Governor of Wyoming Files Bankruptcy Petition

Gov. Ed Herschler has filed a bankruptcy petition, seeking court protection while he devises a repayment plan for more than $9 million in debts.

A petition filed Friday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court listed Herschler’s debts at $9.4 million and assets at $7.52 million, said Alvin Wiederspahn, Herschler’s lawyer.

The assets included a pending $7.5-million claim against a former business partner, and about $18,000 in property, bank accounts and insurance policies, said Wiederspahn. He had put the assets at $9.4 million, but later said he misread the papers.

In filing the paper, Herschler sought protection from creditors under Chapter 11 of the Federal Bankruptcy Act.

The petition listed 13 creditors, among them Herschler’s three partners in a failed cattle ranch that was sold for $1.9 million during a bank foreclosure sale in April.

The bankruptcy filing was the direct result of financial difficulties associated with the ranch, Wiederspahn said Saturday.

The ranch began causing Herschler financial problems in 1981, and he had paid out most of his assets, about $550,000, in trying to settle his debts, Wiederspahn said.

Herschler, a Democrat in a largely Republican state, has been one of Wyoming’s most popular governors and is serving an unprecedented third term in office. He was not available for comment Saturday.

Herschler’s partners in the 18,500-acre Yellowstone Ranch, about 20 miles east of Lander, were Howard T. Carroll, Don Anselmi and Richard Shanor.

The ranch, bought by the four partners in 1976, has been the source of several lawsuits that sought $2.5 million in allegedly unpaid loans.

Herschler blamed the ranch’s financial difficulties on a failed $1-million cattle deal.