Back to StoriesBill Would Redraw Lines Between Wyoming Trappers, Trail Users
“We’ve been fighting for this for 12 years,” said Lisa Robertson, president and cofounder of Wyoming Untrapped. The Jackson Hole-based trapping-reform nonprofit launched in 2012 when wolves were delisted and when dog-trapping incidents increased. "Over a decade later we’re finally getting a legislative bill that would be significant.”
February 13, 2025
Bill Would Redraw Lines Between Wyoming Trappers, Trail UsersLawmakers push to give wildlife officials authority to end unrestricted trapping on public lands
by Sophie
Tsairis
Wyoming's
wild west of trapping might finally get some boundaries. Last month, two
Republican lawmakers, Sen. Dan Dockstader (R)-Wyoming, and Rep. McKay Erickson
(R)-Wyoming, introduced Senate File 0139, aiming to give the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission
more muscle in deciding where trappers can and can't set their snares on public
lands.
“Trapping Requirements, Licenses, Seasons and
Setbacks” would modify Wyoming’s trapping regulations by expanding the Wyoming
Game and Fish Commission’s authority to establish trap setback specifications
on public and state lands, including creating no-trapping zones in heavily
recreated areas such as trailheads.
The bill
would remove the previous requirement for the commission to consult with other
entities before creating these rules, giving the agency more flexible
regulatory oversight. At the same time, the statute maintains existing
requirements for trapping, including permanently marking traps with owner
identification, prohibiting traps within 30 feet of exposed bait over five
pounds, and regularly checking traps and snares.
Wyomingites have long battled for the state
Legislature to regulate trapping as recreation on public and state land
continues to increase.
In some trapping cases, pets have been wounded or
killed by traps near populated trails and campgrounds.
In 2023, the Wyoming Supreme
Court ruled there is no legal recourse for pet owners if a pet gets caught or
killed in a trap. It's the owner’s responsibility, the ruling stated, not the
person who set the trap.
Wyoming currently
has no regulations on how close to a public trail hunters can set their traps. Craig Smith, deputy wildlife chief for the
WGFD, told Mountain Journal it’s unclear how often pets are injured or
killed by traps, but that it does happen.
“There are very few restrictions on where people can recreate
with their dogs and very few restrictions on where people can trap, so there is
overlap with both activities,” he said.
The statute passed the Wyoming Senate in a third reading on
February 5 and was received for introduction by the House the following day. Pending
House approval, it would allow the Game and Fish Commission to make rules and
regulations around where and when trapping is legal in the state.
“If it becomes law,” Smith said, “the commission
will develop rules to implement and define setbacks through an open public
process with the public and affected entities.”
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