Medicine Bow National Forest.
Two Carbon County residents, Elk Mountain rancher Steve Palm and long-time Saratoga logger Sterling Arnold, have been charged and made their initial appearances Tuesday morning in federal court in Cheyenne.
The alleged violations occurred between 1994 and Sept. 2000, and allegedly involved the theft of more than 8,000 trees, along with the construction of skid roads within the Roadless Area.
"The damage that has been done to the Pennock Mountain Roadless Area is extreme," said Erik Molvar of Biodiversity Conservation Alliance, which initially reported the problem. "There is absolutely no excuse for this crime, and if the defendants are indeed the perpetrators, they deserve the maximum penalty."
If convicted, the defendants face up to 2.5 years in prison, a fine of $25,000, and restitution of up to $338,000.
Cody trying to attract some dam tourists
CODY - New approaches are being tried to draw visitors to the Buffalo Bill Dam, once the highest dam in the world.
The number of dam visitors has fallen from about 90,000 in 2000 to 50,000 last year.
To boost attendance, the dam's visitor center is planning an open house in early May and other programs two to three times a week.
Dick Wilder, incoming president of the center, said Cody and other downstream communities would not exist without the dam and reservoir.
Construction on the dam began in 1905. At 325 feet, it was the highest dam in the world when it was completed five years later.
BLM sale nets $7.1 million
CHEYENNE - An auction of federal oil and natural gas drilling rights in Wyoming netted $7.1 million, half of which goes to the state.
Receipts of $7,182,857 were received for leasing rights on parcels offered by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management at its most recent bi-monthly auction, held Wednesday.
Bids ranged from the federally mandated minimum of $2 an acre to $2,012 an acre.
Mineral revenue on federal lands is split between the federal government and the states, with states receiving 50 percent and the federal government receiving 10 percent. The other 40 percent goes to a federal water project reclamation fund.