A wolf’s inhumane treatment last winter has officially spawned a bill for lawmakers to consider during the Wyoming Legislature’s 2025 general session — though not the kind of draft legislation that many called for.
The Legislature’s Travel, Recreation, Wildlife and Cultural Resources Committee voted unanimously to advance Animal abuse-predatory animals at its Cheyenne meeting Monday afternoon. The bill, originally prepared by the Treatment of Predators Working Group, moves forward with language explicitly sanctioning the practice of running over species like coyotes and foxes with snowmobiles.
Amendments made Monday, however, enhance penalties for keeping animals alive after they’ve been struck and injured. Specifically, failing to “immediately use all reasonable efforts to kill” an animal crippled by a snowmobile or other motorized vehicle would be punishable by up to six months in jail, a fine of up to a $1,000 and the loss of hunting and fishing privileges for up to 3 years.
Rep. Liz Storer (D-Jackson) during the Wyoming Legislature’s 2024 budget session. (Ashton J. Hacke/WyoFile)
“In the end, we’re suggesting the committee sponsor a bill that would create an additional fine for something that is already illegal,” said Rep. Liz Storer (D-Jackson), who chaired the Treatment of Predators Working Group. (Storer also serves as president and CEO of the George B. Storer Foundation, which is a financial supporter of WyoFile. The foundation has no role in WyoFile’s editorial content.)
The group was convened in response to global outrage after Daniel resident Cody Roberts gravely injured a wolf with a snowmobile in late February, then kept it alive and paraded into a public bar. Roberts was fined only $250 — though steeper penalties were available — for illegal possession of warm-blooded wildlife.
Storer gave introductory remarks to the agenda item, during which she shared concerns relayed to the Treatment of Predators Working Group by the public. Under advisement from Gov. Mark Gordon and Travel, Recreation and Wildlife Committee Chairwoman Rep. Sandy Newsome (R-Cody), the group focused its deliberations on deterring animal cruelty “without interfering with the ability to manage predators.”
Effectively, the group was dissuaded from considering statutory changes that would criminalize the pursuit of running over wildlife with snowmobiles — a form of recreation in some corners of Wyoming.
Running down predator species is a necessary “tool” to protect livestock, longtime Wyoming Stock Growers Association lobbyist Jim Magagna testified Monday.
“After decades of managing predators, little by little we’re seeing attacks on the tools that we’ve used,” Magagna said. “We’ve lost several of those as a result of federal actions, and we simply cannot afford as an industry to lose more of the tools that we may need.”
Magagna supported the bill and two amendments that were successfully voted into the legislation during the Monday meeting.
One of those amendments, brought by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, narrowed the enforcement authorities of game wardens so that they wouldn’t also be saddled with enforcing animal cruelty statutes relating to domestic pets and livestock.
Allegations that a Wyoming man captured, tortured and killed a wolf have sparked outrage across the world and prompted a wave of social media posts. (collage by Tennessee Watson/WyoFile)
Another successful amendment initiated by Sen. Mike Gierau (D-Jackson) would give judges latitude to strip violators’ hunting and fishing privileges for up to 3 years. The point, he said, was to attempt to change behavior.
The committee took no action on another amendment. Suggested by Newsome and floated previously by the Wyoming Wildlife Federation, the proposal was to remove language from the bill related to running down predator species with motorized vehicles.
“While this behavior is already legal, the Federation feels that specifically defining this behavior into law codifies an odd and distasteful precedent into statute,” the Lander-based group posted on its social media channels.
Magagna had concerns, however. Removing the motorized vehicle language, he said, was “very troubling” because of the circumstances in which many predators are killed. Aerial gunning, trapping and other methods are used that would make it hard to “immediately use all reasonable efforts” to kill injured animals, Magagna implied. The Wyoming Wildlife Federation proposed bill language to address those concerns, but it landed on the cutting room floor, for now.
The Travel, Recreation and Wildlife Committee didn’t vote on the idea, though Newsome said it could be reintroduced during the Legislature’s general session, which begins Jan. 14. That’s in the cards, because the committee unanimously voted in favor of the bill proposing changes to Wyoming’s animal cruelty statutes.
A coyote runs from people chasing it on snowmobiles. Videos that show people running down wildlife while riding snowmobiles can be found online with relative ease. (YouTube screenshot)
It’s not the only bill emanating from the Sublette County wolf torture incident. Federal legislation is also being considered. Sponsored by Rep. Nancy Mace (R-South Carolina) and three southern-state congressmen, the Snowmobiles Aren’t Weapons Act would prohibit running over and killing wildlife with motorized vehicles on some classes of federal land.
Apart from a mention by Storer, committee members did not discuss the Treatment of Predators Working Group’s decision to explicitly clarify that running over animals with snowmobiles is legal in Wyoming.
Many members of the public, however, seized on the practice, questioning and condemning its legality. Rock Springs resident Madhu Anderson asked lawmakers about the definitions of components of the legislation, like the requirement to “immediately use all reasonable efforts” to kill crippled animals.
“How many times can an animal be run over before it’s considered illegal?” she asked lawmakers. “This ambiguity allows heinous acts of cruelty to persist, violating the fundamental principles of compassion toward animals.”
Sublette County resident Paul Ulrich also testified. Although a vice president with oil and gas producer Jonah Energy, he addressed lawmakers as an individual, questioning Wyoming statutes that allow predator species to be killed “in any manner” and suggesting they amend it.
“I believe [killing predators] in an ‘expeditious and humane manner’ is more reflective of the values of my great state,” Ulrich said.
A coyote in Wyoming’s Red Desert. (Lynn Hanson)
Ulrich did not testify specifically about running over animals with snowmobiles, but he clarified his views about it in an interview.
“I don’t believe it should be a legal practice in Wyoming,” he told WyoFile. “I do believe there are many effective ways to control and manage our predators, versus running them over with a snowmobile.”
The time is “ripe” to discuss and change parts of Wyoming’s predatory animal statutes, he said.
“Whether an animal is classified as a predator or not,” Ulrich said, “we should not have the ability to intentionally or knowingly injure or beat that animal unnecessarily.”
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