THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2018 108TH YEAR/ISSUE 10 COUNTY WANTS DRUG SMUGGLER’S FORMER RANCH million he’d earned from shut- FISHERMEN tling 3,000 kilograms of cocaine from the Bahamas to Florida. OBJECT Federal prosecutors indicted Bost on drug charges in 1989, BY CJ BAKER AND MARK DAVIS but Bost began going by the Tribune Staff name “Allen Stewart” and au- thorities were unable to find ark County commission- him. ers may ask the governor According to a federal judge’s Pto hand over 657 acres of summary of the case and media state land in Clark. reports from the time, local At a December meeting, com- Bureau of Land Management of- missioners said they would like ficials began taking a hard look to acquire the former Beartooth at “Stewart” in 1996 when he ap- Ranch — which federal authori- plied for grazing permits as both ties seized from a drug smug- Bost and Stewart. gler roughly two decades ago BLM personnel had also — and some commissioners sug- noted “continuing problems gested selling the property to a with missing signs, fencing, and private owner. blocking a state right-of-way “I think we should pursue onto the … property for public it and try to get that ranch fishing,” U.S. District Court released and deeded to Park Judge Alan Johnson wrote in a County and then we can sell later ruling. it and it can become an ac- Park County Sheriff Scott tive ranch paying property Steward became involved in the taxes again,” Commissioner investigation and worked with Tim French said at a December U.S. marshals, in part because meeting. he’d spoken with “Stewart” on a However, Commission Chair- traffic stop. man Loren Grosskopf said Steward and another officer Wednesday that he’d rather spent months surveilling the “see it in the public hands so Tom Reed, East Yellowstone Chapter of Trout Unlimited president, and Tim Wade, owner of North Fork Anglers in Cody and Trout Unlimited ranch and eventually spotted we could use it” and that the lifetime member, fly fish the Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone River near the Beartooth Ranch, also known as the ‘drug ranch.’ Park County Bost, helping marshals arrest ranch’s ownership isn’t the commissioners want the state to give the property to the county — an idea that Reed and Wade oppose. Tribune photo by Mark Davis him on the ranch in July 1996. county’s real concern with the Over the coming years, the ranch. removed — and to then transfer Commissioners generally ap- the county. The group’s letter A COCAINE SMUGGLER’S federal government seized hun- “It’s in deplorable condition. the property’s ownership to proved the letter at their Jan. says the county’s request ap- TREASURE dreds of thousands of dollars We only want someone to man- Park County “unrestricted,” 16 meeting, but wanted to run it pears to be “nothing more than a Somewhat ironically, a dis- worth of cash and assets from age it and return it to productive though “while retaining public by Park County Attorney Bryan land grab.” pute over fishing access at the Bost — including the ranch. use,” Grosskopf said. easements.” Skoric and make some further “I’ve been contacted by many Beartooth Ranch played a part For its help, the Sheriff’s Of- The commission has drafted Commissioners say the ranch tweaks. members, some rarely heard in the property falling into gov- fice initially received $140,000, — but not yet sent — a letter to has fallen into “extreme disre- In the meantime, East Yel- from; they are unilaterally ernment hands. which included proceeds from Gov. Matt Mead. It would ask pair” under state management, lowstone Chapter of Trout opposed to the transfer of the Stewart Allen Bost, a boat a home Bost had owned in Colo- Mead to work with Wyoming’s citing vandalism to ranch build- Unlimited leaders sent commis- property to the county,” said captain, bought the Clark prop- rado. Then, after Bost got out Congressional delegation to ings and the costs of controlling sioners and Gov. Mead a letter East Yellowstone Chapter of erty in September 1987. Federal of prison in 2000, locals spotted have various federal restric- weeds on the property each last week, “adamantly” object- Trout Unlimited President Tom authorities say he financed the tions on the Beartooth Ranch year. ing to the ranch being given to Reed. purchase with upwards of $1.35 See Ranch, Page 8 College partnering A CELEBRATION FIT FOR SUPERHEROES With state help, hospital raises with By Western money for new Hands in Cody ambulance BY ILENE OLSON After two years of work, the Tribune Staff Writer Powell Medical Foundation has reached its goal of raising fforts to sustain existing enough money to buy a new Western artisans and ap- ambulance for Powell Valley Eprentice new ones are Hospital. picking up in Park County — in- The State Loan and Invest- cluding through a new program ment Board approved a $68,250 being developed at Northwest grant for the vehicle on Jan. 18. College. The foundation began rais- Western functional art has a ing money for the ambulance long history in the Cody area, DENNIE in February 2016, raising beginning most notably with HAMMER $82,150 from donors toward the saddle maker, leather and silver $150,400 cost of the ambulance. worker Edward Bohlin and furniture maker Thomas Foundation executive direc- Molesworth, both of whom helped develop and define tor Jennifer Tippetts said she the Western style in the early 1900s. attended the SLIB meeting in Along the way, they and other talented artisans Cheyenne to answer any ques- employed some of the people who would follow in tions about the application. The their footsteps — who then trained additional up-and- SLIB board — comprised of the coming craftsmen. state’s top five elected officials But many of today’s Western artisans are nearing — made no comments, but voted retirement, and there aren’t enough people trained to unanimously in favor, she said. take their place. The Park County Commission To help address that need, the organization By wrote a letter of support for the Western Hands is partnering with Northwest Col- grant in September. lege to develop apprenticeship programs that will The current ambulance, pur- provide a path for people to become skilled Western chased in 2000, is the oldest artisans and craftsmen. Artisan mentors would work Powell students celebrated their 100th day of the school year on Wednesday with a variety of activities. Ryleigh of the four within the Powell Hutzenbieler and fellow kindergartners at Southside Elementary School wore superhero costumes for the See Artisans, Page 2 occasion. For more photos, see Page 13. Tribune photo by Mark Davis See Ambulance, Page 3 Public input sought on future of cutthroat trout BY MARK DAVIS Yet at times it seemed more department’s successes, such as Tribune Staff Writer like the Game and Fish extend- with managing beaver, elk and ing an olive branch. antelope. ocal Wyoming Game and “We can do better. We can do “They are part of the incred- Fish Department fisheries better serving the people who ible success stories that we have Lmanagers brought out the are the owners of in our past,” Tal- big guns for a meeting with the [the state’s] wild- bott said. “We’re public Monday — including hir- life. That’s what ‘We want your pretty good bi- ing professional facilitator Tara tonight is about. ologists. But we Kuipers to run the meeting and It’s about going help in identifying need your help on bringing up department director back to what we where we’re going [serving the pub- Scott Talbott from Cheyenne. really need to be lic]. That’s what The Cody meeting was billed doing as an agen- to go next.’ we call the art as a conversation with concerned cy. We need to find of wildlife man- citizens about the department’s balance between Tara Kuipers agement: The conservation efforts for Yellow- serving wildlife Facilitator science is often stone cutthroat trout. and serving [the fairly easy; the art “This is truly the beginning of public],” said Sam Hochhalter, is much more difficult.” a conversation. We are starting Wyoming Game and Fish De- Talbott has been pushing for tonight. We want your help in partment Cody Region fisheries communication with the state’s identifying where we’re going to supervisor. residents in many topics. The Greg Mayton, aquatic invasive species regional specialist for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, go next,” Kuipers said in guiding In introducing the meeting, leads a discussion group during a Monday night meeting on cutthroat trout conservation at the Park the meeting. Talbott pointed to many of the See Trout, Page 3 County Library in Cody. Tribune photo by Mark Davis INSIDE ♦ TRAPPERS UPSET GILLETTE: PAGE 9 ♦ CELEBRATING 100 DAYS: PAGE 13 PAGE 2 • POWELL TRIBUNE THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2018 Artisans: ‘A pretty bold undertaking’ Continued from Page 1 do this, let’s require them to do some business classes, because with students to provide hands- I wish I’d had some.’” on instruction on design and “Once you become a crafts- techniques, while NWC would man, you really need to know provide educational elements. how to keep your books, track By Western Hands is a Cody- your time and general business based nonprofit with a sole ethics,” he said. focus of promoting Western Haston said the apprentice- functional art — works that can ship program will start out range from furniture to saddles, small, with just a few students, beadwork to metalwork and to make sure it’s running cor- beyond.