Gov. Mark Gordon

Occasionally, I am asked to consider any unfinished business of my tenure as governor. My heart always comes back to our people. While the work of building strong communities, preserving our natural resources, and diversifying our economy will continue to be important, our next chapters must also be about saving lives.

As a second-generation Wyoming rancher, I know what it means to face a harsh winter. But the quiet crisis of mental health and despair that has hung over our communities has taken far too many of our neighbors, our friends, and tragically, our children. As we mark Suicide Awareness and Prevention Month, it is clear that while we have made progress, our most critical work is still ahead of us — all of us.

For generations, the independent spirit of the West has been anchored by an unspoken rule: Buck up, pull yourself up by your bootstraps. 

But true Western strength is not only about that; it is about helping oneself and looking out for one another. To truly be strong — together, we must embrace an honest truth: None of us is invincible. It’s OK to not be OK.

True to our nature, ranchers know to ask for help from loved ones when it is time for branding. We must also recognize when other life predicaments warrant help, teamwork, and connectedness.

Through our WY We Care Initiative, we learned through hard data what works to reduce suicides. It boils down to fundamental human connection:

• Silence isolates. Open conversation heals. The WY We Care Survivors Campaign lifts up the voices of Wyomingites who have been there. We witness that recovery is achievable, shattering the false myth that talking about suicide creates more risk. Together, we are breaking the stigma and making it safe to ask for help. 

• Proactive Outreach: We cannot wait for someone to be in an emergency to offer assistance. Reaching people in positive ways — where they live, work, worship, and go to school — connects people, keeps us aware of how they’re doing, and strengthens communities. Being proactive also enables us to recognize sooner when people are struggling.

• A Wyoming Voice: 988 Lifeline: By securing the necessary funding to maintain full, 24/7 in-state answering capabilities, we have ensured that calling or texting the 988 Lifeline no longer routes our people to out-of-state call centers. It guarantees immediate, confidential connection to a local Wyoming voice who genuinely understands our way of life.

Lincoln County pioneered a grassroots model that achieved a historic 60% reduction in suicide across the 2021–2024 window. Local Prevention Director Brittany Ritter proved that talking about mental health and suicide shift the culture and saves lives. A cornerstone of the "Lincoln County Method" was the proactive commitment in 2022 to embed evidence-based PROSPER protocols into the community. This framework provides an actionable, highly usable format to identify those at risk and teach them how to help themselves and each other. 

Crucially, Lincoln County recognized that protecting our youth requires commitment.

Both school districts across Lincoln County stepped up to mandate intensive crisis training for their middle and high school personnel. In communities like Kemmerer, they pushed the perimeter of safety even further, ensuring that the students across the middle and high schools were also trained to recognize peers in crisis, ask direct questions, and safely involve a trusted adult.

Building on Lincoln County's community initiative, the PROSPER Project has targeted four of our most forward leaning counties: Sweetwater, Sublette, Washakie, and Natrona. To date, reaching statewide through online and in-person formats, over 4,000 Wyoming citizens have been trained to act as an immediate frontline safety net, including trainings within faith-based communities, students, parents, educators and first responders.

Wyoming’s national heroes support each other and civilians

Typically, the suicide rate for our veterans has run at nearly double the state baseline. To combat this, our nationally recognized Veterans Talking to Veterans (VTTV) program, a pillar of my mental health roadmap, trains veterans and their spouses as certified peer coaches. While this program was built on the unshakeable bond of shared military storytelling, the VTTV fellowship has also extended its reach to civilian populations. Recognizing that the invisible wounds of trauma are not exclusive to the battlefield, our veteran coaches are actively taking their trauma-informed training into the wider community to first responders, emergency workers, and neighbors in crisis.

Our state's overall numbers remain stubbornly high. That is the unfinished business that keeps me up at night. The tide is turning because of our dedicated local community volunteers and leaders, our brave VTTV coaches, and the thousands of folks trained. We will keep riding for the brand, and we will keep fighting for every Wyoming life.