Wyoming is one of the least religious states in the Union.

[2naSalit]

37. Part of that impact

is on the companies who come here and draw more "locals" to come and work, when the resource goes bust, so do all the jobs. Out here it's more of a transient sort of population, even for those who have generations of family here. The Native Americans were nomadic for a reason, to follow the food and shelter availability.

The ecosystems here also are far more fragile than most understand, the soil profile in many places is less than an inch deep and once scarred, can take centuries if it ever revives. The forests have been starving since we built the dams on the Columbia River and so they are dying of various ills from disease to pests, and all the other species suffer from this obstruction of nature. And from we humans, the most destructive force they are assaulted by with regular expansion.

People come here, to the National Parks and forests, and have NO CLUE as to where they are, what they need to know for their own safety and that it's not Disneyland or a petting zoo. It's pathetic how many come here to proudly display their willful ignorance as though we're too stupid to get it.

And then we have those folks from heavily populated states who start complaining about the less populous states having two Senators! WTF? The "big" states get plenty of members of the house to balance out the difference in population... (my state has one also and it's not Wyoming) seems there's a general confusion as to the roles of the two governing bodies of the Congress, but I digress.

People who know nothing about the rural west should really get some edumacation about that before making stupid, vapid comments about our mentality and worth. There are many well educated people here, we just don't like crowds so we pay the price of life in wilder places in order to be lessen our exposure to the masses. And here is a cost, I have to go at least 35 miles to a grocery store, the cheaper ones are 90 miles away, planning is a must, and I don't get high speed internet or more than three bars on my cell phone and fresh produce is expensive as are most food items and many services are something I have to travel to rather than them coming to me, but it's worth it to not hear sirens and planes and screaming street people, street lights and all the other woes of city life, however, I still expect to have the same freedoms of every other citizen with equal representation in the government.