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List of Wyoming Natural Resources

Wyoming is the most sparsely populated state in the United States, with only 515,000 people, but its vast reserves of coal and natural gas make Wyoming a leading producer of fossil fuel energy. With the rise of renewable energy and conservation initiatives, however, Wyoming is taking advantage of its wind as a resource. It is also working to preserve the unspoiled grasslands covering much of the state.

Coal
- Wyoming produces about one-third of the nation's coal
  
  About one-third of all the coal burned in the nation's power plants comes from Wyoming's Powder River Basin. About 75 million years ago, the area was covered with swamplands. Fossil fuels produced by those ancient swamps now are under layers of soil and rock, 100 feet or more below the surface. The Black Thunder Mine in the Powder River Basin produces more than 90 million tons of coal ever year, making it the country's largest coal mine, according to the Center for Land Use Interpretation.
Natural Gas
- A natural gas-powered stove
  
  According to Fortune Magazine, Wyoming could power the entire country for one year with the estimated 24 trillion cubic feet of natural gas beneath its surface. Unlike most natural gas, located on top of oil deposits, Wyoming's natural gas is trapped in pockets formed in sandstone and coal, thousands of feet below the Earth's surface. Wyoming's natural gas provides a significant amount of fuel to Utah, Nevada, Kansas, and Missouri and California.
Wind
- Commercial wind farm
  
  On Earth Day 1999, Wyoming's first commercial wind energy facility began operation. The facility, Foote Creek Rim, is the largest in the intermountain West and is one of the most reliable wind farms in the country, producing an average of 43 percent of its peak power year-round. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, several other sites in Wyoming have been identified as having outstanding potential for superb wind energy potential, while even more of the state's area is classified as having fair to excellent potential.
Grasslands
- Grasslands cover 20 percent of Wyoming's land area
  
  While grassland ecosystems in much of the country have been destroyed or altered, healthy grasslands cover about 20 percent of Wyoming's land --- totaling 19,600 square miles of mixed-grass and shortgrass praries. Wyoming's grasslands support a variety of wildlife, including the black-tailed prarie dog, swift fox, and Upland sand piper. In the past, wild bison roamed the grasslands, creating shifting patches of high-intensity grazing. Today, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department reports some domestic livestock producers are using innovative techniques to replace the bison's impact on the grassland ecosystem.

Nature