US. Department of 

Transportation 

Office of the Secretary 

of Transportation 

The Honorable Matthew H. Mead --

Governor, State of Wyoming 

State Capitol 

Cheyenne, WY 82002 

Dear Governor Mead: 

JUL 5 2012 

1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE 

Washington, DC 20590 

Thank you for your letter supporting the proposal submitted by the Casper/Natrona County 

International Airport for a grant under the U.S. Department of Transportation's Small· 

Community Air Service Development Program. 

The Small Community Air Service Development Program was established to help smaller 

communities address air service deficiencies, particularly issues related to high airfares or 

insufficient service. Under the statute, the Department may make a maximum of 40 grant 

awards each year, although no more than 4 awards may be to communities in the same State. 

In order to provide communities with latitUde in developing solutions to their air service 

deficiencies, the statute provides flexibility in the types of projects that can be funded. 

On May 15, the Department issued an order requesting that communities interested in receiving a 

grant this year file their applications by June 11. As these grant requests are pending before the 

Department, I cannot comment on the merits of any particular proposal. I assure you that the 

Department will give full and fair consideration to all proposals that have been properly filed. 

As is our normal practice, I am placing a copy of your letter and this response in Docket 

DOT-OST-2012-0069 as a contact outside the record of this matter. I appreciate your interest in 

this program. 

Sincerely yours, 

~~ Aloha Ley 

Associate Director 

Small Community Program 
,),UTH<::W i-1. :'.lE:\0 

:X:A ERNOR STATE CAPITOL 

CHEYENNE. WY \12002 

June 8, 2012 

Delivered via email: aloha.ley@dot.gov 

Aloha Ley 

Associate Director 

U.S. Department of Transportation 

Small Community Program, Order: 2012-5-8 

Docket DOT-OST-2012-0069 

1200 New Jersey Ave, SE 

Washington, DC 20590 

Dear Associate Director Ley: 

I write you in support of the Casper/Natrona County International Airport's Small Community 

Air Service Development grant application. I believe the Airport's grant request addresses all 

pertinent issues, including three important projects to which the grant funding will be directedthe development of a marketing plan, a promotional program to support existing and additional 

air service for-several markets (Casper/Denver,. Casper/Salt Lake City;· Casper/Las Vegas), and a 

promotional program to support air service for a new market (Casper/Phoenix). The city of 

Casper serves as Wyoming's geographic center and is a hub for energy industry, making air 

service to and from Casper vital. 

From a State perspective, air service is essential to support growth in Wyoming- both 

population growth and economic growth. It is essential to support our major industries, for 

example, energy and tourism, and to support efforts for economic diversification. And, it is 

essential for those travelling for business or leisure to and from our state. Wyoming is very large 

- the 1 O'h largest state by size, which makes air service especially important 

Wyoming's population grew 14.1% percent from 2000-2010, according to the last census, and 

we expect such growth to continue. We are working hard to continue on a path of economic 

growth, development and diversification here. 

Wyoming continues to provide support for commercial airpot1s. We look forward to the 

opportunity to partner with the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Casper community on 

') 
Aloha Ley, Associate Director 

· U.s. Depanl11ent of Transportation .-,:Jtme 8, 2012 

Pagec2--

the SmaJl Community Air Service grant program, as we continue to develop and support commercial air service in Wyoming. 

Sincerely, 

<----~-: -~~/ Matthew H. Mead 

Governor 

lVIHM:md 

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