"It brings a lot of new business and progress," lifelong Rock Springs resident Betty Petersen, a volunteer at a church-supported thrift store in the oldest block of downtown Rock Springs, said. "But it brings some bad things."

There's more demand for help with basic needs such as finding work clothing, food, a place to stay, medical care and child care. There's also more crime.

"Anytime you have quick growth in the economy, it brings with it a variety of social problems — drug use, alcohol abuse, child abuse," said Rodger McDaniel, director of the Wyoming Department of Family Services.

The Food Bank of Sweetwater County provided food assistance to 143 households of oil and gas workers over a one-year period in 2004 and 2005 — up from 72 the previous year. Crisis calls to the YWCA in Rock Springs increased from 1,511 from July to December in 2004 to 2,351 during the same six-month period in 2005.

The number of crimes in Sweetwater County increased 11 percent between 2002 and 2004.

"These people work hard and play hard," said Sweetwater County Sheriff David Gray.

Settled in the 1860s around a trading post, Rock Springs evolved into a livestock shipping point and mining town in Sweetwater County, a vast expanse that's larger than New Jersey and Delaware combined. Now, Rock Springs, the largest of six incorporated communities within Sweetwater County with about 19,000 residents, is the center of a large natural gas development in southwestern Wyoming.

Sweetwater County produced enough gas in 2004 to heat nearly all households in Chicago for a year. There is so much activity oil and gas companies are forced to bring in crews from out of state to man the rigs and work the fields, according to Bruce Hinchey, president of the Petroleum Association of Wyoming.

No one knows for sure how many workers have come from out of state, but the small Sweetwater County community of Wamsutter has seen its population grow from 247 people to about 1,200 in two years.

Amanda Rosenberg, executive director of United Way of Sweetwater County, said the greatest need occurs in the first two weeks between when someone starts a job and receives their first paycheck.

"It's a very tight time for them," Rosenberg said. "We even had agencies help individuals find a pair of steel-toed boots so they can go to work."

With plentiful jobs, the number of people needing long-term food stamps assistance has dropped, according to Pauline Carpenter, who supervisors food stamps, cash assistance and other benefits for the state Department of Family Services office in Rock Springs.

However, Carpenter said there is greater demand for medical assistance because company-supplied health care doesn't start right away for new workers.