Last winter, protestors packed committee meetings after lawmakers proposed a constitutional amendment to allow the state of Wyoming to take over management of federal lands. Republican Senator Larry Hicks supported the idea, but he was open to other options. So, he reached out to Shane Cross and the Wyoming Wildlife Federation and challenged them to come with a compromise.

As part of her series, “I Respectfully Disagree,” Wyoming Public Radio’s Melodie Edwards sat down with Senator Hicks at the dining table of Wyoming Wildlife Federation President Shane Cross on his ranch near Douglas. Hicks said, there is one thing they do agree on: forever protecting access to Wyoming’s wild places.

Join us next Friday, December 15, for a special edition of Open Spaces when Melodie Edwards travels to Gillette to break bread and talk to people on all sides about the coal layoffs, hate speech and divisiveness they’ve been struggling with there.