Wyoming Lawmakers Decline Ban on Using Vehicles to Kill Predators

A proposed bill that would have made it illegal to intentionally strike predators with a vehicle on public lands failed to pass in the Wyoming House of Representatives, despite efforts to prevent a repeat of last year’s controversial wolf incident in Sublette County, Wyoming Public Media reports.

The bill, HB 331 – Taking of Predators on Public Lands, was introduced by Rep. Mike Schmid (R-La Barge). It aimed to prohibit the use of vehicles—including snowmobiles, ATVs, and side-by-sides—as weapons to kill wildlife on public land. Schmid argued that this measure would help Wyoming move past the global backlash following an incident in which a man ran down a wolf with a snowmobile and brought the injured animal into a bar.

“That issue has given my community, my county, and this state a black eye,” Schmid said. “Let’s let that black eye start to heal.”

While the bill focused on public lands and exempted private landowners, government wildlife management, and accidental vehicle collisions, it faced opposition from livestock groups. Some ranchers consider striking predators with vehicles a necessary management tool to protect livestock.

Schmid clarified that ranchers could still pursue predators using vehicles on public lands but could not use the machines to maim or kill them. Instead, they would have to shoot the animal rather than strike it.

However, critics of the bill pointed out that another animal cruelty bill, HB 275 – Treatment of Animals, was already advancing through the legislature. This bill increases penalties for acts of cruelty, including actions that cause undue suffering to wildlife.

Brett Moline, policy advocacy director for the Wyoming Farm Bureau, argued that HB 275 already addressed the core issue of inhumane treatment:

“Before you kill it, if you’re going to be chasing it with a vehicle, you will be in the harassing and intentional items that are in that bill.”

Despite Schmid’s efforts—including an attempt to add his bill’s language as an amendment to HB 275—HB 331 failed in committee. Committee Chairman Rep. Dalton Banks (R-Cowley) suggested that advancing HB 331 could be seen as a redundant effort after similar proposals had already been rejected.

Schmid, however, remains convinced that without a clear ban, the issue is far from settled.

“This is not going to go away,” he warned.

Meanwhile, HB 275, which increases penalties for animal cruelty without specifically banning the use of vehicles to kill predators, is expected to be considered by the Wyoming Senate in the coming weeks.