CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Gov. Mark Gordon has submitted his U.S. Department of Agriculture request for a Secretarial Disaster Designation, as indicated in a Feb. 20 news release.
In his letter to the USDA, Gordon noted that Wyoming’s winter season started early and the culminating impacts of sustained cold, wind and snowfall have caused significant distress to the livestock industry across the state.
Access to traditional winter grazing resources has become dire as well, because many ranch, county and BLM roads are drifting shut and, even when cleared, continue to re-drift due to high winds, the governor’s letter explained.
The Governor’s Office, in partnership with local, state and federal agencies and impacted agriculture producers, worked collaboratively to determine losses, the timeframe and the geographic scale of impact.
Data obtained through the National Weather Service’s event tracking system reveals that 66.5% of the time from Jan. 1 to Feb. 27, Wyoming was under some combination of Winter Storm Warnings, Blizzard Warnings, Winter Weather Advisories and High Wind Warnings, far outpacing any other state in the lower 48.
Underscoring the need for federal assistance, Gordon’s letter noted, “State, county, local and individual resources have been deployed and are being shared between entities for snow removal, but there is too much volume and wind to keep roads open and passable to gain access to livestock.”
Additionally, Gordon’s administration has been working closely with Wyoming’s Farm Service Agency Office to identify the areas of greatest impact and corresponding needs of the agriculture community.
