Basin Beat Blues

A couple of topics have hit the Basin Beat radar screen recently that relate to irrigation, and they both impact fishermen.
First, there s the issue of Silt deposits near the Horseshoe Bend area continue to grow, making it tough for boaters (and fishermen) to use the area during times of low water.
During a recent meeting in Lovell on the matter, a lot was said about the impact of irrigation in contributing to the sediment issues.

To be sure, much of the problem lies in the lack of vegetation around the Bighorn Basin, which contributes to rapid, large-scale erosion.
But conservation districts have had success in working with farmers and ranchers to come up with management practices that help reduce siltation.
Second, I learned first-hand this past weekend how many fish make their way into irrigation ditches, only to become stranded there when water is cut off in the winter.

Folks from Trout Unlimited said their by the thousands from the canals back to the rivers are helpful, but the real impact comes from working with irrigators to install fish diversions to keep the fish out of the ditches in the first place.
Tackling both these issues costs money, not to mention a lot of time and aggravation. And both the Friends of Bighorn Lake and Trout Unlimited members say they want to partner with farmers and ranchers to help them whenever possible.

No one is pointing fingers or placing blame on irrigators, but rather looking to hear from those interested in working together. Conservation funds are available for both projects, group members say.
So if you are (or know) an irrigator who might be interested in participating in efforts to reduce silt and divert fish, get in touch with the and .

Every little bit helps. It s getting very close to election time, and while there are plenty of reporters who are obsessed with politics, I don t count myself as one of them.
But folks have been asking a few interesting questions lately about local politics, none of which merits a story, but each of which is fine for blogging.

Cody City Council member Cliff Main at the last meeting, asking what the procedure is for recalling the mayor. Main said constituents had asked him, presumably those who were upset with the termination of City Administrator Laurie Kadrich s contract.
The Wyoming Secretary of State s office reports there is no provision in the state s election laws for recalling an elected official.

While individual cities or counties may pass an ordinance or statute precluding a convicted felon from serving in office, or something along those lines, there s simply no method under Wyoming law for recalling an elected official. At least none that the Secretary of State is aware of.
Others have been discussing the similarities and differences in two interesting races a write-in campaign by Sheriff Dave Mattis in Big Horn County and an Independent candidacy by Kelly Jensen for county clerk in Park County.

Based on questions folks have asked me, there appears to be some confusion about what constitutes a write-in campaign.
According to Park County elections official Deb Bush, Jensen will be listed on the ballot as an Independent candidate. Since she did not run in the primary, she was eligible to be listed on the ballot by collecting petitions.

Mattis is a write-in candidate, meaning voters will have to write his name on the ballot. Because Mattis lost to challenger Ken Blackburn in the primary, he is impacted by a Wyoming election law precluding him from gathering signatures to be listed again in the general election. Some call this a sour grapes or sore loser law.

It doesn t prevent voters from writing him in.
Finally, I had spoken to a few folks and told them about a spreadsheet from Wenlin Liu, the economist who estimated that would be paid by tourists. He later changed that figure to 12 percent.

We posted a .PDF version of the numbers on the Gazette web site, but the great part about a spreadsheet is you can plug in your own numbers and play with the figures.
I don t have a handy way to post it on this blog, but if anyone wants the Excel file with Liu s numbers, e-mail me and I ll send you a copy.

During a radio call-in program Wednesday morning, Cody Country Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Gene Bryan was discussing the . (I guess you could say her contract was terminated, but it amounts to a firing.)
Bryan brought up an interesting point, citing the difficulty of filing vacancies in a tight labor market in light of Wyoming s energy boom.

He noted that if Cody s city administrator is gone, and its director of administrative services leaves (Kelly Jensen, currently serving in that spot, is running for Park County Clerk), there will be a serious a brain drain at City Hall over the next few months.
Be very careful what you wish for, because you may get it, warned Bryan. Be ready, because Cody is in for a real wake-up call.

I ve asked members of the City Council for details on why Kadrich s contract was terminated, but they ve declined to discuss them, citing confidentiality laws. Others around town have pointed out that the contract itself seems open-ended, offering no term, no opportunity for review and a what they characterize as an overly generous severance package.
On the same radio program, Kadrich, the city s first administrator, acknowledged that the position itself, and its salary, had long been a subject of controversy.

She said she would seek a similar position in another town, saying she found the work rewarding.
Sometimes change is good but it doesn t come without challenges. Finding a new administrator (and possibly a new administrative services director) will be a challenge.

The results of how the council handles that challenge will impact the city for some time. You ve probably heard by now that the . Are you starting to feel a little crowded?

Odds are, you aren t. In Wyoming, we have roughly half a million people, the least of any state, and only 1/600th of the national population lives here.
I was chatting with an economist in Cheyenne yesterday and it was an utter mystery to him why so few people live in such a great state.

He couldn t fathom why, for instance, oil and gas workers weren t streaming into Wyoming to take advantage of high wages and demand for workers.
Some folks find plenty wrong with Wyoming, including the circular argument that nobody lives here. Weather and remoteness are other factors I hear a lot, too.

There s also the so-called brain drain, with well-qualified young people moving out-of-state to find work.
But whatever the reason, at a time of rising immigration and population, Wyoming must be looking better and better for folks anxious to flee from urban gridlock and suburban sprawl. To the extent we can welcome them without experiencing that same sprawl here, I think the state is well-poised to take advantage of the country s growing numbers.

Still, you have to worry about too much of a good thing. Considering the U.S.

adds one net person (births and immigration gains vs. deaths) , in the time it took you to read these six paragraphs, we ve added five people. Is that a good thing, or too much of one?

While researching an article about , I learned a lot of things I didn t know.
For instance, I was told one of the reasons why uranium prices are rising steadily is because much of the world s supply used to come from diluted stockpiles of uranium from Soviet-era nuclear weapons.
Apparently, nuclear plants around the world were, for many years during the 1990s, using uranium that was formerly part of bombs and missiles targeting the U.

S. In a disarmament agreement, the Russians agreed to parcel out the diluted uranium for reactor fuel.
But the uranium industry never had a good handle on the level of supplies held by the Russians, and apparently, it ran out more quickly than most had anticipated.

That s one reason, among many, I ve heard for rising uranium prices.
Another is speculation, with investors buying contracts and then sitting on the uranium, waiting to release it to other buyers after the price has risen.
But the most interesting thing I learned has nothing to do with the current uranium situation.

It has to do with radioactive snails.
A midair collision between two planes in 1966 resulted in three U.S.

hydrogen bombs falling on Palomares, a fishing village in southeastern Spain. The site was cleaned, but the radioactive material (I would imagine it was plutonium) apparently remains in the soil.
Locals are reporting around the area, putting the kibosh on any escargot.

If only life worked like a 1960s monster movie the Palomares village elders could create quite a tourist attraction by breeding a race of giant, intelligent, radioactive super-snails. (And I, for one, would .) A reminder that there will be a Bighorn Lake meeting Tuesday, Oct.

10 at the Lovell Fire Hall, 314 Nevada Ave.
This has been a bit lately, but the discussion has remained at least somewhat civil and generally constructive. I m not sure how much longer that will last.

If you have a stake in the water going into (or coming out of) Bighorn Lake, you might want to attend the 1 p.m. meeting.

A couple of folks have e-mailed asking to see a photo of the love seat created by Ron and Jean Shanor of WildeWood Furniture in Cody. The piece was chosen best in show at last week s .
I did submit a photo, but space limitations prevented it from being run in the paper.

But blogs suffer no such limitations on space, so here it is for your consideration.
What I liked about the piece was how the individual pieces of wood were chosen for how their natural curves fit the form and function of the piece. I didn t sit in it, but it sure looked comfy.

Though Cody is certainly the cradle of western design when it comes to furniture, it s also a place where top designers in western fashion come each year to show their stuff.
The idea of a in a town of less than 10,000 may seem silly, but if you ve never seen it, you should it s something to behold. Outrageous fashions, fun music and a good time.

The clothes take center stage, but for the partisan local crowd, homegrown models are the main attraction. They volunteer their time and risk looking silly (or worse) to showcase the clothes brought by designers from around the country.
But they also have a lot of fun, as shown each year by perennial fan favorite Chan Richard.

His signature move (mirrored this year by son Dustin Richard) is to stop at the end of the runway and stir the soup. (Or perform the cabbage patch, if you prefer.) It s a crowd-pleaser, to say the least.

So next time you re catching Project Runway or America s Next Top Model (or a Gap commercial, for those of you without basic cable and way too much time on your hands), keep in mind you can see a local variation on the theme right here in Cody. Rumors persist of an imminent sale of the Western Design Conference, and a likely move of the show elsewhere, probably to Jackson.
But Carol Decker, CEO of Western Interiors, owner of the WDC, said Wednesday there are no such plans in the works.

She said the situation hadn t changed since I last reported on this matter, other than receiving more inquiries from interested buyers following the media attention.
But she stressed there is no active plan in place to sell the conference and/or move it to Jackson.
Local boosters don t want to get caught flat-footed if the show should leave, and have already announced plans to start their own show if the WDC leaves Cody.

Anyone who worries about the future of a design conference in Cody need look no further than the volunteers working around town this week. Scores of people are spending thousands of hours, pitching to make the WDC, Buffalo Bill Art Show Sale and Patrons Ball a rousing success.
So whether the WDC stays put or moves on, something tells me that volunteer spirit will keep making things happen.

Powell Mayor Scott Mangold voted in favor of a proposed management plan for the planned pool during debate at Monday s Powell City Council meeting. I incorrectly reported his vote as being against the plan, but he wrote to correct me on the matter.
I can t imagine how I heard no when he said yes, especially since I m almost always transfixed practically hypnotized by Mayor Mangold s silky smooth professional radio voice.

(I particuarly like calling Powell City Hall and hearing his D.J.-style voice on the city s phone messaging system.

)
Regardless, the mayor assures me he backs the management plan, so my apologies to him (and nervous cap tax backers) for reporting otherwise.