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Running a predator over with a snowmobile will likely remain legal in much of Wyoming, although fines could come depending on how quickly the injured animal is killed. The details are specified in a draft bill recently moved further through the lawmaking process.
A state-appointed group of stakeholders and lawmakers formed this spring to create the Treatment of Predators Working Group to comb through Wyoming’s related laws. This was in direct response to an alleged wolf torture incident about half a year ago.
In early spring, news broke that a Sublette County man allegedly ran down a wolf with a snowmobile – which is legal in much of Wyoming. Videos and photos show that he took the live wolf to a local bar and a home. He was fined $250 for possession of a live predator by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD). Global outrage ensued, with demands for a higher punishment and reform to Wyoming’s laws to outlaw this kind of behavior.
So, the predator workgroup crafted a bill over the summer that they hope will help. In their final meeting this week, held over Zoom, they approved the draft language. It has a narrow focus that zeroes in on the timeliness of dispatching the injured animal and the penalties that could result.
If a person intentionally injures a predator, such as a wolf or coyote, via motorized vehicle, they must “immediately use all reasonable efforts to kill the injured or disabled predatory animal.” Otherwise, it would be considered “animal cruelty” amounting to a $1,000 fine.
Right now, animal cruelty laws don’t apply to predators in 85 percent of the state, with exceptions made for areas in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.
The new language from the proposed bill would change Wyoming’s Criminal Code.
The members of the group deliberated the bill over the course of two hours. They carefully sussed out the implications of each word, like “humanely.”
“It seems like one of those nebulous words that could mean a lot of things to different people,” said member Jessi Johnson who’s the government affairs director for the Wyoming Wildlife Federation.
Ultimately, they chose to nix the word from the bill. They also discussed broadening the language from just motorized vehicles and snowmobiles to any act injuring a predator.
“Because this in reference to a specific incident, and that incident had a snowmobile in it, we’ve been zeroing in on just vehicle-like abuse essentially,” said Johnson. “And I’m curious if there’s an appetite to take out the vehicle-specific stuff, just knowing that people can be creative in how we approach being bad.”
But, the group decided against it. The consensus was that broadening the language would take a lot of extra legwork to define “reasonable efforts to kill” for other types of predator management, like trapping or aerial gunning.
“Reasonable is different for that person on the ground on a snowmachine than it would be for somebody that’s in an airplane,” said member Brian Nesvik, outgoing WGFD director, in reference to aerial gunning of predators. “And is it reasonable then that the airplane has to go land if they know that the animal was wounded?”
About half an hour of the meeting was dedicated to public comment. Of the dozen or so people who voiced their opinions, all but Wyoming Farm Bureau Federation’s Director of Public Affairs Brett Moline, asked the group to go further with the changes. Specifically outlawing running over predators with snowmobiles. The practice is used for predator control amongst livestock producers, but also as a recreational sport or a form of hunting – often referred to as “coyote whacking.”
Wyomingite Cindy Campbell told the group that she’d like to see it be made a felony.
“If they’re folks in the ag business using a snowmobile to rundown, maim or kill an animal as part of their livestock operation, they need to stop this barbaric practice and learn how to properly use a firearm,” Campbell said.
The sentiment was echoed by Pinedale resident Kelly Ravner. In her testimony she referenced the Sublette County wolf incident.
“But what happened there needs to be made illegal with real penalties. The proposed change in fines would’ve had no effect at all on that particular case,” Ravner said. “That is just the definition of doing nothing.”
However, the group didn’t choose to include any language outlawing the snowmobile practice.
The draft bill was approved and will be considered by a larger group of lawmakers, the legislature’s Travel, Recreation, Wildlife and Cultural Resource Committee, at 1:30 p.m. in Cheyenne Sept. 30.
If approved by that committee, it’ll go before the entire legislative body in early 2025. If signed into law, it’ll be effective July 2025.
