Open Spaces
News & Politics
About
A news and public affairs program about Wyoming and the Mountain West.
Episodes
- Summer water and fire, Bob Beck reflects, and more...
Today on the show, we check in with the Wyoming State Engineer’s office to hear about restrictions on water this dry summer. After a year of funding uncertainty, Shoshoni’s senior center is back in the black and taking on more projects tha…
- A 68-year-old power lifter, the new U.S. Wildland Fire Service, and more...
Today on the show, Bill Gates’ nuclear power project in Kemmerer is officially under construction. We talk to a reporter who was at Terra Power’s groundbreaking last week. We hear from a landslide specialist about what can happen when it r…
- A proposed new pipeline, a resurgence of dance halls, and more...
Today on the show, we’re checking in with our state government reporter, Jordan Uplinger, about the interim Legislative session topics. Some dance halls are having a resurgence around the state. And, the Brinton Museum is commemorating the…
- Cody Roberts sentenced in wolf case, ski resort monopolies, and more...
Today on the show, the man who brought an injured wolf into a bar was sentenced this week for a felony charge of animal cruelty. We hear from a reporter who was in the courtroom. A Wyoming newspaper was selected for a national program to h…
- UW budget cuts, veterinarians in short supply, and more...
Today on the show, the University of Wyoming faced steep cuts during this year’s state budget talks. But the cuts never came. We hear from UW’s president what happened. Veterinarians, especially large animal vets, are increasingly in short…
- Early season ticks, harm reduction in a vending machine, and more...
Today on the show, it’s beginning to look a lot like tick season…. But in March? The creepy crawly critters can carry diseases. What to look for and how to stay safe. A new set of vending machines on the Wind River Reservation aim to help…
- Women in the West, snow drought, and more...
Today on the show, on this season’s last episode of Cheyenne Roundup, Maggie and Jordan recap new laws, the governor's vetoes and how the Freedom Caucus’s priorities fared. The pages of Cheyenne’s daily newspaper no longer include a police…
- Healthcare Roundup, the Yucca Fountain, and more...
Today on the show, in the Cheyenne Roundup, Chris and Maggie outline the likely sticking points of budget negotiations. Plus, an update on Checkgate. We learn about what lawmakers are doing about energy, climate issues, and healthcare. And…
- Goats and zoning, Indigenous communities and ICE, and more...
On today’s show, we tune into this week’s Cheyenne Roundup, where Chris and Maggie catch us up on where the state budget’s at. We meet a goat named Porsche Lane, who was at the center of a lawsuit over constitutional rights. And we hear fr…
- Dementia awareness, immigration enforcement in Wyoming, and more...
Today on the show, our weekly legislative recap series, called Cheyenne Roundup, a partnership with WyoFile, is back. Today, we break down how the state budget gets made. We hear from two dementia awareness advocates. And with Minneapolis…
- Wyoming Olympians, school funding recalibration, and more...
Today on the show, our reporters tuned into forums around the state with lawmakers. People are gearing up in a big way for the upcoming budget session. Lawmakers are deciding how to fund public education. The current proposal would boost t…
- State budget process updates, hunger relief, and more...
Today on the show, lawmakers took their first crack at marking up the state budget this week. Our state government reporters have updates. Wyoming’s Hunger Relief Program helped fill in the gap when SNAP benefits went on pause during the g…
- Ski patrollers choose not to unionize, international park fees, and more...
Today on the show, abortion will remain legal in Wyoming for now. We dig into the crux of the arguments from the Wyoming Supreme Court, including a look back at the passing of one key constitutional right. The property tax bill for your ho…
- WPM reporters' favorite stories in 2025
Today on the show, Wyoming Public Radio’s reporters share their favorite stories from 2025 and why.With each one, we’ll hear from the reporters themselves on what made them pick the stories they did.
- Budget prep, helping plants move, and more...
Today on the show, Wyoming lawmakers heard from agency heads about their budget requests this month. There’s been a little friction. The top market for coal is burning it for electricity. But researchers are trying to find alternative uses…
- Food distribution, wildlife collision prevention, and more...
Today on the show, how food is distributed to tribal members, using trades education to battle climate change, a tribute to a late rising country music star, and news on the Rocks Springs Resource Management Plan. Those stories and more.
- Government shutdown impacts, cattle tracking collars, and more...
Today on the show, finding Wyoming stories otherwise left untold, how technology is helping to protect cattle from grizzly bears, and what happens when wolves leave Yellowstone. Those stories and more.
- Sublette Wolf case update, economic sentiments, and more...
Today on the show, a woman’s experience after ICE detained her husband. Wyoming has submitted some novel ideas to try to get a slice of 50 billion in federal dollars to transform healthcare. We hear more details. And what happened during t…
- AI data centers and the West
Today’s show is all about data centers. We’re airing a series of stories from our partners at the Mountain West News Bureau, focused on this topic. We’ll dive into concerns about future water supplies and why one company thinks a remote ca…
- World's largest pronghorn herd, art residency, and more...
Today on the show, our state government reporter dove into election complaints to see voters’ concerns. We also hear from this year’s state park artists in residence. And we get a sneak peek at the new season of our podcast, The Modern Wes…
- Reporter's favorite stories of 2025 so far
Thank you for the support during our Fall Fund Drive. Our newsroom wanted to showcase some of our favorite stories we’ve reported so far this year. Before each story, we’ll hear from the reporters themselves on why the story you’re about t…
- Wyoming hospital funding, coal seam fires, and more...
Today on the show, Wyoming hospitals are feeling a little out of balance as they watch federal and state actions make their finances teeter. Fires in the northeast ignited a bunch of coal seams last year. Now, three counties want to map th…
- Coal money cuts, protecting the night sky, and more...
Today on the show, the GOP spending bill that’s now law is throwing a curveball at state lawmakers. Kickbacks to Wyoming from the coal industry are a lot less now. Could you really defend yourself against a grizzly with bear spray? Some pe…
- Traveling Democrats, Outdoor Leadership School turns 60, and more...
Today on the show, Democratic lawmakers in Wyoming have been going on a tour to hear from voters outside their communities. NOLS turns 60 this month. The head of the Lander-based outdoor leadership school says his students' skillsets are n…
- Sublette Wolf case update, horse racing machines, and more...
Today on the show, the man who allegedly ran down a wolf on a snowmobile last year has been indicted. We get updated on the case. The number of rural hospitals delivering babies is dwindling. So midwives are stepping up to help low-risk wo…
- The state of Wyoming news, brain research, and more...
Today on the show, there have been a lot of questions about how journalism is doing in the past couple of weeks. We sit down for a roundtable about the state of journalism in Wyoming. Thanks to lawmakers, Wyomingites have seen their proper…
- First responder mental health, how a mural sounds, and more...
Today on the show, first responders from across the state gathered recently for a mental health conference. Doctors, nurses, pharmacists, lab techs - almost all those professions get their first taste of science at college. A University of…
- Federal worker updates, Nat Geo photo camp, and more...
Today on the show, it’s been almost six months since thousands of federal workers were fired and others were ordered to return to office. We’ll hear from one VA employee in Cheyenne about that transition. A group of non-federal workers are…
- Bison bone preparation, wildfire suppression, and more...
Today on the show, we dive into how staff of the Buffalo Bill Center of the West prepare bison bones to display in their Draper museum. We also weigh in on how aggressively wildfires should be suppressed to keep fires at bay but also keep…
- Superintendent talks funding, concealed carry laws, and more...
Today on the show, most gun-free zones in Wyoming are null and void after a law went into effect this month. We check in with Wyoming’s Superintendent of Public Instruction on the recent lawsuit pausing school vouchers from getting distrib…
- Public land sales, accessible trails, and more...
Today on Open Spaces, there’s been a lot of talk about large swaths of public land going up for sale to help with housing in the West. We break down what’s actually at stake. School's out for the summer, but a lot is happening in the state…
- Tariffs tapping beer, WPM funding updates, and more...
Today on the show, a new film follows a group of Native youth on their journey into adulthood. As Wyoming battles a housing crisis, the Trump administration is proposing to eliminate several programs that specifically help rural communitie…
- Inside a trona mine, faulty gun sales, and more...
Today on the show, hundreds of students at Job Corps in Riverton are scrambling to finish up the program after the Trump administration tried to pause it indefinitely. For many, that means leaving their community. The Department of Governm…
- Evaluating scientific studies, prison staffing shortages, and more...
Today on the show, some conservatives in our region say efforts to hand over parcels of federal land to states aren’t enough. They want to see most federal land go to states. A new study says the abortion pill mifepristone is more dangerou…
- Voter fraud disagreements, western pop art, and more...
Today on the show, a new survey shows the vast majority of Wyomingites believe climate change is happening. We’ll spend a day with the Albany County Outdoor School – a program that brings local fourth graders into their public lands. And w…
- Out-of-state politics money, impacts of federal health cuts, and more...
Today on the show, two conservative women started with similar beliefs about abortion. Then they got pregnant, and their beliefs shifted. We hear from a non-profit that tracks federal election spending. They found Wyoming’s D.C. hopefuls g…
- Mapping fencelines, cloud seeding, and more...
Today on the show, a researcher and her team mapped more than 150 miles of fence near Cody. When Diana Foster Greene first started studying women who received - and were denied - abortions in the mid-2000s, there wasn’t much research on th…
- Award-winning stories from Wyoming Public Radio
Today on the show, in honor of a successful fund drive, we are showcasing our award-winning work. Every February, WPR submits stories from the past year for award consideration. We are still waiting to hear the results from 2024. So we wan…
- Gov. Gordon on the Legislature, UW dean fired, and more...
Today on the show, Gov. Mark Gordon reflects on this year’s legislative session. Lawmakers were set to pick the topics they would spend the next few months hearing about from the public and stakeholders. But that didn’t happen. Now what? A…
- Housing concerns, snow language, and more...
Today on the show, healthcare providers with the Veterans Administration (VA) are worried that upcoming return-to-office orders might violate standards of patient privacy. A freshman legislator personally experienced mental health problems…
- One of the final interviews by Al Simpson
Today on the show, we’re going to take a break from the breaking news cycle. Instead, we'll hear one of the final interviews given by longtime Wyoming US Senator Al Simpson, who died in Cody on March 14th. Jim Raymond and Jim Jones are co-…
- Trans people react, former Sen. Al Simpson dies, and more...
Today on the show, former U.S. Senator Al Simpson passed away in Cody at the age of 92. We will hear about his legacy. But first, the Wyoming general legislative session has ended. We'll dive into two bans on where transgender people can g…
- Sublette wolf anniversary, Chronic Wasting Disease discovery, and more...
A lot has been going on in the state since our last episode and we have you covered. It’s been a year since a rural ranching community in Sublette County was cast into the international spotlight over one man’s treatment of a wolf. Federal…
- Federal worker layoffs, a new dino, and more...
This week on Open Spaces, Wyoming Public Radio asked our listeners to share with us how they’re impacted by the latest orders by the Trump administration. Messages streamed in. We’ll hear from a few of those. It’s been three years since th…
- Potential tax changes, Tunisia and Wyoming, and more...
Today on Open Spaces, the Wyoming Legislature has passed the halfway point in its 40-day general session. We’re taking this Open Spaces to focus on some big themes, like how some bills may end up affecting how Wyoming residents and busines…
- Electricity bills, grizzly bear conservation status, and more...
This week on Open Spaces, Wyoming lawmakers might roll back a sales tax on electricity, which would save us money but could cripple small towns. That’s a revenue they depend on to the tune of tens of millions of dollars. Grizzly bears are…
- The economics of wolves, rural movie theaters, and more...
Today on the show, we’ll hear about a bill that seeks to “make carbon dioxide great again." It would stop a lot of Wyoming’s climate change mitigation efforts, but that doesn’t mean an emissions free for all. Big movie theater chains may b…
- A red lake, an intro to the Legislature, and more...
Today on the show, a little lake north of Pinedale has long been treasured by locals for fishing. But this fall, something happened... it turned red. There’s going to be an influx of new faces at the Wyoming Capitol this month after a slat…
- The Best Open Spaces Stories of 2024
Welcome to our year-in-review of Open Spaces. Today we have a batch of stories our reporters picked as their top news items of last year. We’ll hear how wildfire managers anticipated a busy summer after a flurry of spring burns got the sea…
- Juniper trees, winter recreation, and more...
Today on the show, we’ll hear from county firefighters reflecting this past year’s massive wildfires, and about some food sovereignty projects on the Wind River Reservation. We’ll tag along with a long time Sublette county local for a very…