6 I The Lovell Chronicle I January 15, 2015
Gas retailers pleased as price of fuel plummets
BY DAVID PECK
As gasoline prices have
plummeted nationwide, the
effect has been felt here in
North Big Horn County,
too, and that plunge brings
a smile to local gas station
owners, even as they worry
about the effect on the local
economy.
Minchow's Service own-
er Jim Minchow said he re-
calls the price of unleaded
(regular) gas reaching as
high as $3.79 per gallon,
and the price was around
$3.49 a gallon about a
month and a half ago before
the plunge.
This week the price at
Minchow's and other local
stations and convenience
stores stood at $2.17 per
gallon, a drop of $1.32 in
the last five or six weeks.
Minchow said he's not
sure about the reasons for
the fall in prices nationally.
"You wonder if it's gov-
ernment controls or what-
ever," he said. "You hear
that the federal govern-
ment wants to increase the
federal gas tax or it's over-
seas - a way to force Russia
back in line because their
economy is so dependent
on gas and oil. Or maybe
it's ISIS. They were making
millions on the oil and you
wonder if it doesn't go along
with that.
"You wonder if it doesn't
have to do with the Key-
Gas prices have reached $2.18 in North Big Horn
County, following the national plunge in the price
of oil.
stone Pipeline, too. They
could say we don't need it
because there's plenty of
supply. Who knows? It's far
above our heads, but it's
nice when we get a load of
fuel that's a third to half
less than it was. People
seem to be enjoying it, be-
cause they should."
On the other hand,
Minchow said, a glut of oil
could mean reduced drill-
ing, leading to a slowdown
in the related bentonite in-
dustry, which could cost lo-
cal jobs.
"I worry about our econ-
omy with the bentonite," he
said, "the plants and strip-
ping and hauling. It could
shut that all down (if drill-
ing slows or ceases)."
Minchow said he real-
ly hasn't seen an increase
in business at his sta-
tion because of the time of
year. He said people may
have enjoyed Christmas
more if they had a few ex-
tra dollars in their pocket,
but with cold weather and
sometimes questionable
roads this time of year, peo-
ple aren't driving as much.
He said he hopes lower pric-
es will allow parents to follow
their kids to school activities
easier.
"With warmer weather
we'll see more travel," Min-
chow said. "Road conditions
haven't been good enough
to see if people will travel
more."
As of mid-week, the na-
tional average price of gas-
oline was $2.12 per gallon,
according to the American
Automobile Association,
and some areas are well
under $2, including South-
east Wyoming.
Asked why prices in
Northwest Wyoming are
higher, Minchow said west-
ern Wyoming is further by
pipeline from Southeast
Wyoming. Even Casper is
higher than Lovell right
now, he pointed out.
"We used to be able to
order our gas out of Casper
and save 12 to 13 cents per
gallon, but that's not the
case now," he said. "Plus,
shipping costs about 12 to
13 cents (per gallon) from
Casper, whereas Billings
gas is about 5 cents per gal-
lon to ship. Billings stations
pay a flat rate, and we pay
for distance and time for
the trucking."
Gas taxes factor into
the price, too, Minchow
said. He said there is a fed-
eral tax of 18.4 cents per
gallon, and the Wyoming
state tax is 23 cents per gal-
lon, plus 1 cent for storage
tank cleanup in the state.
Diesel has a higher federal
tax at 24.4 cents per gallon,
Minchow said, noting that
prices soared when the fed-
eral government required
refineries to take sulfur out
of diesel for environmental
purposes.
Minchow said gas sta-
tion owners are happy
when the price of fuel comes
down.
"It definitely does
(make him happy)," he said.
'Tou want to be fair to your
customers and treat them
right, and you want them to
get a good product. It makes
me happy when I don't have
to pay as much so I can pass
that on, and they're excit-
ed when they don't pay as
much.
"What dictates the price
is the product in stock. We
always average the price
between the gallons in the
tank and what the new
price is, whether it's up or
down."
Minchow said his sta-
tion buys gas from the
Exxon-Mobil refinery in
Billings.
Until a few months ago,
Minchow was able to resist
purchasing gas with eth-
anol in it, feeling that the
bio fuel is bad for engines.
But now he can only pur-
chase premium with no eth-
anol, so he is adding an ad-
ditive, Mix-I-Go, to his fuel,
which he said stabilizes the
fuel and add§ lubricity to
the fuel, which is good for
fuel pumps and injectors.
The additive also removes
moisture so the fuel burns
cleaner and provides better
gas mileage. But he said the
additive does add about 3
cents per gallon to the price
of gas.
Editor's note: The
Chronicle left a message for
Conoco Country Store own-
er Lisa Dickerson on Tues-
day, but she was unable to
return the call by press time.
4-
Bighorn Canyon proposing higher campground fees
Bighorn Canyon Na-
tional Recreation Area
is proposing a modifica-
tion to camping fees, be-
ginning in May of 2015.
This proposal is part of a
larger National Park Ser-
vice (NPS) effort that is
under way across the na-
tion. Parks are authorized
to change recreation fees
in 2015 to align with the
NPS's new standard fee
schedule, which was last
updated in 2006.
The proposed increase
will increase camping fees
for sites at Horseshoe Bend
with water and electrical
hook-ups, also known as
utilities sites, from $15 per
night to $20 per night. The
park is proposing a flat
rate of $10 per night for
the remaining front-coun-
try campsites, which are
available without water
and electricity at Horse-
shoe Bend, Trail Creek/
Barry's Landing, Afterbay
and Grapevine Creek. All
"boat in only" sites would
remain free of charge.
While other parks are
also looking at increas-
ing entrance fees, Bighorn
Canyon will not be in-
creasing these fees. Big-
horn Canyon entrance fees
will remain at the cur-
rent rates: Bighorn Can-
yon Daily Pass, $5, and
the Bighorn Canyon An-
num Pass, $30..The fees
for interagency passes will
be unchanged by this pro-
posal and will remain at
the current rates: Annual
Pass, $80; Lifetime Senior
Pass, $10; Lifetime Access
Pass, free; Annual Military
Pass, free.
More than 80 percent
of fee revenues are rein-
vested directly back into
Bighorn Canyon National
Recreation Area. Recently
funded projects include a
new historic ranch exhib-
it at the Bighorn Canyon
Visitor Center in Lovell
and improvements to the
amphitheater in the After-
bay Campground at Fort
Smith.
Future revenues from
the proposed modification
will be used to enhance
visitor services, including
maintenance of park facili-
ties, additional upgrades to
campgrounds, restoration
of historic buildings and
landscapes and additional
park interpretive and edu-
cational programs.
Bighorn Canyon will
be taking public com-
ments regarding the pro-
posal until Feb. 10, 2015.
Those who wish to com-
ment on proposed camp-
ground fee modification
may enter comments on-
line at the National Park
Service website Planning,
Environmental and Public
Comment Site (http://park-
planning.nps.gov) or may
mail comments to Chris-
tiann Tillman, Fee Coordi-
nator at Bighorn Canyon
NRA, P.O. Box 7458, Fort
Smith, MT 59035 or email
comments to christiann_
tillman@nps.gov.
Greenfield named assistant library director
The Big Horn County
Library Board and Director
Donna Capellen announced
the board has hired an as-
sistant director for the
Big Horn County Library
System.
Christina Greenfield of
Basin accepted this posi-
tion effective Dec. 1, 2014.
"Ms. Greenfield has
done an excellent job as
an employee with the Big
Horn County Library in
Basin. She has served as
the branch manager for
the last year and will con-
tinue to serve the library
in this position as well as
taking on the duties of the
assistant director. We wel-
come her and look forward
to serving with her," Ca-
pellen said.
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