JUNE 3, 2025 |
Photo – Medicine Bow Airport – Bigfoot99 file photo
The latest challenge to preserving the historic airport outside Medicine Bow is the strong smell of fuel. State intervention is now required.
The historic airfield was built in the 1920s and was well known to the aviation pioneers who developed air mail. Last year, Colorado pilot Nathan Finneman explained the significance of the town-owned airfield to the governing body of Medicine Bow. Finneman said the Medicine Bow Airport, which is located less than one mile south of town, features the best-preserved airmail directional arrow and outbuildings in the western United States. The Colorado pilot urged the council to preserve the century-old structures, before they are worn away by the elements.
Concrete arrows were used by the early airmail pilots, who flew close enough to the ground to see the structures. The directional markers at the Medicine Bow Airport, officially known as Site 32, helped guide pilots on the route between Salt Lake City, Utah and Omaha, Nebraska.
Speaking to Bigfoot99, Alliance for Historic Wyoming Executive Director Megan Stanfill described the many challenges airmail pilots faced while navigating the Medicine Bow route.
Audio PlayerSince its creation in 1929, important figures in aviation have landed at the Medicine Bow Airport, including Charles Lindbergh, Amelia Earhart, and Elrey Jeppesen, who helped create the system of aerial maps used by today’s pilots. Additionally, the airfield is listed on the National Park Service’s Register of Historic Places.
Earlier this year, the Medicine Bow town council took Nathan Finneman’s advice and reestablished an airport advisory board to oversee renovations to the historically significant airfield. Since that time, the Airport Advisory Board has been working with Alliance for Historic Wyoming and the State Historic Preservation Office to implement restoration plans. However, work has been slow because the advisory board is not a federally recognized charity organization.
Alliance for Historic Wyoming Executive Director Megan Stanfill said a tax-deductible 501(c)(3) may already exist for the Medicine Bow Airport. Although, Stanfill said, transferring ownership to the new Airport Advisory Board will take time.
Audio PlayerDuring the May 12th Medicine Bow Town Council meeting, Councilman Lee Cook, who serves as the town’s liaison to the Airport Advisory Board, said the Board is preparing to begin restoration work this summer. In the meantime, pilots landing at the airfield have reported a strong fuel smell.
Audio PlayerCouncilman Cook said no underground gas utility lines are known to exist in the area.
Councilwoman Kristi Wickizer asked Cook if he had physically examined the ground for signs of illegal dumping.
Wickizer, owner of the Old West Bar in Medicine Bow, said someone had dumped motor oil behind her business, requiring the fire department to remove sand from the area.
Audio PlayerPublic Works Director Brian Lashley said his team used metal detectors to locate a large underground tank at the airfield. Although its original purpose remains unclear, Lashley explained that any fuel inside should have evaporated long ago. The public works director compared the odor to natural gas or crude oil.
Audio PlayerCrude oil is often described as having a rotten egg or asphalt-like odor. Natural gas is normally odorless, but utility companies add mercaptan, a sulfur-based compound, to give it a distinct rotten egg smell for safety reasons, meaning that both hydrocarbon-based substances can have similar odors.
Public Works Director Lashley said the airport’s original plans do not show an underground fuel tank. Instead, aircraft fuel seems to have originated with a fuel truck stationed at the airfield.
Audio PlayerCouncilwoman Wickizer suggested contacting former Medicine Bow Rural Health Care District member Pat Burnett. The Councilwoman said in the past, Pat’s late husband, Wally, used the historic airfield.
Councilman Lee Cook said the Medicine Bow Airport has qualified for a Brownfields grant through the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality. Through the Brownfields Program, the state can perform a site assessment of the airfield at no cost to the town.
Audio PlayerThe Brownfields Program provides financial assistance to municipalities with abandoned or underutilized buildings that have known or suspected environmental contamination.
Councilman Cook said the Brownfields grant can also be used to determine if the original weather station contains any hazardous materials, such as asbestos. Additionally, by applying for state assistance, the Councilman said Medicine Bow would no longer be liable for any additional contaminants found at the airport.
Audio PlayerCouncilman Cook said representatives from Wyoming DEQ will reach out to the town to schedule the site assessment. Once the Brownfield assessment is complete, Airport Advisory Board volunteers will begin restoring the historic airport.