JH Underground – news, sports and music blog from Jackson Hole, Wyoming news, sports and music blog from Jackson Hole, Wyoming

After waiting on end for a good candidate to emerge, Leslie Petersen has decided to do the job herself.

The Wilson resident and chairwoman of the Wyoming Democratic Party announced her candidacy for governor today.

Petersen will be the front-runner in the Democratic primary to succeed Gov. Dave Freudenthal, who has decided not to run again after serving two terms. She faces several challengers in her own party and a crowded field of prominent Republicans seeking the state’s highest office.

“I am a Freudenthal Democrat,” she said in a release, “and this campaign will be based on common sense, common ground and civility. I’ve been involved with public policy issues in Wyoming for over 40 years, and this is the time to put my principles and ideas on the table.”

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Posted under Democratic Party, Politics, Wyoming, Wyoming Legislature

Tags: gov dave, leslie petersen

At last week’s Bureau of Reclamation water meeting, Game and Fish spokesman Mark Gocke gave an overview of his agency’s new decal program to prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species into Wyoming waterways. As explained earlier, this program requires boaters to purchase a decal for every craft they own; proceeds will pay for check stations where department personnel will inspect boats before launching.

Outfitter Dave Ellerstein raised an excellent point at the meeting: In these parts, it’s not uncommon for an angler or river runner to own a raft or dory in addition to a kayak and canoe.

If the goal of the program is to educate boat owners about the importance of cleaning, inspecting and drying their crafts — because the decal does not certify that a boat is AIS-free — then boaters should not have to pay multiple times, especially for small, nonmotorized crafts that are unlikely to be transporting the types of mussels targeted by Game and Fish.

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Posted under Environment, Politics, Sports, Wyoming, Wyoming Legislature

Tags: fishing, river running, snake river

Finally, the fireworks Spread Heads have been waiting for.

Ending months of speculation, Widespread Panic has decided to play The Spud in Teton Valley, Idaho, on July 4th. Tickets go on sale Friday for an early-bird price of $36.50, available at Tobacco Row in Jackson, Big Hole Music in Driggs and the Knotty Pine in Victor.

The show is being co-presented by Poppa Presents and Silvertag Live. The band had received various offers to play at Snow King and Grand Targhee before settling on The Spud, a historic drive-in theater that Poppa Presents turned into a live music venue last summer. The venue has a capacity of 4,000 for concerts.

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Posted under Business, Holidays, Music

Tags: idaho, jazz fest, rock, teton valley, widespread panic

First Lehman Brothers, then AIG, and now ungulates.

Out-of-work realtors can’t even turn to scrounging elk antlers, as the price for naturally sculpted headgear continues to plunge. Saturday’s antler auction on the Town Square netted $46,272 — 42 percent less than the 10-year average.

The drop is due to a mild winter that saw fewer elk congregate on the National Elk Refuge, and a 40-cent drop in the price.

A total of 5,564 pounds of shed antlers were sold for an average price of $8.12 per pound. The 10-year average is 8,302 pounds at $9.59 per pound.

Eighty percent of the proceeds help feed the elk next winter, while 20 percent go to the Boy Scouts, who collected the antlers.

Perhaps further studies on the antlers’ reputed power for sexual potency are needed to drive up the market.

Posted under Economy, Environment

Tags: elk, wildlife

Back in March we reported about U2 opening its summer 360º tour in Salt Lake on June 3, and how there were plenty of good seats available, and wouldn’t the sound be excellent outdoors at Rice-Eccles Stadium.

Well, the most carefully laid of forward-looking plans has gone astray, as U2′s lead singer, Bono, injured his back and had surgery Friday, and the band has postponed the Salt Lake City concert. Other shows may be affected, too, while the flamboyant frontman recuperates.

“We will make plans to reinstate these dates as soon as possible,” manager Paul McGuinness said in an audio statement on U2.com. The band advised fans to hold onto their tickets until further notice.

Posted under Music

Tags: rock, travel, U2, utah

Although snowpack is still well below average, the cold, wet spring has delayed runoff on the Snake River enough that flows are likely to be higher than expected.

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation projects that the release from Jackson Lake Dam will peak at 5,000 cubic feet per second around June 13. By the end of June the release will be scaled back to 2,800 cfs for the rest of the summer.

Those figures compare favorably to last year, when the release from the dam was approximately 5,600 cfs at its peak and 1,900 cfs for most of the season — even though snowpack was 120 percent of average.

Maintenance work on the dam, slated for this fall, requires a larger drawdown of the reservoir, said Mike Beus, bureau operations manager, who was in Jackson last night to explain the agency’s plan. The bureau will release an additional 75,000 acre feet of water — lowering the reservoir level by roughly 2.5 feet — to allow for dam gates to be worked on and concrete to be poured.

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Posted under Environment, Sports, Weather

Tags: grand teton national park, river running, snake river