Looking back at the past 12 months of 2023 feels like looking backward through a telescope, with the big picture looking very condensed and small one year ago. With a long hard winter and diseases that devastated pronghorn and mule deer, citizens rallying for and against the direction of Sublette County’s development, winning high school athletic teams and economic uncertainties of high real estate and inflation, buoying the countywide optimism one week to plummet the next.

Emotions ranged from the furor over Jackson Fork Ranch planning to a hot-mix gravel pit surrounded by subdivisions to the panoramic groundbreaking for the new Sublette critical access hospital and long-term care facility

Big changes across the editorial board included the termination of the community’s weekly Sublette Examiner at the end of June, an almost termination of one reporter, followed by the departure of another longtime reporter and the loss of our beloved photographer at large Joan Mitchell.

Here at the Pinedale Roundup office, it’s hard to comprehend the changes we ourselves have endured over the past 12 months.

Looking outward from this desk to the reader, we thank everyone who pitched in with photos, news tips, press releases – and please continue to show your support as we head into 2024.

Happy New Year!

January 2023

Sublette Examiner:

• The Big Piney Library reopened on New Year’s Eve with a swanky party after a long remodeling.

• A District Court judge gives Jackson Fork Ranch resort near Bondurant a green light to many’s disappointment.

• Retiring Judge Marv Tyler swore in new elected officials Sublette County Attorney Clayton Melinkovich and Sublette County Commissioner Mack Bradley, and returning Commissioner Doug Vickrey, Clerk of District Court Janet Montgomery, County Clerk Carrie Long, County Assessor Laila Illoway, Treasurer Emily Paravicini. Reelected Sheriff KC Lehr was sworn in a different day as was Tyler’s replacement, Judge Kate McKay.

• Big Piney Mayor Tyler Maxfield again brought up the concept of annexation with Marbleton at the town council’s last meeting of 2022.

• Big Piney Punchers athletes started the New Year season with basketball, wrestling and boys’ swimming with many highlights to come.

January 2023

Pinedale Roundup:

• A doctor hands over marijuana, saying it belongs to his former husband’s mother. The doctor faces his ex in court, who is charged with alleged assault and battery and attempted murder.

• Pinedale Wranglers and Lady Wranglers open their winter sports season and the Pinedale Glaciers hit regional rinks.

• Longtime county commissioner Joel Bousman is honored for 16 years on the board with Sen. John Barrasso in attendance.

• Wyoming DEQ sets a Jan. 25 hearing about the county’s plans for the Doyle Pit expansion and surrounding homeowners are angry. Later they thank DEQ for listening.

• The Pedigree Stage-Stop Race’s Pinedale stage is rescheduled when temps in Kendall Valley hit 33 below zero.

• Pinedale Mayor Matt Murdock broaches the topic of affordable housing, with most housing costs out of locals’ reach.

• Sublette County commissioners hire deputy clerk Andrea Jean as the new human resources director.

• Bomgaars presents Casting for Recovery with a $1,516 check.

• Pinedale’s new town offices are scheduled to open at the former Ultra building; Pinedale partners with county on the “Orcutt seep” drainage.

• The Pinedale Library hosts its second Robert Burns Night Supper to celebrate the Scottish poet’s birthday.

• Pinedale Lady Wrangler girls’ wrestling earns gold at the Thoman-Jackman Tournament and boys place fifth.

• The Pinedale Roundup is named for General Excellence by the Wyoming Press Association, winning the top standing in 2022.

February 2023

Sublette Examiner:

• Sublette County Planning & Zoning Chair Chris Lacinak in a guest column warns citizens to pay attention to their property rights.

• Jackson Fork Ranch’s team persuades Sublette County commissioners to alter its guest-ranch rule, even as the planning and zoning commission works through its revised and new rules and definition.

• Big Piney Robotics Team prepares for regionals in March.

• The Hard Hats & Stetsons fundraiser returns to raise money for the Green River Valley Museum’s renovation of the old Texaco gas station.

• BPHS Puncher boys take third at State with junior Jackie Meador winning the State championship and the girls’ wrestling team place 24^th of 32 teams in the first ever girls’ meet. Boys take 11th in swimming. Colby Jenks took gold in the Simplot Games’ 800-meter final.

• Green River Valley Cattlemen’s Association holds its annual meetings and banquet in Marbleton.

• Jackson Fork Ranch owner Joe Ricketts donates $1 million toward a possible $9-million shortfall to build the Sublette County critical access hospital.

• Chett Whitman, charged with felony assault and battery of Chris Meeks of Daniel during the 2022 Green River Rendezvous, waives a speedy trial.

• Green River Valley CattleWomen Cowbelles honor Mavis James as Ranch Woman of the Year and brand inspector Holly Davis as Friend of Ag. Green River Cattlemen's Association and GRVC have their annual meetings and banquet in Marbleton

• Sublette County Deputy Clerk Jeness Saxton is approved as new county administrator after Matt Gaffney’s departure.

• Sublette County Attorney’s Office defends two deputies’ search for drugs in a LaBarge home that is challenged by the defendant’s public defender.

February 2023
Pinedale Roundup:

• Pinedale Natural Gas’s owner blames a huge winter price surge on a late December purchase.

• Wyoming DEQ’s Air Quality Division forecasts ozone outlooks for the Upper Green River Valley.

• Sublette county swimmer Dillon Boespflug breaks the Pinedale pool 25-year record for the 100m breaststroke. Lady Wrangler wrestlers take silver at the Ron Thon.

• Sublette County Hospital District plans to approach county commissioners about additional financial support for the CAH and longterm care facility. Commissioners ask board members for two weeks to think about it. They return to approve $5.4 million to fund the shortfall, on top of its $20-million pledge for construction. The required merger between the SCHD and the Sublette Center is underway.

• The Wind Rive Skate Club travels to Laramie and skaters bring home 32 medals. Pinedale Glaciers take third at State.

• Legislators propose a head start for Wyoming residents before nonresidents to collect shed horns and antlers on May 1.

• Pinedale Middle School students capture metal hardware at Southwest Regional Science Fair.

• The Pinedale Winter Carnival is very popular with visitors and locals.

• Indoor track athlete Madison Antonino takes fifth in 3200-meter finals at Simplot Games. Combined boys’ swim team earns 11^th place at State. Wranglers and Lady Wrangler teams both take the cross-county basketball trophy away from Big Piney.

March 2023
Sublette Examiner:
• Wyoming DEQ Air Quality Division issues an Upper Green River Valley Ozone Action Day alert.

• Community donations relieve student lunch debt at Big Piney schools.

• Bondurant billionaire Joe Ricketts eyes a Forest Service land swap to gain more access to the Upper Hoback River.

• Big Piney junior wrestler Jackie Meador wins State in his weight class; he and senior Thomas Howard receive All-State honors and the entire team takes third at State.

• Big Piney Middle School students Jada Banks and Zavier Clifford win first and several special awards in plant science at the State Science Fair, Dylan Foster and Reba Penfield win the UW Geosciences Award.

• Sublette County commissioners, 3-2, reject Jackson Fork Ranch’s complete expansion as a “guest ranch.”

• Wyoming Game and Fish and the State Vet Lab investigate deaths of more than 200 pronghorn near the south end of the Mesa in the Pinedale Anticline.

• Big Piney High School senior runner Colby Jenks continues his winning streak, taking gold at the State Indoor Track Finals and breaking the state’s record.

• The Big Piney cheerleading team, coached by Samantha Slagowski, wins second at the 2A Game Day category at the State Spirit Competition.

• Puncher senior Jovany Munoz is chosen by coaches for 2A All-State and All Conference honors for the 2022-20233 basketball season, along with Reuben Stoutenberg and Bill Hibbert.. Lady Punchers’ basketballers Hannah Runyan, Rayne Sorensen and Sharianne Brower are honored in the 2A West All-Conference.

• Raffle of an anonymously donated Smith & Wesson rifle raises $2,610 for Big Piney student lunch debts is won by Kerry Duncan.

• Circuit Court Judge John LaBuda sentences a defendant’s mother to 10 days in jail for contempt of court after she attended her son’s criminal hearings.

• The Little Jennie Ranch hosted its first skijoring competition in Bondurant.

• Wyoming Range mule deer are seen sick and starving.

• Marbleton hosts an ice-fishing derby at its community pond.

• Puncher Thomas Howard is selected to represent Sublette County football in the Wyoming Shrine Bowl.

March 2023
Pinedale Roundup:

• The Town of Pinedale hosts a transportation master plan public workshop.

• Pinedale High School theatre students present “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.”

• Commissioners vote, 3-2, to reject Jackson Fork Ranch’s proposed guest ranch expansion.

• The Pinedale Lions Club hosts the 2023 Big Fish Ice Fishing Derby on Fremont Lake.

• The Upper Green River Cemetery District works with the Bureau of Land Management Pinedale field Office to obtain more than 30 acres of land to be developed into a second cemetery.

• Sixteen Pinedale middle schoolers participate in the annual Wyoming State Science Fair hosted at the University of Wyoming in Laramie, including Oz Koci, Shealyn Bennett, Remedios Mata, Israel Bandin, Casi Ruch, Naomi Gaffney, Teagan Fildey, Allessandra Goodsell, Ash Cooper, Taggart Harber, Gavin Bohnet, Maci Antonino, Oakley Francis, Aylen Mills, Samantha Prior and Juniper Dale. Ash Cooper’s invention, a portable coffee maker, wins first place at the State Science Fair.

• The Pinedale Town Council encourages residents to keep their bleeders running due to continued deep freezes through May 15.

• PureWest pledges help for its customers struggling to pay their bills.

• An outbreak of pneumonia is killing pronghorn antelope within the Sublette herd.

• Pinedale hosts the fourth annual The Drift, a 101-mile winter ultra marathon that winds along the Green River up to Union Pass and finishes at the Kendall Valley Lodge.

• Pinedale High School art teacher Katie Facklam is named Sublette County School District No. 1 Teacher of the Year after being nominated by her students and coworkers.

• The Sublette County Historic Preservation Board moves forward with nominating the Big Sandy Lodge to the National Register of Historic Places.

• The Pinedale Town Council works with engineers from Jorgensen Associates, Rio Verde Engineering and JBVA Consulting on the town’s wastewater master plan.

April 2023
Sublette Examiner:
• Calving season begins throughout Sublette County and frost is still sunken deep in the ground.

• Marbleton Big Piney town councils approve April as Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

• More Ozone Action Days are announced; AQD extends the ozone outlook season that usually ends in March. Ozone highs continued through mid April.

• 9th District Court Judge Kate McKay rules that a deputy’s search of a Marbleton trailer was unconstitutional. The charges are dropped.

• Gov. Mark Gordon, Wyoming Game and Fish Director Brian Nesvick and scientist Dr. Kevin Montieth address the public in Pinedale about the winter’s devastating effects on wildlife, especially mule deer and pronghorn.

• The Sublette County Hospital District announces construction of the new $75-million critical access hospital and longterm care center will begin in May due to a heavy blanket of snow.

• Easter egg hunts and services are planned for Pinedale, Daniel, Bondurant and Boulder.

• Big Piney senior Brandon Jones earns the National Wrestling Coaches’ Association Character and Leadership Award.

• The Puncher Robotics Team competes at the FIRST Robotics Idaho Regional Tournament, placing 22^nd against 48 teams.

• Wyoming’s Centennial Farm & Ranch applications are being accepted.

• Layton Construction offers a gross maximum price for the new critical access hospital and longterm care facility of $57,653,020, which is accepted by the Sublette County Hospital District.

• Marbleton has first reading of a new ordinance to set water turnoff fees by resolution.

• Big Piney Prom Royals for 2023 are Queen Julia Hymas, King Jackie Meador, First Attendants Morgan Brown and Ivan Silvas and Second Attendants are Maritza Galvan and John Ruby.

• Sublette County School District No. 9 rehires all coaches except basketball’s Nate Strong; he and other returning faculty’s contracts are approved.

• Sublette County commissioners award college scholarships to Hannah Runyan, Jovany Munoz and Jaylee Bousman. Wyoming State 4-H Foundation awards scholarships to Jakobi Hibbert and Morgan Grossman.

• Chett Whitman gets a new attorney to defend him against a felony assault charge of beating Chris Meeks of Daniel during the 2022 Green River Rendezvous. His trial is rescheduled.

• Punchers’ coach Chad Espenscheid is named Winter Sports High School Assistant Coach of the Year. Cody Jenks continues winning track events and is named Southwest District Student-Athlete of the Year.

April 2023

Pinedale Roundup:

• Gov. Mark Gordon and Wyoming Game and Fish Director Brian Nesvik travel to Sublette County to address the long winter’s devastating effects on mule deer and pronghorn in Sublette County and southwestern Wyoming.
• The Town of Pinedale hosts its second Transportation Master Plan work session with the public.

• White Pine closes out the ski season with its annual Spring Fling event.

• Easter egg hunts and services are planned throughout a snowy Sublette County.

• The Pinedale Town Council unanimously submits a preliminary proposal to improve pedestrian safety and transportation on Pine Street-Highway 191 to the Wyoming Department of Transportation.

• The Sublette County Hospital District Board of Trustees locks in the gross maximum price at $57,653,020 for the construction of the new critical access hospital and Sublette Center.

• The Sublette County School District No. 1 Board of Trustees accepts a $357,525 bid to fund a partial re-reroofing project at Pinedale Middle School.

• The Wyoming Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers presents Pinedale’s Jan Schaad with the 2023 “Barrier Breaking” award for Greatest Contribution to Social Work Practice.

• White Pine Ski Resort’s owners put to bed a rumor that a billionaire might buy the resort for its liquor license. The Blackburns tell the Roundup they “would never sell White Pine to be anything other than what it is right now — a family-friendly ski and summer resort.”

• The Upper Green River Local Sage Grouse Working Group plans a meeting in Pinedale

• The town council rejects Union Wireless’s proposal to build a 50-foot-tall macrocell tower on Pine Street.

May 2023
Sublette Examiner:

• Wyoming Game and Fish delays winter-range openings and the May 1 start of shed-antler collection until May 15, with Willow Lake still frozen and extreme snow levels remaining on these management areas.

• Big Piney High School students take gold and win community college scholarships in welding fabrication and other prize-winners at the Wyoming State SkillsUSA competition.

• The Sublette County Hospital Board worked with the Sublette Center board to create the Sublette Center II Board, which will oversee alignment of the two governing bodies.

• Big Piney-Marbleton Community Development hosts a mixer with The Bench pizza at the JL Rock Shop.

• The Kaiser Foundation selects Israel G. Chavez Zuniga as one of 10 “outstanding graduating seniors in Wyoming high schools.”

• Wyoming Game and Fish’s annual wolf report estimates at least 338 wolves with 23 confirmed breeding pairs in at least 41 packs in the trophy-game management area, plus a federal estimate of 49 wolves in five packs with two breeding pairs in the predator zone.

• Billionaire Joe Ricketts tells the public about his plans for The Homestead luxury resort, telling his appreciative audience, “I am very proud to be rich.”

• Bondurant rancher Kevin Campbell and nephew Walden Campbell use an old 1950s Farmall tractor to power the haydigger at their loose haystacks.

• Sublette County Unified Fire responds to an early-morning oilfield tank battery fire on Calpet Road, which eventually ran out of fuel the next morning.

• Big Piney and Pinedale high school seniors get their Jae Boots.

• In Marbleton’s municipal election, councilmembers Jeff McCormick and Roger McMannis are reelected. In Big Piney, Shane Voss is the new mayor with newcomers Dalin Hughes and Kinsy Voss elected to the council.

• Marbleton votes in a 10-percent winter rate so people will run more water to keep pipes from freezing.

• Big Piney track athletes capture golds at the 2A West Regional Tournament, with Colby Jenks setting a new regional record for 300-meter hurdles. The girls’ team goes on to become State champions.

• Big Piney seniors graduate at the Fine Arts Center with salutatorian Brandon Jones and valedictorian Colby Jenks.

• The Big Piney Town Council and students mark Arbor Day, hears nonprofits’ budget requests and set the schedule for Chuckwagon Days over July 4. The Green River Valley Museum kicks off its remodeling plans for the donated former Texaco station. Sheriff KC Lehr reports graffiti and shot-out windows at Flicks N Pins.

• Reporter-photographer Robert Galbreath is honored as the Big Piney High School’s “Contributor of the Year.”

• The 10^th Circuit Court of Appeals remands the Upper Green River grazing plan due with the Forest Service’s reliance on a 2019 biological opinion about taking unlimited female grizzlies. It allows permitted grazing to continue.

• The BLM Pinedale Field Office moves from in-person Pinedale Anticline annual meetings to posting reports and meeting online.

• 2023 Wyoming Cowboy Hall of Fame inductees are announced – Dru and Tawny Roberts, William Dew, Bud Jorgenson, Ray Fritz and C.B. and Henry Hamilton.

• Nine Puncher track athletes get All-State honors.

• South County veterans are honored in Big Piney over Memorial Day Weekend.

May 2023
Pinedale Roundup:

• Pinedale High School Prom Royalty are Queen Trista Covill, King Dodge Normington, First Attendants Ana Mika and Bridger Kaiser, Second Attendants Jake Hammer and Ashley Boulter and Third Attendants Anna Lehr and Doug Dexter.

• The Town of Pinedale steps up to become the airport’s new fixed-base operator, purchases the former Ultra building for new offices and passed its budget.

• Gloria DeNava’s trial for a pot delivery charge is suspended for an evaluation but she is still forbidden from entering either county medical clinic due to Dr. Wallace’s protection orders against her.

• Pinedale FFA students plan their first banquet and Labor Auction with new teacher Anna Campbell Hays.

• The Wind River Skate Club brings home the top team trophy from the Cowboy State Games.

• An electric vehicle charging station will be installed in Pinedale this summer.

• Bridges of Sublette County Board organizes a community workshop to combat poverty.

• Sublette County Sheriff’s Office, Wyoming Highway Patrol, Sublette County Unified Fire and Sublette EMS work out a mass-casualty training exercise in Pinedale.

• Graduating seniors from Pinedale and Skyline Academy receive their Jae Foundation boots at The Cowboy Shop.

• Shot-put athlete Katyana Dexter breaks her school record winning at the Bobcat Invitational. Runner Madison Antonino set two new school records in distance events at the BYU Invitational. Dexter and Antonino earn track All-State honors.

• Pinedale Middle and High School students excel with firsts and awards at Wyoming History Days in Laramie.

• Lady Wranglers place third at State Track.

• Pinedale school administrators announce top five academic seniors, Mikayla Drake, Many Majhanovich, Sara Kunard, salutatorian Andrew Jones and valedictorian Chase Dorrity.

• Pinedale Elementary School students plant red chokecherry trees for Arbor Day.

• Raven SR, headquartered in Pinedale, signs California’s first waste-diversion project.

• Pinedale VFW, American Legion observe Memorial Day ceremonies.

June 2023
Sublette Examiner:

• Big Piney municipal voters think annexing with Marbleton is okay, 46-23.

• Mark Mickelson is honored with the Wyoming Community Foundation’s 2023 Spirit of the Meadowlark Award.

• Big Piney students Monica Serna and Julia Hymas are selected to attend Wyoming Girls State.

• Bondurant’s last calf branding photos run on the Sublette Examiner’s Home Range page.

• The final Sublette Examiner, volume 23, issue 26, hits newsstands on Tuesday, June 27.

• New Sublette County human resources manager Andrea Jean meets with department heads to develop new pay scales. In “Budget Week” the total appropriations added to $82.5 million.

• The Selby family’s buckskin gelding is Western Wyoming Gelding Sale’s top seller at $27,000.

• The Boulder Roll raises $11,150 for suicide awareness and prevention.

• Judges allow defendant Nicholas Leyva and his mother Gloria DeNava to visit before his June 15 sentencing, which was forbidden since the previous August.

• The Marbleton Town Council voted to approve $500 for the annual Catfish Fry, which brought in 540 diners to raise money for SCUF’s volunteer funds.

• The Sublette County Rock Hounds’ annual Gem and Mineral Show draws hundred of rock and gem lovers to the Sublette County Fairgrounds.

• Pinedale Fine Arts Council announces live, free Soundcheck concerts in Marbleton and Big Piney.

• The Wyoming Livestock Board meets in Pinedale to discuss brucellosis rules.

• Judge Kate McKay sentences Nicholas Leyva, who maintained that his ex-husband Dr. Buck Wallace’s giving Leyva his own Seroquel altered his mental state, to 4 to 8 years in prison rather than supervised probation.

• The Wyoming Artists’ Association meets at the Sublette County Fairgrounds.

• Big Piney ropers Cael Espenscheid and Cam Johnson are State Champions in team roping at the Wyoming High School Finals and qualified to compete at Nationals.

• 9^th District Court prepares for the trial of Chett Whitman, whom a jury found guilty of aggravated assault at his later trial.

• Big Piney and Marbleton town councils work to refine and pass their coming fiscal year budgets.

• Chad Espenscheid is named Punchers’ head boys’ basketball coach.

• Managing editor Cali O’Hare marks the end of the Sublette Examiner’s publication with a look back at its 2001 founders Rhonda Swain, Cat Urbigkit, Deanne Swain and Sherri Nolan.

June 2023

Pinedale Roundup:

• AQD’s Nancy Vehr tells Pinedale Anticline Project Office Board that deep snow helped emissions develop dangerous ozone levels for nine ozone outlooks and nine ozone action days.

• Brody Hamby is named 3A West All-Conference soccer athlete.

• Pinedale elementary students raise $839 for the Wyoming Pug Rescue.

• Foundation 23 launches new campaign to address broad fundraising efforts through the Pinedale Half Marathon.

• Spring storms and snowmelt cause flooding of creeks, rivers and low-lying areas.

• The Pinedale Town Council decides to reverse the direction of the Green River Rendezvous Parade to east-west, sparking outrage.

• 21^st Kickin’ Cancer benefit raises $78,000 to help local families and patients defray travel expenses.

• Defendant Chett Whitman prepares for a July 17 jury trial at the 9^th District Courtroom in Pinedale.

• Pinedale approves the new hospital and Sublette Center building permit after combing through the Sublette County Hospital District’s application. Construction is now slated for July.

• Pinedale’s Soundcheck free concert series kicks off in American Legion Park.

• Town offices are moving into Pinedale’s new building on Entertainment Lane.

• Bondurant’s 81^st annual Beef BBQ feeds handed-down recipes, pit beef to almost 500 people.

July 2023

Pinedale Roundup:

• South County celebrates Chuckwagon Days with a parade, rodeo, barbecue, fun run, fireworks and pancake breakfast. A major wind event swept through the afternoon of July 3 and all but 11 flags broke. Pinedale celebrates July Fourth with a community picnic, music and fireworks.

• Pinedale students Bradie Gilmore, Hannah Kaiser, Wyatt Griffin, Lauren Jones and Camille Kainer wins awards representing Wyoming at National History Day Contest in Maryland.

• Pinedale 2021 alumna Isabella Romasko wins All-Patriot Team track honors at the U.S. Naval Academy.

• Thousands flock to Sublette County for the Green River Rendezvous. Gov. Gordon rides up to shake hands with Grand Marshal Barbara Pape and family before the Rendezvous parade. Twenty “Tractors 4 Tiger” honored the late Tiger Jaskolski, who kept many of them running around the county.

• Pinedale Town Council votes to sell old town hall site at 210 W. Pine Street with deed restrictions.

• The Pinedale Senior Little League Team are state champions.

• Main Street Pinedale bows out of coordinating the 2024 Rendezvous Parade to focus on the street dance and vendor fair.

• County commissioners consider buying Crossfire Arena property but someone else makes an offer.

• After five hours, a jury finds Chett Whitman guilty of aggravated assault and battery against Chris Meeks. He argued he beat Meeks in self-defense.

• The Sublette County Fair kicks off with rockets, barrel races, 4-H livestock and skills contests, concerts and ending with the Junior Livestock Sale.

August 2023

Pinedale Roundup:

• Sublette County Hospital District announces expanded Marbleton Clinic hours. Construction crews and equipment begin transforming the landscape around the Pinedale Clinic. The SCHD and Sublette Center II Board plan a change of ownership before the end of 2023.

• Wyoming Game and Fish comes to address winter elk feeding and feedground management.

• County commissioners abandon the Doyle Gravel Pit expansion plans, strongly opposed by surrounding residents.

• Fishing for the Fight hosts 23 fly-fishing teams and raises $200,000 for Kickin’ Cancer.

• Pinedale Theatre Company hosts audition workshops for its October production of “The Music Man.”

• Happy Endings Animal Rescue hosts its first Pet Portrait Art Show.

• Pinedale Town Council choose a descending Dutch auction format to sell its lot. It approves a piping project to divert water from the Orcutt seep.

• Marbleton Town Council receives its Level 1 Water Master Plan as a starting point for its water system.

• Bondurant Heritage Day is a huge success. Behind the scenes, haying the old-fashioned way is captured at a Bondurant ranch.

• The second annual Rocky Mountain STOL doubles in size at the Pinedale Airport. The 54^th annual Sailing Regatta saw boats of all sizes on Fremont Lake.

• Wind and thunderstorms cause collapse of Pinedale trees.

• Big Piney Town Council approves the review and recodifying of its ordinances.

• The BLM Rock Springs Office releases its draft EIS for southwestern Wyoming and seeks public comments.

• Sublette County Health Foundation holds its first fundraiser in Pinedale, raising $17,000.

• Sublette County Historical Society hosts Brooks Mitchell’s documentary and Emerson School open house on the old Zembo Ranch.

• Big Piney Weekend & Aged Cutting Horse Association’s annual competition at the fairgrounds brings more than 1,000 entries. The annual Ride for Reid competed in rain and mud at the Pinedale Rodeo Grounds.

• High school football kicked off with cross-county rivals Big Piney Punchers and Pinedale Wranglers. The Punchers defended their trophy, 34-2.

September 2023

Pinedale Roundup:

• Sommers Ranch Homestead end-of-season barbecue and get-together honors Wyoming Cowboy Hall of Famers.

• Pinedale moves forward with its airport master plan and fuel farm. The council approves Oct. 12 as the Dutch auction date for the old town hall site.

• A dynamic speed signs is installed at the east end of Pinedale.

• Big Piney’s Homecoming Court are King Champ Snively, Queen Julia Hymas, Princess Cedar Stewart, Prince Jerrett Fear and First Attendants Morgan Brown and Jackie Meador.

• Big Piney High School’s Hall of Fames inductees are MaryAnne Chandler Simmering, Nancy Budd Espenscheid, John McKinley, Karl Porter, Nick Smith, Jodi E. Druckenmiller and Casey Knotts.

• Public Health plans flu and COVID vaccines at Marbleton and Pinedale clinics.

• Pinedale golfers Brody Hamby and Braxton Costello take 3A All-State honors.

• Community events include the Big Piney Library’s Fall Festival, Mexican Food Fiesta at Our Lady of Peace and a public meeting in Marbleton about the BLM’s draft RMP EIS.

• Pinedale’s Homecoming Court are King Woody Green, Queen Fatima Valles Valenzuela, First Attendants Seren Noble and Waylon Williams Second Attendants Josh Gosar and Katyana Dexter and Third Attendants Brycen Vrska and Kemmer Clause.

• Citizens question Sublette County commissioners about the timeline and public access to new draft county zoning regulations.

• More than 300 people participate in this year’s Pinedale Half Marathon and shorter races. Michael Lutz and Kathryn Heffron are first to cross the finish line.

• Big Piney Town Council hears complaints about eyesore properties not being cleaned up.

• Rocky Mountain Power’s proposed 29-percent rate hike is making customers nervous across the state and in small communities.

October 2023

Pinedale Roundup:

• BLM officials face a large unhappy crowd at its Marbleton public meeting as opposition mounts statewide. The agency extends its public comment deadline to Jan. 17, 2024.

• Sublette County Hospital District and the Sublette Center are having difficulties finding certified health-care employees. Work continues on the footprint of the new critical access hospital and longterm care facility and the Sublette Center merger has a soft date of Dec. 31.

• County commissioners okay the process of forming a Daniel Mosquito District. Elected officials convene to look into a sites for a new Justice Center.

• Big Piney High School achieves a 100-percent graduation rate.

• Chett Whitman is sentenced to 4 to 6 years in prison.

• Pinedale’s Oct. 12 Dutch auction of the old town hall site closes without a bid.

• The Dry Piney Wildlife Crossing on Highway 189 opens with ribbon-cutting ceremony.

• Sublette County is devastated by the death of longtime photographer Joan Mitchell. Friends and coworkers remember her through pictures.

• Wyoming Game and Fish Director Brian Nesvick tells the Roundup that the state’s sale of “bottleneck” Parcel 194 is a cup half full and news of the Sublette pronghorn corridor is imminent.

• Sublette County commissioners cancel the Doyle Pit mining permit. Tip Top Search and Rescue responds to 21 calls in 45 days.

• Big Piney and Pinedale students show off their Jae Foundation boots at The Cowboy Shop.

• Wyoming Livestock Board officials return to Sublette County to discuss brucellosis notification protocol.

• Pinedale’s Madison Antonino captures the State Cross-Country Championship and All-State honors.

• The Jae Foundation outfits more Pinedale and Big Piney seniors with new cowboy boots at The Cowboy Shop.

November 2023

Pinedale Roundup:

• All three Sublette County high schools are rated as “exceeding expectations.”

• Pinedale Roundup reporter Robert Galbreath announces he is leaving Sublette County for Torrington for a better position. The next week, managing editor Cali O’Hare breaks the news to readers that corporate has eliminated the position, leaving a skeleton reporting crew and asking for their assistance and understanding.

• Big Piney Boy Scout Xavier Clifford completes his Eagle Scout project – a remodeled sign listing BPHS state championships to include the winning girls’ track team.

• Wyoming Game and Fish releases its initial draft of threat assessments for the Sublette Pronghorn Herd Migration Corridor, the first step toward possible designation. The Commission will consider comments and decide whether to proceed with designation at its March meeting in Pinedale.

• Jonah Energy proposes and county commissioners accept a $98-million ad valorem repayment agreement. Commissioners begin reviewing draft zoning regulations and hear a proposal for a countywide strategic planning effort.

• Pinedale students host their third annual Soup-er Bowl to raise $12,500 for the Angel Wreath program. Big Piney and Pinedale students honor veterans in special observances.

• Lady Puncher volleyball players battle at State as do Sublette girl swimmers. Reagan Davis earns 3A All-State and All-Conference honors with Gabby Rogers on the Lady Wrangler volleyball team. Big Piney’s Lizzy Brandt, Kodee Greene, Kaity Shreve and Micah Strong get All-Conference honors.

• Gov. Gordon gathers a task force, led by Joel Bousman, for public sessions about the BLM’s draft RMP, the closest at at Farson.

• Marbleton reserves space at the town’s Encana Shelter for veterans’ uses.

• Big Piney Punchers head to State, first winning the semifinals. They beat Wind River,

39-14, to take the 1A/9-man State Championship at War Memorial Stadium in Laramie.

• The Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot welcomes 177 participants in its 32^nd annual event.

December 2023

Pinedale Roundup:

• Sublette County Unified Fire responds to two tractor-trailers separately catching fire on Highway 191 on the same night.

• Big Piney and Pinedale high school wrestlers kick off the winter 2023-24 season with big wins around the state.

• The Pinedale High School Chapter of the National Art Honor Society raises more than $12,500 for the local Angel Wreath program by creating and auctioning off 132 hand-thrown ceramic bowls for the third annual Souper Bowl.

• The Pinedale Anticline Project Office board meets virtually to discuss updates on wildlife such as pygmy rabbits and prairie dogs but pronghorn antelope and mule deer are struggling.

• Big Piney lights up the night with its annual Christmas Parade down Budd Avenue.

• Bondurant hosts a community cookie exchange during the Bondurant Ag and Art Market.

• Gov. Mark Gordon hosts a mental health town hall in Pinedale and then travels to Pinedale Elementary School to congratulate students on reading more than 1,000 books over the summer. Mental-health struggles are recognized as a statewide, not just local, health problem.

• The Forest Service begins accepting public comments for its draft EISs related to continued winter-feeding of elk at the Dell Creek and Forest Park feedgrounds.

• The Wyoming Pronghorn 10-U Squirt Team wins the regional Rocky Mountain Silver Stick tournament and makes plans for international finals in Canada.

• Daniel’s Tanner Butner finishes the National Finals Rodeo ranked as the No. 9 saddle-bronc rider in the entire world.