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Outdoors Reporter

Mark Heinz

Mark Heinz covers the outdoors and wildlife for Cowboy State Daily.

He previously worked or freelanced for numerous newspapers and magazines across Wyoming, Idaho and Montana, covering all manner of news and feature stories. He has a strong background in topics related to wildlife, hunting, and wildlands conservation. He's written extensively since the 1990s about the controversies surrounding wolves, grizzly bears and mustangs.

He also enjoys people-centric stories with quirky edge of humor and has written several such pieces for Cowboy State Daily. 

Mark lives in Laramie with his wife, Kendy, and the youngest of their five children.

Find Mark Heinz

Latest from Mark Heinz

A crowd of Laramie residents turned out Wednesday evening to tell their school board that they don’t want concealed firearms allowed in local schools. The board said there’s no choice, because the Legislature did away with gun-free zones in Wyoming.

Laramie Residents Balk At Guns In Schools, School Board Says There’s No Choice

A crowd of Laramie residents turned out Wednesday evening to tell their school board that they don’t want concealed firearms allowed in local schools. The board said there’s no choice, because the Legislature did away with gun-free zones in Wyoming.

Mark HeinzApril 10, 2025

In 1962, the Air Force ejected a bear named Yogi from a jet bomber going 870 mph at an altitude of 35,000 feet. In hindsight, a retired USAF colonel questions how anyone thought that was a good idea.

USAF Tested Its B-58 Jet Bomber By Ejecting A Bear Named Yogi At 35,000 Feet

In 1962, the Air Force ejected a bear named Yogi from a jet bomber going 870 mph at an altitude of 35,000 feet. In hindsight, a retired USAF colonel questions how anyone thought that was a good idea.

Mark HeinzApril 08, 2025

Blacktail Ponds in Yellowstone can be a bison death trap in the winter as they fall in and can't get out.

Yellowstone’s Blacktail Pond Is A Bison Death Trap, But A Buffet For Bears

The Blacktail Pond area in Yellowstone National Park can be a death trap for bison if they fall through ice or get trapped in muddy water and drown. But for the area's bears, it's a buffet.

Mark HeinzApril 07, 2025

Think you can survive a charging grizzly just because you have bear spray with you? Wyoming Game and Fish’s “Robobear” is an eye-opener, as Cowboy State Daily reporters Clair McFarland and Mark Heinz recently learned.

Think You Can Survive A Charging Grizzly? Take On Wyoming’s ‘Robobear’

Think you can survive a charging grizzly just because you have bear spray with you? Wyoming Game and Fish’s “Robobear” is an eye-opener, as Cowboy State Daily reporters Clair McFarland and Mark Heinz recently learned.

Mark Heinz & Clair McFarlandApril 05, 2025

A pronghorn struggles to move along a section of woven-wire fencing in deep snow in the Green River Basin of western Wyoming. Pronghorn in the Red Desert faced similar obstacles during their escape movements in the winter of 2022-23, contributing to a mass die-off.

During Brutal Winter Die-Off, Antelope Got Lost, Trapped By Fences And Roads

Many of the antelope that froze or starved during the brutal winter of 2022-2023 got lost and died after they hit fences they couldn’t cross, according to a new University of Wyoming-led study.

Mark HeinzApril 04, 2025

A grizzly tries to get intop this trash can.

Grizzly Killed A Man In Yellowstone In 1916, So They Blew It Up With Dynamite

The first documented fatal grizzly attack in Yellowstone National Park was in 1916 by a bear dubbed Old Two Toes. Federal workers responded by blowing the grizzly into oblivion using a garbage barrel booby-trapped with dynamite.

Mark HeinzApril 04, 2025

Laramie firefighter Dylan Schilt was left temporarily paralyzed when a massive stone chimney chase collapsed on him during a house fire call on Feb. 28. He’s been undergoing physical therapy and is determined to make a full recovery.

Laramie Firefighter Crushed In House Fire Determined To Make A Full Recovery

Laramie firefighter Dylan Schilt was left temporarily paralyzed when a massive stone chimney chase collapsed on him and a colleague on Feb. 28. He said Thursday he plans to make a full recovery.

Mark HeinzApril 03, 2025

Adobe town, south of Rock Springs along rough gravel and dirt roads, is one of Wyoming’s most isolated locations.

Sweetwater County Turns To Hageman For Help On BLM Rock Springs Plan

It remains uncertain how the Bureau of Land Management’s plan for 3.6 million acres in south-central Wyoming will pan out. But Sweetwater County officials hope it stays to their liking.

Mark HeinzApril 02, 2025

With the repeal of Wyoming’s gun-free zones, concealed carrying of firearms will be allowed in University of Wyoming buildings starting July 1. It’s already to legal to carry outside on campus grounds.

UW To End Gun-Free Zones July 1 And Allow Concealed Guns Inside Buildings

With the repeal of Wyoming’s gun-free zones, concealed carrying of firearms will be allowed in University of Wyoming buildings starting July 1. It’s already legal to carry outside on campus grounds.

Mark HeinzApril 02, 2025

Other Authors

The city of Rock Springs has contracted with the Wyoming-based Goat-Green LLC company to bring in 300 goats. The goats are gobbling their way through brush and grass that’s clogging up drainages near the city center.

Rock Springs Hires Goat Army To Munch Its Way Through Clogged Canals

Rock Springs has weeds, brush and grass clogging vital drainage canals through the heart of town. An army of 300 goats has been let loose to gobble their way through.

Mark HeinzApril 01, 2025

There’s a dispute over exactly where the boundary line is between land owned by the South Dakota ranchers Heather and Charles Maude and national grassland controlled by the Forest Service. The couple was served federal indictments alleging theft of government property.

Federal Fence Line Fight With Ranchers Is ‘Odd,’ Wyoming Attorney Says

An ongoing fence line fight between a South Dakota ranch family and the U.S. Forest Service has grabbed national attention. It also seems “odd,” says a Wyoming attorney who has handled land disputes.

Mark HeinzMarch 31, 2025

Candida Haasch runs the Warriors of the Rainbow Horse Sanctuary in Missouri and would love to adopt curly-haired mustangs from Wyoming.

Missouri Trainer Wants All The Wyoming Curly-Haired Mustangs She Can Get

A Missouri horse trainer says she’ll take all the curly-haired Wyoming mustangs she can get. She says they’d be perfect for a prisoner-rehabilitation program similar to what the Wyoming Honor Farm has.

Mark HeinzMarch 30, 2025

Sandhill cranes take flight at Wyoming’s Table Mountain wildlife habitat management area.

Thousands Of Cranes Pour Into Wyoming For Spring Migration, Even A Few Whoopers

Sandhill cranes are pouring into Wyoming by the thousands during spring migration. A few rare whooping cranes are showing up too. Many cranes come here to nest and raise their young.

Mark HeinzMarch 29, 2025

Pulling gun getty 3 29 25

Even In Wyoming, Experts Say Shooting At Someone Stealing Your Stuff Not A Good Idea

It’s best to know what the law says about using a gun to defend yourself, your home and possessions in Wyoming before opening fire, experts say. A Casper man may learn that after unloading at his own truck while a guy was stealing it.

Mark HeinzMarch 29, 2025

Heather and Charles Maude, owners of Maude Hog & Cattle near Caputa, South Dakota, were each served with separate federal indictments over a fence line dispute with the U.S. Forest Service.

Wyoming Ranchers Ask Trump For Help In Family's Fence Line Fight With Feds

Wyoming ranchers have asked President Donald Trump to intervene in their daughter and son-in-law’s property dispute with the U.S. Forest Service in South Dakota.

Mark HeinzMarch 28, 2025

Wyoming Sen. Cynthia Lummis is a backing a bill to lift 90-year-old restrictions on short-barreled rifles and shotguns. A Wyoming firearms law expert agrees, calling the restrictions “silly.”

Lummis Wants End To ‘Silly’ Restrictions On Short-Barreled Rifles, Shotguns

Wyoming Sen. Cynthia Lummis is a backing a bill to lift 90-year-old restrictions on short-barreled rifles and shotguns. A Wyoming firearms law expert agrees, calling the restrictions “silly.”

Mark HeinzMarch 28, 2025

A pack of gray wolves in Yellowstone National Park.

If Feds Delist Wolves Everywhere, Will Colorado’s Reintroduction Program Crash?

A push is underway to get wolves delisted from federal protection across the Lower 48, but it remains unclear how that might affect wolf management policies in Wyoming and Colorado.

Mark HeinzMarch 28, 2025

A North Carolina man uses a bear suit black bears off his lawn. Some Wyomingites said trying that with a grizzly would be insane. They could maul you, or worse, try to get frisky.

Man In Bear Suit Scares Off Black Bear; He’s Lucky It Wasn’t A Wyoming Grizzly

A North Carolina man uses a bear suit to scare black bears off his lawn. Some Wyomingites said trying that with a grizzly would be insane. They could maul you, or worse, try to get frisky.

Mark HeinzMarch 27, 2025

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