Wyoming should ban using snowmobiles to run down predators, wildlife advocates demanded during a Wednesday morning rally in Washington, D.C., that was sparked by international outrage over the torture and killing of a wolf in Daniel.
“Do we stand by while the defenseless suffer, or do we take a stand for compassion and justice?” Wyoming Wildlife Advocates Executive Director Kristin Combs asked the crowd gathered for the “A Cry For The Wild” rally early Wednesday.
Combs, along with others from Wyoming, was instrumental in organizing the rally, which is part of an ongoing movement to reform wolf management policy in the Cowboy State and across the nation.
About 150 people from Wyoming and several other states attended the rally in person, and about the same number viewed as it was livestreamed.
‘Wolf Whacking’
The tone of the event contrasted some of the discussion Tuesday during a meeting in Lander of the Wyoming Legislature’s Treatment of Predators Working Group.
During that meeting, some members of the working group stated that using snowmobiles or other vehicles to run down predators in Wyoming should remain legal.
At the rally, Combs and other speakers said the practice is unacceptable, and the animal cruelty statues in Wyoming and other Western states should be expanded to include cruelty toward wolves and other predators and wildlife.
Erik Molvar, a Wyoming resident and executive director of the Western Watersheds project, said that the alleged running down of a wolf in Sublette County on Feb. 29 wasn’t a one-time incident.
The practice of running predators over with snowmobiles is common in Wyoming, he told the crowd.
“It was far from an isolated incident. In fact, wolf whacking, coyote whacking or snowmobile whacking is so common it has a name.” Molvar said.
He invited the audience to join him in a wolf-like howl at the end of his speech, and they responded enthusiastically.
Still Angry About Daniel Wolf Killing
The rally was the latest manifestation of widespread outrage over the torture and killing of the wolf in Daniel.
According to accounts of events on Feb. 29, Daniel resident Cody Roberts, 42, ran the wolf down with his snowmobile and then captured the injured animal.
He took it to his house and duct-taped its mouth shut, and then later brought it to the Green River Bar in Daniel to show it off, before finally taking it behind the bar and killing it.
Roberts was cited by a Wyoming Game and Fish warden for illegal possession of a live, warm-blooded animal and forfeited a $250 bond, according to court records.
If Wyoming had animal cruelty statues that apply to predators, Roberts could have faced a $50,000 fine, prison time and forfeiture of his snowmobile and firearms, Molvar said.
Wolves of the Rockies spokeswoman Kim Beam, who grew up in Wyoming, said she was also disgusted by Roberts’ alleged actions and the light penalty.
“This is not the Wyoming, I know, and this is not Wyoming values,” she said. “And yet, the laws indicate otherwise.”
Speakers also railed against the Trust the Science Act introduced by Colorado Congresswoman Lauren Boebert and supported by Wyoming U.S. Sen. John Barrasso.
The act, which has passed the U.S. House, calls for wolves to be delisted from Endangered Species protection across the Lower 48 States.
Wolves are delisted in Wyoming, Montana and Idaho. But they remain protected in Colorado and several other states.
Erik Molvar, a Wyoming resident and executive director of the Western Watersheds Project, speaks early Wednesday at the “A Cry For The Wild” rally for wolves in Washington, D.C. (Courtesy Grace Kuhn) 
People from Wyoming and several other states gathered in Washington, D.C., early Wednesday for the “A Cry For The Wild” rally for wolves. (Courtesy Kristin Combs) 
Kristin Combs, executive director of Wyoming Wildlife Advocates, speaks in Washington, D.C., early Wednesday at the “A Cry For The Wild” rally for wolves. (Courtesy Erik Molvar)
Seeds Planted In Daniel
The idea for the D.C. event was hatched by Combs, Bean, social media influencer Jonas Black and others after the Hogs for Hope motorcycle rally last month in Daniel.
Black, a dog trainer from Austin, Texas, was angered by news of the wolf’s torture and death. So, he decided take a motorcycle ride from Austin to Daniel. He made the trip a fundraiser for Wyoming Wildlife Advocates and Wolves of the Rockies.
He ended up raising roughly $140,000, which the groups will use to fund efforts to change Wyoming’s predator management policies.
Black planned to present the money to Combs and Bean in front of the Green River Bar on May 26. But when they arrived in Daniel that day, the bar was completely cut off by trailers that locals had parked in front of it.
The wolf advocates did a quick procession through Daniel, while some locals jeered them.
But they went on to plan and organize the rally in D.C. through the Wild Beauty Foundation, established by filmmaker Ashely Avis.
Avis has announced that her next project will be a film adaptation of the book “American Wolf,” which chronicles the life and death of Wolf 06.
That female wolf lived in Yellowstone National Park and gained a worldwide fanbase. But she left the park in late 2012 and was legally killed by a hunter during Wyoming’s wolf season.
During her speech at the rally, Avis called Wyoming out, claiming that the Cowboy State shouldn’t have wolf management policies that contradict the views of many other Americans.
“Should Wyoming stand alone from our country, killing wolves and wildlife?” she said.
Black also spoke at the D.C. rally, saying that the killing of the Daniel wolf, which he calls Hope, sparked a nationwide movement for the protection of wolves.
“That idiot in Wyoming who dragged grabbed her by her neck and dragged her into the bar, he dragged all of us with her,” he said.
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
