Apparently, in Wyoming, if you’re an animal and hear the distant buzz of a snowmobile engine, you’d better lace up your running shoes. The latest report from WyoFile details how the state legislature’s refusal—once again—to consider a ban on using snowmobiles as fast-moving, over-snow weapons against wildlife has left this practice unchallenged. This isn’t hyperbole: according to WyoFile, the “sport” (if you call it that) of chasing down and striking predators like coyotes and wolves with snowmobiles remains not only practiced but stubbornly defended as a Wyoming tradition.
When “Recreation” Involves Running Things Over
As WyoFile documents, the scene reads more like a throwback to the wilder corners of the frontier than a modern wildlife management debate. Rep. Karlee Provenza, a Democrat from Laramie, flagged the practice as “cruel, unsportsmanlike, and damages Wyoming’s reputation as a responsible manager of wildlife,” language submitted in support of the idea to study a possible ban. For those keeping score, these opinions aren’t exactly niche; the idea that vehicles and wildlife shouldn’t mix—at least not at 50 mph and with snow flying in all directions—is echoed widely outside Wyoming.
WyoFile notes that the state legislature’s Travel, Recreation, Wildlife and Cultural Resources Committee, faced with over two dozen legislative study ideas, dismissed the proposal to consider a ban on striking wildlife. Rep. Andrew Byron, the committee’s co-chair, explained to the outlet that the topic “didn’t even come close to rising to the top.” Imagining the list of priorities—tax loopholes, water rights, and, somewhere near the bottom, “maybe stop running wildlife over with snowmobiles”… well, the optics are at least curious.
Predator “Whacking:” A Wyoming-Style Loophole
Context is everything, and in Wyoming, context tends to mean livestock. Livestock producers have long argued that these tactics are necessary to protect herds from predators. WyoFile describes how Rep. Mike Schmid, a Republican from La Barge, submitted a proposal for a bill that would ban the use of vehicles as weapons against wildlife on public land—while still allowing ranchers to run over coyotes and other predators on private land. Schmid’s idea, like Provenza’s, was among those the committee chose not to study further.
As detailed by WyoFile, this rejection follows a long history of similar failures. Efforts to prohibit recreationally running over animals with snowmobiles have gone nowhere for years: back in 2019, Rep. Mike Yin of Jackson sponsored a bill and attempted to push the topic in committee, but saw it stall before even receiving a hearing. The same outcome played out this year—even after an infamous 2024 incident in which a Daniel resident brought a snowmobile-injured wolf into a bar, drawing global outrage and federal attention. The only resulting change in law, according to WyoFile, stiffened penalties for keeping crippled predators alive, not for striking them in the first place; animals now, if injured in this manner, must be dispatched swiftly, for whatever that’s worth.
When “Optics” and “Ethics” Diverge
During the February interim meeting, Kristin Combs of Wyoming Wildlife Advocates, who co-signed Provenza’s proposal, commented in the hearing, “Our values in Wyoming are one way, and our laws are another,” a point WyoFile attributes to her public address. Combs encouraged the committee to take a “deep dive” into the state’s approach to wildlife management. The inconsistency between Wyoming’s values and its laws remains a central thread, as WyoFile highlights.
Jess Johnson, Government Affairs Director for the Wyoming Wildlife Federation, conveyed to WyoFile via text message that “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 added that while there is no clear solution just yet, it’s apparent that “something needs to change,” calling for “thoughtful, creative, collaborative” action and a focus on the kind of Wyoming residents want to see in the future.
Committee priorities, meanwhile, have become even more selective since recent changes gave committee chairs greater power in deciding study topics. WyoFile reports that unless a ban on snowmobile-predator collisions rises to the top of lawmakers’ agenda, it’s unlikely to see traction—especially with personal bills facing steep odds during budget session years.
The Peculiar Intersection of Snowmobile, Predator, and Policy
As the outlet details, there’s a certain irony to Wyoming’s legal landscape: the state managed to pass a law requiring the “swift dispatch” of predators run down by snowmobiles, yet sidesteps any debate on whether hitting them with vehicles should be legal in the first place. Videos showing these pursuits can be easily found online, according to WyoFile, further illustrating just how public and normalized this practice has become.
Despite continued advocacy from within Wyoming—ranging from wildlife advocates to hunting groups—the tradition of over-snow predator control remains stubbornly resistant to legislative change. The report notes that conversations about reform are happening, with calls for compromise and thoughtful discussion, but for now, nothing substantive is moving forward.
Full Speed Ahead—But to Where?
Until something changes legislatively, Wyoming’s wildlife will just have to keep one ear tuned for engine noise. Whether the next legislative session finally nudges things toward debate, or whether this practice remains entombed in tradition, remains uncertain.
Is there room, tucked somewhere amidst the snowdrifts and sagebrush, for meaningful compromise? Or is this simply the Wyoming way: old habits firmly snowbound, legislative reform left idling in the garage? For now, at least, the spectacle continues—full throttle.
