• Heavy snow belts Rockies and Plains; Texas city to see 67-degree temperature drop

    A May snowstorm is expected to dump an unprecedented six to nine inches of snow from Denver to as far west as Minneapolis. TODAY's Al Roker reports.

    By John Newland, Staff Writer, NBC News

    A blast of cold air being dragged southward by a dip in the jet stream dumped snow in the Rockies, Plains and parts of the Midwest on Wednesday in a snowfall that meteorologists said could be “historic” for this time of year.

    Up to 18 inches of snow is forecast for the mountains of Colorado and Wyoming, where heavy snow started falling Tuesday. Several inches could also fall by the end of the week in a band from Texas to Wisconsin, according to the National Weather Service.

    Some portions of the Plains and upper Midwest regions, including Wisconsin and sections of Minnesota, could see a flurry of wet snow on Wednesday night into Thursday, Weather.com reported. A light early May dusting may even be seen as far south as the Texas Panhandle and western Oklahoma.

    Cheyenne, Wyo., had already received more than 6 inches of snow early Wednesday morning, Weather.com reported.

    The National Weather Service reported winter storm warnings were in effect for portions of north-central Colorado, southern Wyoming and southern Minnesota.

    AP

    Snow clings to flowers in Denver on Wednesday. As much as a foot of snow is forecast for some areas of Colorado.

    With the jet stream bowing to the south, cold air is being sucked deep into the country, bringing temperature changes that may seem downright cruel to many, according to meteorologists at Weather.com.

    Amarillo, Texas, is the perfect example. On Tuesday it hit a high of 97 degrees.

    “By tomorrow morning we have … Amarillo at 30 and probably snowing,” Weather Channel meteorologist Kevin Roth said. “So in Amarillo we’re projecting a 67-degree drop from Tuesday afternoon to Thursday morning – so summer to winter.”

    Minneapolis, Kansas City and Des Moines, Iowa, have been basking in the 70s and 80s. They’ll be lucky to see 40 through the end of the week, weather.com said. And Chicago just had its first 80-degree day of the season. It should have another on Wednesday before highs drop to the 50s and low 60s through the weekend.

    The heaviest snowfall will be along the Front Range of the Rockies, with an area from central Colorado to southeastern Wyoming under winter storm warnings that call for up to 20 inches of fresh snow through Wednesday night. Just to the east, cities in the foothills, including Denver, could see five to eight inches of accumulation during the period, and roads could become icy and snow-packed, the weather service said.

    Further east, where the cold air meets the warm, severe thunderstorms are likely Wednesday in parts of Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas, according to weather.com, which adds that the threat diminishes Thursday, with “marginally severe” storms possible in parts of Texas and southern Louisiana.

    Travel disruptions could come with the worst parts of the storm, with Interstates 25 and 80 between Wyoming and Colorado in line for possible snow and ice, Roth said. But as of Wednesday morning, FlightAware.com listed only 16 canceled flights in the region, all at Denver International Airport.

    “That will probably go up during the day,” Roth said.

    While the storm may set some snow records, May is often a fickle month. Heavy snow is fairly rare, but temperatures in different parts of North America can range radically, Roth said.

    Montreal, Quebec, and Ottawa, Ontario, for example, will be 30 to 40 degrees warmer on Thursday than normally toasty Oklahoma City, he said.

    Cheyenne, Wyo., which hit 70 degrees Tuesday afternoon, was on the verge Wednesday of breaking its May snowfall record of 14 inches, Roth said.

    “Cheyenne had eight inches as of midnight their time, and it’s been snowing steadily since that,” he said. “We think they’re going to end up with a good 12 to 18. … Welcome to May, right?”

    NBC News’ Matthew DeLuca contributed to this report.

    Share your weather photos with us by adding #NBCNewsPics to your tweet or Instagram post, or upload your pictures directly by clicking the box below. We’ll feature our favorite images in an upcoming blog post.

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    Full coverage from weather.com

    This story was originally published on Wed May 1, 2013 6:00 AM EDT

  • Protected no longer, more than 550 gray wolves killed this season by hunters and trappers

    AP file

    This image provided by the National Park Service shows a gray wolf in the wild. The Obama administration on Wednesday May 4, 2011 announced it was lifting endangered species act protections for gray wolves in eight states in the Northern Rockies and Great Lakes.

    By Jeff Black, Staff Writer, NBC News

    Long an endangered predator, the northern Rocky Mountain gray wolf is once again the prey.

    More than 550 gray wolves have been killed by hunters and trappers in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming this season, the second period in which hunting has been allowed in order to manage the population. For over 30 years the animals were considered endangered.

    Add in the number of wolves killed by federal Wildlife Service agents because they are a threat to livestock, as well as those killed by poachers, diseases, collisions with vehicles and other means, and it's not clear that these levels are sustainable, according to conservationists.

    Sitting at the top of the food chain in many wild areas, wolves often conjure up frightful images in people's minds, primarily due to fairy tales going back to "Little Red Riding Hood," "Peter and the Wolf" and even horror-film depictions of werewolves.

    But in reality, experts say, while wolves are known to sometimes attack livestock such as sheep and cattle, attacks on humans are extremely rare.

    Still, wolves were hunted to the point where they were listed as endangered under federal law in 1974. After years of recovery efforts -- and countless lawsuits -- gray wolves were completely taken off the endangered species list in 2012 when Wyoming became the last of the Rocky Mountain states to manage its gray wolf population. Hunting started last season in Idaho and Montana,  and in Wyoming in October 2012.

    As the hunting season winds down, Montana reported that hunters have killed 225 wolves and Idaho 259. In Wyoming, which hosted its first gray wolf hunt this year, 42 wolves were killed in a controlled trophy hunting area near Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks in the northwest part of the state. Another 32 were killed in the rest of the state where gray wolves can legally be shot on sight, Eric Kezler of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department told NBC News.

    "Hunters were very cooperative with us in reporting the animals they killed and provide the samples we need to track genetics," Kezler said. "It went extremely well. Based on whatever else is happening in Wyoming, we're confident we can maintain a health population."

    Meanwhile the federal government reported that 216 wolves were killed by federal Wildlife Service agents because they were attacking livestock, The Los Angeles Times reported.

    Related: Wolves, no longer endangered in Wyoming, now labeled 'predators'

    According to the latest federal wolf counts “by every biological measure” the wolf population in the Northern Rockies region, excluding Wyoming, is fully recovered, according to federal experts. As of Dec. 31, 2011, the Rockies contained at least 1,774 wolves in at least 287 packs.

    Derek Goldman, with the Endangered Species Coalition, points to gray wolves as an endangered animals success story, though he says his organization, based in Washington, D.C., is still awaiting word on the final population figures of wolf packs for this year.

    “We recognize that hunting of wolves while we may not be enthusiastic about it that once a species is no long endangered that oftentimes hunting is going to be a reality,” Goldman told NBC News. “But we definitely want it managed by the best available science and not by politics.”

    Marc Cooke of the Wolves of the Rockies conservation group, however, said some legislators in Montana want to make it open season on wolves. One bill, Senate Bill 200, would make it legal to kill a wolf on site on private property. "How is this managing wolves?" he asked.

    “These animals can’t take this much more persecution,” Cooke told NBC News. “When you go and kill these wolves, a lot of times you’re killing the teachers, and when you kill the teachers of the pack you get the youngsters who haven’t absorbed the skills that would’ve been passed down over time to them from the elders in the pack. Now you have youngsters who don’t know how to kill things going after the easiest thing to kill, lambs and cattle, which leaves them open to being killed by in control hunts by the federal government.”

     

     

  • Wyoming teens accused in triple murder denied bail

    By Jeff Black, Staff Writer, NBC News

    Two Wyoming teenagers who police say stole guns then murdered a family while trying to steal a car will be held in jail without bail.


    Stephen Hammer, 19, and Tanner VanPelt, 18, made their first appearance in court Tuesday after being apprehended in connection with a triple murder in Clark, a small community near the border with Montana.

    Circuit Judge Bruce Waters ruled that due to the severity of the charges – 11 felonies in all, including premeditated murder, murder during a robbery and using a firearm to commit a crime – the two men would be held without bond.

    In what Park County Sheriff Scott Steward deemed “nothing short of cold-blooded murder,” the men are accused of entering a home along a gravel road and fatally shooting Janos Volgyessi, 69, and wife Hildegard Volgyessi, and their 40-year-old daughter Ildiko Freitas.

    According to the Cody Enterprise, the family had lived in the area near Sugarloaf Butte for six or seven years and spoke German while together. The daughter was a married nurse whose husband was away for a job.

    A neighbor found two of the family members shot inside the home, the sheriff said. Deputies then found another body in the basement.

    Witnesses reported that they saw two slender white males enter the home, and two cars fleeing and were able to provide a description to deputies. One of the cars, a black Audi, was recognized as Freitas’ vehicle. State troopers found the vehicles and suspects several miles from the murder scene.

    The teens told police that had stolen handguns from a Cody pawn shot on Feb 26 and went to the house intending to steal the car and escape to Denver, until the robbery went awry, the Cody newspaper reported, citing an arrest affidavit filed in court.

    The Associated Press contributed to this story

     

  • Dying teacher battled son after attack in classroom, saving students

    Courtesy of Casper College

    James Krumm, 56, and Heidi Arnold, 42, were stabbed to death on Friday by Krumm's 25-year-old son, Christopher Krumm.

    By NBC News staff

    Police say a Wyoming community college teacher James Krumm was a hero for fighting off his son on Friday, potentially saving the lives of six of his computer science students.

    "I can tell you the courage that was demonstrated by Mr. Krumm was absolutely without equal," Casper Police Chief Chris Walsh said, according to The Associated Press.

    On Friday, Christopher Krumm, 25, stabbed his father’s girlfriend to death before driving to Casper College, where his father was teaching a class. He was equipped with a compound bow and arrow and two knives, which he carried into the building under a blanket.

    When he entered the classroom, Christopher Krumm stood about four feet from his father, pulled back the bowstring and shot an arrow through his father’s head, the Casper Tribune reported.


    His father, James Krumm, 56, fell but got back up and struggled with his son, the Tribune reported.

    That’s when Christopher Krumm stabbed himself, then plunged the knife into his father’s chest, killing him, Walsh said.

    When police arrived, the elder Krumm had died and the younger was taking his final breaths.

    Back at his home, girlfriend Heidi Arnold’s body lay in front of the house for 11 hours, neighbor Heather Meier told the Tribune. Arnold, 42, was barefoot and her midriff was visible, Meier said. Authorities didn’t cover her body.

    "I can’t keep it out of my head," Meier told the Tribune.

    Police believe that Christopher Krumm drove from Vernon, Conn., where he was living, and booked into a motel on the outskirts of town on Thursday, the day before the killings.

    Matt DiPinto, a neighbor in his apartment building in Vernon, described an interaction he had with Krumm to the Hartford Courant newspaper. Krumm was giving him a ride back from McDonald’s.

    "He told me his dad gave him Asperger's (syndrome), that his dad shouldn't have passed it on," DiPinto said. "He said his dad should be castrated. I didn't know him that well, he just kind of said it out of nowhere, so that kind of threw me off a little."

    Related: Asperger's disorder being dropped from psychiatrists' diagnostic manual

    On the Casper College website, James Krumm described himself as a teacher born in London, England and partly raised in Germany. He started teaching at Casper College in 2002.

    The Associated Press contributed to this report

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  • Wyoming killings: Man stabbed dad's girlfriend, then shot arrow at dad in class, cops say

    By The Associated Press

    CASPER, Wyo. -- Police released more details Saturday of a grisly murder-suicide at a Wyoming community college, saying a man shot his father in the head with a bow and arrow in front of a computer science class not long after fatally stabbing his father's live-in girlfriend at their home a couple miles away.


    Computer science instructor James Krumm, 56, may have saved some of his students' lives Friday by giving them time to flee while trying to fend off his son, Christopher Krumm, 25, of Vernon, Conn., Casper Police Chief Chris Walsh said.

    "I can tell you the courage that was demonstrated by Mr. Krumm was absolutely without equal," he said, adding that his actions could offer some measure of comfort to those affected by the killings.

    He said police still were trying to figure out what motivated Christopher Krumm to attack his father and girlfriend, 42-year-old Heidi Arnold, a math instructor at the college. Arnold was found stabbed to death in front of the home she shared with James Krumm.

    After shooting his father with the arrow, Christopher Krumm stabbed himself, then fatally stabbed his father in the chest in a struggle in the classroom, Walsh said.

    Police arrived to find James Krumm dead and Christopher Krumm barely living; the younger Krumm died soon after students fled in a panic. Authorities locked down the campus for two hours.

    Reports began coming in about the attack on Arnold soon after the campus attack.

    Christopher Krumm had smuggled the compound bow — a type much more powerful and effective for hunting than a simple, wooden bow — onto campus beneath a blanket, Walsh said.

    He said Krumm also had two knives with him.

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    © 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

  • 'Bow and arrow-type' attack leaves 3 dead in Casper, Wyo., including 2 in college classroom, officials say

    Dan Cepeda / Casper Star-Tribune

    Students and faculty mingle outside the police line on the Casper College campus Friday, Nov. 30, as police investigate a homicide.

    By M. Alex Johnson, NBC News

    Updated at 7:11 p.m. ET: A man killed a woman in Casper, Wyo., on Friday and then headed to the campus of Casper College, where he killed a man in front of students during a science class before killing himself, police said.

    Follow M. Alex Johnson on Twitter and Facebook.

    The man used "an edged weapon" — earlier described by police, college officials and eyewitnesses as a "bow and arrow-type" weapon — in all three killings, including his own suicide, Casper Police Chief Chris Walsh said.

    Walsh wouldn't identify any of the victims, including the killer, pending notification of their families. College officials said the man who was targeted in the classroom was a faculty member, whom they also wouldn't immediately identify.

    Walsh did say that all three victims were adults who knew one another and that the killer wasn't a current student at the college. The incident didn't appear college-related, he said.

    The man appeared to have acted alone. "There is no one at large, and there is no threat of violence," Walsh said Wednesday afternoon.

    Police found the two men on the third floor of the community college's physical science center, where they had been called to investigate a "traumatic injury" at about 9 a.m. (11 a.m. ET), Walsh said. Shortly after they arrived, they received a similar call involving an address about two miles from campus, where they found the dead woman.

    All told, 33 local, state and federal officers responded at the campus, which was locked down temporarily while police checked for other suspects, authorities said. An alert on the community college's website said that all classes and activities had been canceled and that counselors were being provided for the colleges faculty, students and staff.


    Casper College is a two-year community college of 4,400 students in Wyoming's second-largest city.

    The school has a small security team on campus, but they're not armed.  

    "It's such a small town that Casper police is very close," Fujita said.

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  • Fastest US land animal, the pronghorn, gets help crossing Wyoming highway

    Jeff Burrell / Wildlife Conservation Society

    Pronghorn cross a new overpass on Wyoming's U.S. 191.

    By Miguel Llanos, NBC News

    The fastest land animal in the U.S. now has safe passage across a Wyoming highway -- extending a seasonal migration that's been going on for 6,000 years.


    Pronghorn antelope have started using two overpasses atop Highway 191 that were completed this fall, the Wildlife Conservation Society announced this week. Eight-foot high fencing channels the animals to the crossing points.

    “The importance of these overpasses and their use by pronghorn cannot be overstated,” Joel Berger, a Wildlife Conservation Society scientist, said in a statement announcing the first successful crossings. “They eliminate the danger of collisions and will help to preserve a spectacular element of our natural heritage -- the longest mammal migration in the 48 contiguous United States.”

    The group has been tracking pronghorn in the area and provided data for Wyoming to decide where to put the overpasses.

    The entire $10 million project includes six underpasses used by deer, moose, elk and other animals. Pronghorn got the overpasses because they don't like going into tunnels.

    The eight passages are along a 13-mile stretch of Highway 191. The state's aim was to reduce car-wildlife crashes -- from 2002 and 2006, 49 deer and three pronghorn were killed in crashes. 

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    Able to run at speeds up to 70 mph, pronghorn probably numbered around 35 million in North America two centuries ago, the Wildlife Conservation Society stated. Today, Wyoming is home to more than half of the estimated 700,000 pronghorn left in North America. 

    The pronghorn use the corridor to get back and forth between winter sagebrush in the Upper Green River Basin and summer grounds in Grand Teton National Park.

    Several hundred make the 93-mile migration each season -- and now they have the chance to do it without stopping at Highway 191. 

    The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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  • Police explore link between missing Colorado girl and Wyoming abduction

    In Colorado, the parents of a missing 10-year-old Jessica Ridgeway open up for the first time since their daughter disappeared on her way to school. They vow to "never stop looking." NBC's Miguel Almaguer reports.

    By NBC News staff

    Authorities looking into the disappearance of Jessica Ridgeway, the 10-year-old girl who vanished from her Colorado home last Friday, are investigating whether it could be connected to the abduction of a girl in Wyoming, The Associated Press reported.   


    Police in Westminster, Colo., told the AP they are working with investigators in Cody, Wyo., to explore whether there was any connection between Jessica's case and that of an 11-year-old who was lured Monday into an SUV by a man and released about four hours later. Cody is about 500 miles northwest of Westminster. 

    Police release new photos, video in search for missing Colorado girl

    The Cody girl was found by hunters, the AP said.   

    Westminster police spokesman Trevor Matarasso said Wednesday at a press conference that authorities will continue to search land and bodies of water in the area where Ridgeway disappeared, NBC affiliate KUSA-TV reported. The  searches of the bodies of water searches are precautionary, he added.

    On Tuesday, police released new photos and a video of Jessica to help people better identify her as they continue their search.

    Jessica was last seen on Friday morning by her mother when she left to walk three blocks from her home to meet friends for the walk to school. She took the same route every day.

    The friends told school officials that Jessica never showed up. They tried calling Jessica’s mother, but she reportedly slept through calls after working a night shift.

    “I watched her walk out the door, and I shut the door, and that’s the last time I saw her," Jessica's mother, Sarah Ridgeway told KUSA-TV Tuesday. "And I want her to come walking back through that door. I need her to walk back through that door."

    So far, the biggest lead yet in the case has been the discovery of what police believe to be Jessica's backpack and water bottle found Sunday in Superior, Colo., about 6 1/2 miles northwest of Jessica's home.

    "We'll never stop looking. We love her," Jessica's father, Jeremiah Bryant told KUSA-TV.

    NBC's Andrew Mach contributed to this report.

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  • Wyoming now firefighting focus as hundreds flee

    Valerie Blair / inciweb.org

    Part of the Fontenelle Fire burns behind summer homes in the Bridger-Teton National Forest in Wyoming.

    By Miguel Llanos, NBC News

    The nation’s firefighting focus shifted on Tuesday to Wyoming, where hundreds fled over the last two days as crews battle four major wildfires. 


    Incident commanders working 45 large wildfires across the U.S. did get some good news as well on Tuesday, when six firefighting C-130 aircraft were again made available.

    The aircraft fleet had been grounded for a day to review procedures following the crash of a C-130 that killed four crew members in South Dakota. 

    "We have four new wingmen watching over us," Brig. Gen. Tony McMillan, commander of the North Carolina Air National Guard's 145th Airlift Wing, told reporters in confirming the deaths.

    The two survivors were seriously injured, he added, without elaborating on their conditions.

    In Wyoming, the Oil Creek Fire blew up from 9 square miles to about 31 square miles overnight and forced the evacuation of more than 400 people. 

    Evacuations were issued Tuesday morning for some 300 people near the Squirrel Creek Fire southwest of Laramie, the Casper Tribune reported.

    When a disaster strikes, the Red Cross breaks out a special tool to help catalog the damage and share information between the local police, fire departments and the national organization.

    And the 138-square-mile Arapaho Fire, which is just 10 percent contained, started advancing quickly Tuesday after burning an undetermined number of structures. Some 300 homes were evacuated in the area.

    "The real story on this fire has been the erratic winds, we've had this fire push north, push south, push east and push west at various times," incident spokesman Jim Whittington told reporters Monday.

    Wyoming's forest chief noted images like the wall of flame perhaps 400-feet tall coming over a ridge at the Arapaho Fire.

    "My folks out in the field with 25 to 30 years of experience are telling me they've never seen anything like this before, as far as fire behavior," Bill Crapser said. 

    The Fontenelle Fire, meanwhile, continues burning through forest in Wyoming. Crews on Sunday were able to save several summer homes as the fire raced down a hillside.

    The C-130 that crashed Sunday evening was fighting a 6.5-square-mile blaze in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

    A fleet of firefighting air tankers, a key force in squelching the Colorado wildfires, has been grounded after one of them crashes, possibly killing all four aboard. NBC's Miguel Almaguer reports.

    The airmen who died are Lt. Col. Paul Mikeal, Maj. Joseph McCormick, Maj. Ryan David and Senior Master Sgt. Robert Cannon.

    The military on Monday put the remaining seven firefighting C-130s on an "operational hold," leaving just 14 federally contracted heavy tankers in use.

    On Tuesday, the U.S. Northern Command stated that six of the aircraft would be back in the air after a one-day suspension "to review flying and safety procedures." The seventh, from the same base as the C-130 that crashed, was to return home.

    Slideshow: Homes gutted in Colorado fire

    /

    The worst fire season in recent history is taking its toll with large fires burning thousands of acres in Colorado while others consume areas in Montana, Utah, New Mexico and Wyoming.

    Launch slideshow

    President Barack Obama last month signed a bill to lease seven large tanker planes for the nation's aging aerial firefighting fleet, at a cost of $24 million, but the first planes won't be available until mid-August.

    C-130 air tankers have crashed on firefighting duty before. In 2002, a privately owned civilian version of an older-model C-130 crashed in California, killing three crew members, the Associated Press noted. An investigation blamed fatigue cracks in the wings.

    The crash, in part, prompted a review of the airworthiness of large U.S. air tankers and led ultimately to a greatly reduced fleet of large civilian tanker planes -- from 44 a decade ago to nine today.

    Jeremy Fleischer tells the story of how his family escaped the wildfires near Colorado Springs.

    Another firefighting plane, the Lockheed P2V, has had some problems in recent months. One crashed in Utah, killing the two pilots, and another one crash-landed in Nevada. 

    Mike Ferris, a spokesman for the National Interagency Fire Center, said resources remain adequate as fire managers move equipment and crews from areas with little fire activity. "But if we continue to get new (fire) starts, then things can get a little more complex," he added.

    In Colorado, firefighters grappling with the two most destructive wildfires on record there reported progress.

    The fires displaced tens of thousands of people and left vast swathes of forest a blackened wasteland in addition to destroying more than 600 homes.

    Volunteers from the American Red Cross explain what goes into the relief effort around the wildfires at Colorado Springs.

    "I don't think we've seen a fire season like this in the history of Colorado," Gov. John Hickenlooper said last week after surveying the Waldo Canyon Fire destruction west of Colorado Springs.

    T-shirts sold as fundraiser for Colorado fire victims
    Colorado wildlife relief beginning of the long haul

    Fewer than 3,000 residents remained under evacuation orders, city officials said, adding that crews were slowly restoring utility services to the affected areas.

    Most of the remaining evacuees live in the Mountain Shadows subdivision, upscale homes in the bluffs on Colorado Spring's western edge where the bulk of the homes were lost.

    The remains of two people were found last week in a burned-out house in Mountain Shadows, bringing to six the number of people who have died in Colorado wildfires this year. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

    The 28-square-mile Waldo Canyon Fire was 70 percent contained overall, and the portion within Colorado Springs was fully contained. The fire destroyed nearly 350 homes.

    The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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  • 3 Boy Scouts, scoutmaster killed in head-on Wyoming crash

    By NBC News and msnbc.com staff

    Three teen Boy Scouts and their scoutmaster are dead after their SUV smashed head-on into a motorhome Saturday in northwest Wyoming, NBC News has learned. A child traveling in the motorhome also died, a county sheriff told a Montana newspaper.


    The 10:15 a.m. (12:15 p.m. ET) accident occurred on a remote stretch of Route 120, about 33 miles northwest of Thermopolis, Capt. Len Declercq of the Wyoming Highway Patrol told NBC News.

    The scouts’ southbound 2003 Honda Element drifted into the northbound lane and struck the motorhome, he said.

    The three scouts and a motorhome occupant died on impact, Declercq said.

    The scoutmaster was taken to West Park Hospital in Cody, Wyo., but died later.

    There were conflicting reports about the number of people in the motorhome.

    Hot Springs County Sheriff Lou Falgoust said the fatality in the motorhome was a child 3 or 4 years old, the Billings Gazette reported.

    Two motorhome survivors were in critical condition at Hot Springs Memorial Hospital in Thermopolis, Declercq said. A third motorhome survivor, who was airlifted St. Vincent's Hospital in Billings, Mont., also was in critical condition, he said.

    Falgoust told the Gazette that the Honda was traveling with at least two other vehicles.

    The scouts and the adult with them were from the Woodland Park, Colo., area, Declerq said.

    They were returning from a Boy Scout camp in Cody, NBC station KULR of Billings reported.

    The motorhome was from Florida, KULR said.

    No victims’ names were released pending notification of relatives.

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  • Poll: Should wolves be hunted on national parks land in Wyoming?

    By Isolde Raftery, msnbc.com

     

    The gray wolf will soon be officially taken off the endangered species list in Wyoming, triggering new debates about how humans and wolves will coexist. 


    In 86 percent of the state, there's no question -- they're predators. This means that anyone, anywhere may shoot a wolf on sight, no permit required.

    At issue is whether hunters may take aim at wolves in the John D. Rockefeller Jr. Memorial Parkway, a 240-square-mile strip that connects Yellowstone to Grand Teton national parks. The state of Wyoming wants wolf hunts; the National Parks Service does not.

    Culling elk has been allowed in the parkway and at Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota. Wolves will have the same status as elk, but the park service feels squeamish allowing a species fresh off the endangered list to be hunted. Take the poll to have your say and read more at the link below.

    Wolves now labeled 'predators' in Wyoming

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  • Wolves, no longer endangered in Wyoming, now labeled 'predators'

    AP Photo/Yellowstone National Park

    A gray wolf runs near Blacktail Pond in Yellowstone National Park. The gray wolf was taken off the endangered species list in Wyoming last week.

    By Isolde Raftery, msnbc.com

    The gray wolf, soon to be off the endangered species list in Wyoming, will have a new official title in 86 percent of the state: predator. That means anyone may shoot a wolf on sight, no permit required.


    Safe havens do remain in the northwestern corner of the state -- no hunting will be allowed in Yellowstone or Grand Teton national parks -- but now conservationists worry that sportsmen will be allowed to take aim at wolves traveling through the John D. Rockefeller Jr. Memorial Parkway, a 24,000-acre area that connects the two larger parks.

    The state of Wyoming wants hunting; the National Park Service does not.

    “We want to preserve wildlife for viewing and for conservation," said Bert Frost, associate director for Natural Resource Stewardship and Science for the National Park Service. "We would prefer not to have them shooting wolves on the parkway.”

    But here's the catch: The parkway, managed by the National Park Service, has allowed elk hunts to reduce their population. Legislators in Wyoming say that means wolves are also fair game.

    Most agree this is a somewhat symbolic argument, as only one or two wolf packs use the parkway. But for many, the gray wolf has come to embody the symbol of the federal government meddling in state affairs.

    Poll: Should wolves be hunted on National Parks land in Wyoming?

    Among the comments submitted to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which oversees the Endangered Species Act, was one from Earl Crawford, a Cheyenne resident, who said, according to the Casper Star-Tribune, "wolves kill to just kill.”

    Crawford continued: “Let the state game & fish control and manage the wolf population along with the other game animals of the state. Most bureaucrats back East haven’t the foggiest idea of how life is out west.”

    1995: Wolves return to the Rockies
    In the early 1900s, bounties were paid on more than 20,000 wolves, viewed then as killers of livestock. Twenty years later, the gray wolf became extinct in the Northern Rockies.

    In 1995, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service arranged for 66 gray wolves from Canada to be released in Yellowstone and Idaho. The wolves, to the delight of conservationists, repopulated as quickly as they disappeared. Now about 1,650 roam the Rockies.

    “The big picture of the whole thing is that the recovery of the gray wolf is one of the most amazing success stories of the Endangered Species Act,” said Derek Goldman of the Endangered Species Coalition.

    The plan was so successful that in 2009 the gray wolf was removed from the endangered species list in Montana and Idaho. Wyoming, however, refused to produce a wolf-friendly plan.

    “Basically, Wyoming flipped the middle finger to the federal government,” Goldman said.

    Despite government promises to repay ranchers for livestock losses, pressure mounted.

    Data show that domestic dogs kill more cattle than wolves; weather kills cattle at 25 times the rate of wolves. Mike Jimenez of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said that wolves were just one more variable eating at an already small profit margin.

    “You have to understand that the ranchers are raising animals by the pound,” said Jimenez, the coordinator for wolf management for the Rocky Mountains. “If they run around, they abort, or they lose weight. The profit margin is not huge to begin with.”

    Although wolves were delisted in Montana and Idaho without as much political wrangling, wolf hunting in those two states is as controversial.

    In February, U.S. Fish and Wildlife agents killed 14 wolves from an aircraft in Idaho, heeding a request from that state, according to the Missoulian newspaper.

    And the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, an organization founded by hunters to promote elk habitat to “be hunted or otherwise enjoyed,” announced it would give $50,000 to help government agencies afford killing wolves that chase after livestock, the Missoulian reported. David Allen, the president of the foundation, said he wants fewer black bears, mountain lions and wolves.

    “We can’t have all these predators with little aggressive management and expect to have ample game herds,” Allen told the Missoulian.

    Wolves delisted
    Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead signed a new version of the wolf management plan into law last month. This one demands that Wyoming manage 10 breeding pairs outside of Yellowstone. An area in the northwestern part of the state would protect wolves from Oct. 15 to March 1, so they may breed with wolves from other states and avoid inbreeding.

    Whether hunters will be able to take aim at wolves in the parkway is unclear. Hunting is allowed in Alaska national parks, and culling of elk has been allowed in the parkway and Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota.

    Back in Washington, D.C., Bert Frost said the National Parks Service has plans to work with the state of Wyoming. He hopes those conversations won’t become politicized.

    “I hope nothing gets resolved in Washington,” Frost said. “There are the biologists on the ground, and they know the situation better than anyone else.”

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