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 Vol. 2, Issue 4 | February 2026 | Cheating Wyoming
Cheating Wyoming: A Burning Question for our Legislature
By Governor Mark Gordon
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 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 now Governor, 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 that soils are sterilized down to mineral earth. Unfortunately, leading to even greater invasive establishment.
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Wyoming stands at a crossroads. We can either protect her or let her burn.
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Except for a few days a year, cheat grass can be harmful to wildlife and livestock. Sharp, barbed cheatgrass seedheads can embed in lips, gums, and throats causing painful mouth sores, making it difficult for the 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.
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Let’s work together to take care of our precious Wyoming. The Wyoming we all love.
We have made real progress.
New chemical treatments are proving highly effective at eliminating cheatgrass and other annuals. (Photo at right, pre and post treatment, Sublette County).
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 and 2025 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, our wildlife, our watersheds, and our agriculture.
Today, 78% of Wyoming is at risk of invasion.
The estimated annual loss to agriculture alone is $76 million — and that 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.
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Listen the Governor's Commentary on Cheat Grass. Queue to 10:52
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Listen to the Governor's Budget Session Update with Jack Nichols. Queue to 10:52 to hear cheat grass commentary.
That 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, that 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 that mistake. Failure to return the necessary funding to fight cheat grass will have catastrophic consequences: posing threat to our land, wildlife, and agriculture – our very heritage and way of life.
What we need now is the commitment of our legislators.
 Double Cross Fire. Fueled by cheat grass. 1,400 acres.
Members of our state house, I am asking you to restore funding to protect our rangelands, our wildlife, our 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.
Ride for the Brand.
Mark Gordon
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Mark Gordon was elected Wyoming's 33rd Governor on November 6, 2018. He was sworn into office on January 7, 2019, and re-elected on November 8, 2022, garnering 74% of the vote. He is ranked the second most popular governor in the nation (Morning Consult). As a conservative, Governor Gordon has worked tirelessly to set Wyoming on a sustainable fiscal path and has spearheaded efforts to diversify Wyoming's economy — from technology and finance to agriculture, energy, research, and tourism.
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WHO SAID IT ...
"Club No has maybe morphed into Club Show."
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