Cheating Wyoming: A Burning Question for our Legislature
Wyoming’s rangelands are the backbone of our identity – the open country that sustains our ranching heritage, supports our wildlife and defines the vast landscapes we cherish.
As a rancher, outdoorsman and governor of Wyoming, I have made it a priority to protect these lands from one of the most urgent and fast‑moving threats we face – the spread of invasive annual grasses, especially cheatgrass.
These grasses are not a distant or hypothetical concern. They are already transforming the West.
In states where cheatgrass has taken hold, once‑productive rangelands have been converted into brittle monocultures, which results in soil erosion, threatens biodiversity and chokes out natural species.
Importantly, these areas are prone to explode year after year with fires so hot soils are sterilized down to mineral earth – unfortunately, leading to even greater invasive establishment.
Wyoming stands at a crossroads. We can either protect her or let her burn.
Except for a few days a year, cheatgrass can be harmful to wildlife and livestock. Sharp, barbed cheatgrass seedheads can embed in lips, gums and throats causing painful mouth sores and making it difficult for animals to eat.
In 2020, under my direction, a team of 32 experts delivered a comprehensive set of recommendations. Their conclusion was unequivocal – Wyoming is at high risk of widespread invasion, particularly in our northern counties.
Only a coordinated, well‑funded effort can prevent the collapse of our sagebrush and grassland ecosystems.
Let’s work together to take care of our precious Wyoming. The Wyoming we all love.
We have made real progress.
County weed and pest districts, federal and state agencies, conservation groups and private landowners have come together in an unprecedented collaborative effort. Hundreds of thousands of acres have been mapped, prioritized and treated with impressive results.
Restoration work following the 2024-25 fires is already underway and needs to continue.
Still the scale of the threat is growing faster than our current investment.
In 2024, nearly one million acres of habitat and ag lands were burned in the span of only a few weeks, and last year more fires scorched other parts of the state. This is the future we must prevent to save our rangelands, wildlife, watersheds and agriculture.
Today, 78 percent of Wyoming is at risk of invasion.
The estimated annual loss to agriculture alone is $76 million, and this figure does not include the loss of wildlife habitat, the long‑term degradation of soils or the escalating costs of wildfire prevention and suppression.
The relationship between invasive grasses and fire is a vicious cycle, and the only way to break it is through a strategic, well‑funded, statewide response and careful management.
Putting fire starter out all over the range just doesn’t make sense.
This is why I fully supported restoration funds in the Essentials Budget – to build on the momentum we have created, ensure we can limit future fuel for fires to prevent irreversible losses.
Unfortunately, this request was reduced by one‑third without explanation by Joint Appropriations Committee “Club No” Freedom Caucus members.
Last year, similar funds were held hostage during the failure to pass a supplemental budget.
We cannot afford to repeat this mistake.
Failure to return the necessary funding to fight cheatgrass will have catastrophic consequences – posing threats to our land, wildlife, agriculture and our very heritage and way of life.
What we need now is the commitment of our legislators.
Members of our state House, I am asking you to restore funding to protect our rangelands, wildlife, agricultural economy and the very character of our state.
Failure to fully fund this effort is a vote to allow invasive grasses and wildfire to reshape Wyoming into something unrecognizable – a fire‑driven, ecologically barren landscape.
We have the science. We have the tools. We have the partnerships. We have a beautiful state that needs protection.
What we need now is the commitment of our legislators to look beyond the mindset of cutting just to make cuts in the state budget.
Headlines don’t stop wildfires. Instead of showboating, let’s work together to take care of our precious Wyoming – the Wyoming we all love.
Mark Gordon was elected Wyoming’s 33rd governor on Nov. 6, 2018. He was sworn into office on Jan. 7, 2019 and re-elected on Nov. 8, 2022, garnering 74 percent of the vote. He can be reached by visiting governor.wyo.gov/.
