Ban on chasing, striking Wyoming’s wildlife with snowmobiles rejected again

CHEYENNE, Wyoming (WyoFile) — A continued push to end a brutal form of motorized over-snow hunting did not gain traction with Wyoming lawmakers studying bills ahead of the 2026 legislative session, despite a Sublette County incident that shined an unprecedented spotlight on the practice and multiple nominations for a ban.

The idea of prohibiting the use of snowmobiles to kill fleeing wildlife appeared twice on the list of proposed topics that were considered by the Legislature’s Travel, Recreation, Wildlife and Cultural Resources Committee.

“Such conduct is cruel, unsportsmanlike, and damages Wyoming’s reputation as a responsible manager of wildlife,” stated an idea submitted by Rep. Karlee Provenza, a Laramie Democrat. “A vehicle should never be used as a weapon against wildlife.”

Rep. Mike Schmid, a La Barge Republican who tried twice at a ban during the Legislature’s most recent general session, likewise submitted an idea to study ending the practice of “predator whacking.” Schmid’s proposal — like his failed bill — included a concession to the livestock industry. Specifically, his proposal was for a bill prohibiting the use of vehicles as a weapon to intentionally kill wildlife on public land, so that woolgrowers and cattlemen could continue running over coyotes and other predators on private land to protect their herds — a tactic they say they need.

Recently, in the wake of committee-sponsored bills dying at historically high rates, the Legislature revamped its interim topic selection process. Now there are fewer interim meetings, and committee chairs — not the body’s Management Council — get the final say over what topics to study during the 10 or so months between legislative sessions. Up against two dozen other ideas, Provenza’s and Schmid’s proposals to take a long look at a form of Wyoming recreation that’s been targeted even at the federal level were not selected.

“That didn’t even come close to rising to the top,” said Rep. Andrew Byron, a Hoback Junction-area Republican who co-chairs the Travel, Recreation, Wildlife and Cultural Resources Committee with Casper Republican Sen. Bill Landen. “We had our committee members rank their priorities.”

If snowmobiling over wildlife rose into the top 10 prioritized ideas, Byron might have hand-picked the topic for interim study, he told WyoFile.

“But it was not,” he said.

There was a Feb. 26 meeting where lawmakers, lobbyists and members of the public pitched interim ideas to the committee. Schmid did not speak in support of his proposal during the gathering.

Provenza deferred to a co-signer of her idea: Kristin Combs, who directs the Wyoming Wildlife Advocates.

“Our values in Wyoming are one way, and our laws are another,” she told lawmakers. “I think that it’d be really great for the committee to take a look, a deep dive.”

At the time, Combs praised a bill brought by Byron that stiffened penalties for keeping crippled predators alive — a measure that was a direct response to an infamous February 2024 incident where Daniel resident Cody Roberts brought a juvenile wolf badly injured by a snowmobile into a bar.

That legislation became law, but it does not criminalize the act of running over animals with snowmobiles — it does, however, specify that animals must be swiftly dispatched after being struck.

A prior, related bill that emerged from a subset of the committee — the “Treatment of Predators Working Group” — died after language clarifying that it’s in fact legal to run over wolves, coyotes and other predators in Wyoming incited outrage.

Without success, Wyoming lawmakers have been pushing to prohibit recreationally running over animals with snowmobiles for many years. Rep. Mike Yin, a Jackson Democrat, sponsored a bill in 2019, though it did not get as far as a committee hearing. Later that year, Yin tried to convince the Travel, Recreation, Wildlife and Cultural Resources Committee to take up the topic, but the idea fell flat.

Six years later, the proposal got the same response — even after the state’s legal embrace of the practice attracted global ire.

While it’s clear a committee bill will not come out of the interim session, Schmid, Provenza or a coalition of lawmakers could still bring a personal bill during the Legislature’s 2026 session. It will face longer odds of becoming law because it’s a budget year, requiring all non-budget bills to earn two-thirds support for introduction.

Although recreationally snowmobiling over wildlife is likely to remain part of Wyoming for the foreseeable future, a discussion about its legality is something that needs to happen, Wyoming Wildlife Federation Government Affairs Director Jess Johnson told WyoFile in a text message.

“Statute is one of the ways we as Wyoming present ourselves to the world, and to each other — it is important that the optics match the ethics I know most Wyoming citizens and hunters have,” Johnson said. “We also must be willing to be at the table and listen to our neighbors in agriculture and their needs.”

There’s no clear solution just yet, she added.

“But something needs to change,” Johnson said, “and we need to do it thoughtfully, creatively, collaboratively and in the spirit of the Wyoming we want to see into the future.”