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Volume 129 * Issue No. 13
00l'tle 00un(Janc e Thursday.
• March 28, 2013
00l,lme S
www.sundanceflmes.com
Brief
Officials to
discuss new
brucellosis cases
The Wyorring Game a ash
Department and the Wyomg
Livestock Board are hosting a
publc meeting to discuss new
cases of brucelosis found in elk in
the Bighorn Mountains. The meet-
ing wl begin at 7 p.m. on Aprg 4
at the Bks Lodge in Greybul.
Earler this month, WGFD identified
two positive cases of bnJcellos in
elk that were harvested the
2012 hunting season in hunt area
40, about 15 roles west of Burgeu
Junction. Both hunters subn'/ffed
blood samples to the WGFD as
part of the depceth't's state-
wide voluntary brucellosis surveg-
lance program. Through this pro-
am, are cogected from
hunters in the fall and eady winter,
then analyzed at the WGFD lab
throughout the wter. Brucenods
has not been documented in
Ivestock in this area.
.the Apnl 4 meeting vvg give
Ivestock producers and others a
chance to arn more and ask
questions about these recent
discoveries, plans for
surveikece in elk this year, and
tested and proven methods to
reduce risk to livestock operations.
For more information go to wyo-
mingbrucelsis.com.
Feds to withhold
$53 million from
state revenue
Over TS3 mi0n in revenue
om me State of wyombg due to
.$I0.a mlkbe,
v each rnonth between
now and Ju. v¢m the poy
Big rig rollover
Jeff Moberg photo
A semi truck hauling coal on WY Highway 116 overturned late Tuesday morning near the Crook/Weston County line. The driver of the rig was taken
to the Sundance Hospital with unspecified injuries. At press time, officials were still Investigating the cause of the accident. EMS and Fire Department
crews from Sundance along with the Wyoming Highway Patrol responded to the accident.
Governor Matt Mead has reacted
to the unexpected letter from
1he Department of Interior by
seeldng advice from the Attorney
Generars Office and considet
al avalable . "When the
State reduced its I:xJdget by over
6 percent, it cki not achieve its
reducans by mrcJ
revenue," he said.
'atwoUd being
ese's ., De,
Ixdment of the inted°r d'KxJId n°t
be able to meet,s budget reduc-
tion by tcng mined revenues
belong to Jhe states under
the law."
Mead expressed annoyance at
the lack of notice, wflh federal
action set to begin immedate.
"As far as cafions go,
this method of pasdng along
significant information that greatly
tnpacts Wyoming gets a grade of
F minus."
Weather
k
Thu 50129
3128
Mostly sunny. Highs in the low 50s
and lows in the upper 20s.
Fri 57134
3129
Times of sun and clouds. Highs in
the upper 50s and lows in the mid
30s.
Sat 49/34 /'"
3/30
Occasional showers possible.
Highs in the upper 40s and lows in
the mid 30s.
3131 Sun 51121
A few clouds. Highs in the low 50s
and lows in the low 20s.
Mon 45128 /"
411
Mix of sun and clouds. Highs in the
mid 40s and lows in the upper 20s.
Public comment sought for
Oshoto uranium project
issues mandate otherwise, structure such as roads and
BY SARAH PRIDGEON
sarah@sundancetimes.com
The Nuclear Regulatory Com-
mission is seeking input from
the public on its draft envi-
ronmental impact statement
for Strata Energy's in-situ
uranium recovery project. The
proposed Ross Project will
be situated in Oshoto, Crook
County, and is expected to be-
gin production in 2014.
The NRC is in the process
of reviewing the license ap-
plication for construction,
operation, aquifer restoration
and decommissioning of the
project, says Johari Moore,
NRC spokesperson. The draft
includes the NRC staff's pre-
liminary recommendation to
grant the license, unless safety
"As part of the review of the
application, the NRC staff has
prepared a Draft Supplemental
Environmental Impact State-
ment," Moore continues. "The
Draft SEIS includes an analy-
sis of relevant environmental
issues and documents the NRC
staffs preliminary determina-
tions."
The license will authorize
Strata to use an in-situ leach
process to recover uranium
from underground ore and con-
vert it into yellowcake for use
in the production of nuclear
fuel. The proposed project
includes a central processing
plant to produce yellowcake,
corresponding injection and
recovery wells, deep-disposal
and monitoring wells through-
out the project area and infra-
pipelines.
The draR environmental study
summarizes the cumulative
impacts of the Ross Project as
generating =primarily regional
and local costs and benefits"
and states that the benefits
outweigh the costs. Among
the advantages are increased
employment, economic activ-
ity and tax revenues, while the
costs are, for the most part,
limited to the immediate area
and include small visual, air-
quality and noise impacts.
The study finds the poten-
tial impacts on land use to be
small throughout every stage
of the project's lifetime. Dur-
ing construction and decom-
missioning, only 280 of the
See Comments J Page 16
Fire warden calls for voluntary fire ban
BY SARAH PRIDGEON
sarah@sundancetimes.corn
After a dry winter, with most
of Crook County seeing sig-
nificantly less snow than usual,
Fire Warden Gari Gill is call-
ing for residents to exercise
extreme caution when burning
garbage.
=It's ugly out there," says Gill.
"We're fortunate here in Sun-
dance that were had a little
snow and moisture, but two
thirds of the county has not -
the northwest part is extremely
dry already."
The fire department requests
that residents use common
sense when burning and restrict
any burning activity to between
8 p.m. and 6 a.m. - semi-
restrictions that are expected
to become oicial next week, if
approved by the County Com-
missioners.
"It docsn1 look like we're going
to have a green-up period this
year, or itll be later than usual,
so the fire danger is already
pretty high," Gill continues.
"We're behind last year even on
moisture and we're the lucky
ones. The west of the county
had no snow pack whatsoever
this winterT
The county has notched up ten
fires already this year, a number
of which were caused by debris
burning out of control. The
largest of the garbage-burning
fires was a 22.5-acre fire north
of Hulett on the afternoon of
March 7, with a 10 acre blaze
in Beulah reported on March 11
and a five acre fire in Moorcroft
on March 16.
"Please just use extreme cau-
tion right now when burning
garbage and dumps, stresses
Gill. If you do need to bum gar-
bage, he requests that you let
either the fire department or the
Sheriffs Oice know beforehand
to help both departments suc-
cessfully identify uncontrolled
bums.
In preparation for what may
be a record summer fire season,
Crook County Fire Department
is currently in the process of
stripping the fire packages from
vintage fire trucks from the
1950s that are leased through
the State and Federal Govern-
ment. The old trucks are slow
and donl work well, with some
having not seen service in half
a decade.
"We're putting the fire pack-
ages on newer pick-ups and
hopefully down the line wel find
some good deals to purchase
new vehicles to bring the fleet
back up," Gill explains.
Chamber announces
Citizen of the Year
BY SARAH PRIDGEON
sarah@sundancetimes.com
The title of 2012 Chamber
of Commerce Outstanding
Individual is to be awarded
to Barbara Byme, who will be
honored at next week's celebra-
tory banquet at the Aro Restau-
rant. She was nominated and
selected for her involvement in
the community, including her
work with Boy Scouts and the
Red Hat Society.
Also among the nominees
were Rick Proctor, nominated
for his "dedication to the elderly
and disabled and to the City of
Sundance" and Joyce Speidel,
who received two nominations
for her work with church and
youth organizations and help
with local funerals.
Dick and RoseZella Proctor
received a joint nomination for
their strong support of the Sun-
dance community, including
RoseZella's involvement with
the growth and improvement of
the Crook County Library.
The banquet to honor both
the winner and nominees will
be held at the Aro Restaurant
on April 6, beginning at 6 p.m.
with a welcome reception. The
event will also be a celebration
of hometown business, says
Trudy Pridgeon, President of
the Chamber of Commerce, and
an opportunity to mingle, meet
and share ideas for the coming
year.
Tickets are $25 and can be
purchased at the Aro Res-
taurant, At the Twisted Pine
Gallery, Best Western, Dillons
Hardware, Impressions Em-
broidery, Subway and Sun-
dance State Bank.
The Chamber is meanwhile
considering whether to adopt
the Code of the West as its mis-
sion statement, says Pridgeon.
Kathy Lenz, Clerk-Treasurer
for the City of Sundance, ap-
proached the board at its March
regular meeting to suggest the
Chamber follow in the city's
footsteps in adopting the code.
The decision was delayed until
the next meeting to invite input
from chamber members and
expose more people to the code,
says Pridgeon, partly through
the opportunity to view a video
showcasing the merits of the
Code of the West and its prac-
tical applications around the
State of Wyoming.
The meeting will take place
in the Sundance State Bank
meeting room on April 16 at
6:30 p.m.; the board would like
to invite chamber members and
the public to contribute their
opinions at the meeting before
a decision is made.
=We would like to welcome
more people to our Chamber
meetings in general," Pridgeon
adds. "The more involvement we
have, the better the Chamber
can serve the city."
As part of the Chamber's
push to promote business and
tourism in the area, this year's
Sundance Visitor Guide will be
increased from 24 to 32 pages
and will include information
about economic development,
Rare Element Resources, the
Vore Buffalo Jump and the Gold
Wing Rally.
"The publisher will be con-
tacting businesses in the area
to give them the opportunity to
highlight their businesses to
locals and visitors to the area,"
says Pridgeon. "It's a quality
product that includes all the
things available for tourists to
do and gives them a taste of our
comer of the world."
The Visitor Guide will be dis-
tributed from May and will be
See Chamber J Page 18
SUNDANCE, WYOMING CONTINUING THE CROOK COUNTY NEWS SINCE 884
