CHEYENNE—Sophomore representative Andrew Byron’s appointment to chair the House Travel, Recreation, Wildlife and Cultural Resources Committee was a real honor.
The new authority also came with a readymade controversy.
In taking the helm at the outset of the session, Byron inherited a controversial bill set in motion by a Wyoming man’s decision to strike an adolescent wolf with a snowmobile, muzzle and collar it, then parade the badly wounded animal through a Sublette County bar for hours. Global outrage ensued and hadn’t abated last fall, when the previous configuration of the Travel, Recreation and Wildlife Committee signed off on a bill that explicitly sanctioned the practice of recreationally running over wildlife with snowmobiles but stiffened penalties for keeping struck, wounded animals alive.
Byron, a Republican whose district spans from southern Teton County into Lincoln County, didn’t like the proposal and he’d heard from many others who shared his misgivings.
“There were a lot of frustrations,” he told WyoFile. “None of the parties have come to me and said they were happy with the result.”
Using his new power as committee chair, Byron stymied the bill, keeping it in the metaphorical drawer (which, he said, “used to exist”). Then the real estate agent and fishing guide introduced his own, related measure, House Bill 275, “Treatment of animals,” which leadership referred to his committee.
The proposed law comes down hard on anyone who “knowingly, and with intent” causes “undue suffering, tortures, torments or mutilates any living wildlife, including predatory animals and predacious birds, after reducing the living wildlife to possession.” Such behavior would be classified as “felony animal cruelty” and carry penalties of up to six years in prison, loss of hunting and fishing privileges and forfeiture of equipment, including firearms and vehicles used in the act.
“I think we need to send a message loud and clear,” Byron said. “This was a big eyesore for the state. It was a big eyesore for sportsmen. It was an embarrassment.”
Notably, HB 275 does not propose any changes to statutes that allow for running over animals with snowmobiles or other motorized vehicles. The bill does, however, stipulate that snowmobilers who intentionally strike animals must “make a reasonable effort to immediately kill the injured or incapacitated animal.”
The proposal has already collected a diverse and powerful group of supporters. The all-Republican cast of cosponsors transcends the well-defined factions in the modern GOP, and include: Reps. Mike Schmid of La Barge, Daniel Singh of Cheyenne, J.D. Williams of Lusk, and Sens. Eric Barlow of Gillette, Lynn Hutchings of Cheyenne, Bill Landen of Casper, Tara Nethercott of Cheyenne and Jared Olsen of Cheyenne.
Landen chairs the Travel, Recreation, Wildlife and Cultural Resources Committee on the Senate side, which bodes favorably for the bill.
Prospects unclear
But whether HB 275 makes it into law depends largely on whether it is met favorably by the broader Wyoming Freedom Caucus and its Wyoming Senate allies, which enjoy majorities in their respective chambers of the statehouse. In the House, the first chamber the legislation must navigate, legislative leaders and the state Freedom Caucus, which sometimes issues recommendations, have yet to weigh in on the bill.
“There’s no directive to tell anybody how to vote on that,” said Rep. Chip Neiman, the Republican speaker of the House. “That is strictly each individual legislator’s responsibility.”
If a Freedom Caucus recommendation did emerge, it would not come until HB 275 reached the floor. When issued, bill recommendations are based on a measure’s “effect,” whether it’s “constitutional,” whether it’s “conservative” and whether it’s “fiscally responsible,” according to Rep. John Bear, a past chair of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus who now chairs the Legislature’s Joint Appropriations Committee.
“I’d say that’s kind of the hierarchy of how those recommendations come down,” Bear told reporters at a recent press conference.
Although legislation stemming from the wolf torture incident has not been a Freedom Caucus priority, Neiman, who lives across the state from Sublette County in Hulett, knows that the world is watching.
“There are outside entities that have got their eyeballs looking at Wyoming,” the House speaker told reporters.
Those parties, Neiman said, are watching to see how Wyoming responds: “Are [we] going to let this happen and walk away and turn a blind eye?” he said. “These guys [in the Legislature] are out here trying to figure out how we can really address it.”
Behind the scenes
The push for HB 275, dubbed the “Clean Kill Bill,” is backed by a newly formed advocacy group, Wyoming Sportsmanship, which is led by Jonah Energy vice president and flyfishing guide Paul Ulrich.
“This isn’t saying you can’t hunt a predator — of course you can,” Ulrich said in a press release. “But it is saying that when you take that animal, you will dispatch it as a sportsman — without torture, abuse and reprehensible actions.”
Josh Coursey, who leads the Muley Fanatic Foundation, and Marilyn Kite, a former Chief Justice of the Wyoming Supreme Court, are partnering with Ulrich on Wyoming Sportsmanship, which is a registered nonprofit. The group even assembled a video featuring footage of the tortured wolf to promote their proposal.
In December, the organization commissioned Cygnal to conduct a survey gauging what voters and various groups made of the legislation. There was strong support: 78% of Wyoming residents liked the proposed change. Two-thirds of respondents even said they’d be more likely to vote for a state legislator who supported the bill.
As of midday Friday, only HB 275 and House Bill 3, “Animal abuse-predatory animals” — which was developed between legislative sessions, but has been kept in Byron’s drawer — have been introduced in response to the wolf torture incident.
It’s highly likely that more are coming.
Byron’s heard of up to six different bills related to the incident that are being considered.
Bill to ban ‘biling’ over wildlife?
Schmid, the representative from La Barge and HB 275 co-sponsor, is bringing one aimed at the Wyoming pastime of hunting coyotes and other predators with snowmobiles.
“It should be out today,” Schmid told WyoFile on Friday morning. “All I’m trying to do is make it illegal to use any over-the-ground motorized vehicle — ATVs, side-by-sides, or snowmachines — as a weapon to maim or kill any wildlife, including predators, on public ground.”
The livestock industry has pushed to keep snowmobiling over animals legal.
“I’ve talked with a number of livestock producers across the state — in particular, sheep producers — who have said that they view it as one of their most effective tools,” Wyoming Stock Growers Executive Vice President Jim Magagna told WyoFile last year.
Magagna’s lobbying was effective while the “Treatment of Predators Working Group” was working up the legislation that became HB 3. Gov. Mark Gordon even intervened, telling the ad hoc panel to, “Punish unacceptable behavior and deter acts of animal cruelty without interfering with the ability to manage predators.”
Schmid, who’s a former Wyoming Game and Fish commissioner, will attempt to placate those concerns and “protect the private landowners and ranchers.”
“If they need to use a snowmachine to manage their stock and their operations,” he said, “they’re allowed to do that on their private lands.”
Schmid’s forthcoming bill is inspired by the ethical code he adheres to as an avid hunter.
“I hear, ‘Well, it’s just a coyote,’” Schmid said. “But it is a living creature and it deserves the same respect as a bull elk or an iconic mule deer buck. That’s my opinion.”
“I just believe that’s not a way to treat an animal,” he added. “This wolf incident brought it to light, and it’s time to make a change.”
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