Forest Service, BLM officials say they can't ban 'yote whacking’

The BLM operates under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, which gives it no authority to manage wildlife, Purdy said. The only exception is wild horses, which the BLM is required to manage because of the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act.

The U.S. Forest Service agreed, pointing to the history of wolves’ protection under the Endangered Species Act. In Wyoming, that protection was lifted in 2017, turning management over to the state.

“The Wyoming Game and Fish Department has jurisdiction over wolves in Wyoming,” said Catherine McRae, national press officer for the Forest Service. “The Bridger-Teton National Forest has no wildlife management authority.”

In late April, environmental groups called on the federal government to ban people from killing wolves and other canines with snowmobiles, a practice known as “coyote whacking.”

Past attempts to get the Wyoming Legislature to ban the practice have failed.

But environmental groups have renewed their efforts to halt the practice following reports of wolf abuse in Wyoming where a Daniel man allegedly ran over a wolf with his snowmobile.

Kristin Combs, of Wyoming Wildlife Advocates, said the stance taken by the Forest Service and BLM is confusing considering that both agencies issue some rules related to wildlife, like prohibiting people from entering critical winter range. But the federal agencies’ decision to back out of the debate puts the responsibility for reform squarely on Wyoming, Combs said.

“If they say they’re not going to do that, it just leaves more and more of the onus on Wyoming to fix this problem,” Combs said.

In late February, Game and Fish charged Cody Roberts, a Daniel man, with illegally possessing a live wolf, which came with a $250 fine. Subsequent reporting has alleged that Roberts hit the animal with his snowmobile, disabled it, taped its mouth shut and brought it into the Green River Bar in Daniel before killing it.

The incident has spurred international outrage and led to calls for reforming Wyoming wolf policy, which classifies wolves as trophy game animals in the 15% of the state surrounding Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, and as predators in the remaining 85% of the state.

In that larger area, known as the predator zone, wolves can be killed with few restrictions, and no limit. In addition to wolves, Wyoming considers coyotes, jackrabbits, porcupine, raccoons, red fox, skunks and stray cats as predators. Running any of those animals over with a snowmobile is currently legal in the predator zone. The incident in Daniel has, however, spurred renewed calls for the state to act, both by banning ’yote whacking and by extending animal cruelty statutes to predators.

Whether Wyoming officials will act remains to be seen.

Sublette County is further investigating the incident, and Gov. Mark Gordon has assembled a group to talk about the incident and Wyoming wolf policy. The joint Travel, Recreation, Wildlife and Cultural Resources committee will talk wolf policy next week in Cody.

All attention will be on the Wyoming Legislature, which defines not only which species are “predators,” and how predators can be killed, but also where wolves are considered predators, when animal cruelty statutes apply to predators and fines for possessing live wildlife.

Game and Fish, meanwhile, regulates things like reporting when wolves are killed and how wolves can be hunted in the 15% of the state surrounding national parks where the Legislature deems the animals “trophy game.”

In the remaining 85% of the state where the Legislature deems wolves “predators,” the authority to manage wolves rests with the Wyoming Department of Agriculture.

This story was published on May 8, 2024.