If Wyoming is to remain an average person’s outdoor paradise, hunters and anglers need political clout, advocates for a sportsmen’s legislative caucus said.
Numerous wildlife-related bills have come before the Wyoming Legislature’s 2025 session, and “we’ve had to bat away a couple of bad bills,” Wyoming Wildlife Federation spokeswoman Jess Johnson told a gathering of outdoor enthusiasts at the Wyoming Capitol Thursday.
It was part of “Camo at the Capitol” day, encouraging rank-and-file hunters and anglers to get involved with the legislature.
Rep. Andrew Byron, R-Jackson, said he plans on forming a sportsmen’s caucus, to tackle issues related to hunting and angling.
He told the crowd that when he first came to the Legislature two years ago, he was shocked by how few of his fellow legislators had hunted and killed elk the previous fall.
Byron has since developed some clout, as chairman of the House Travel, Recreation, Wildlife and Cultural Resources committee.
Sportsmen Hated Two Bills In Particular
Two bill so far this session were particularly bad, said Elise Huysman of the Wyoming Game Warden’s Association.
That included a measure that would have made losing hunting and angling privileges for two years the mandatory penalty for trespassing while hunting, fishing, trapping or collecting shed antlers.
Another bill would have allowed the holders of landowners’ hunting tags to put the tags up for sale on the open market.
Both of those bills died in committee, thanks to the efforts of Byron and other legislators, Huysman said.
The trespassing bill would have taken away game wardens’ discretion in the field, to decide trespassing cases on a case-by-case basis, she said.
And many worried that allowing landowners to put their hunting tags up for sale would have turned hunting in Wyoming into a rich man’s sport.
It would have violated the principles of the North American model of wildlife management, opponents said.
Under the North American model, wildlife is regarded as a public trust – in contrast to the old European model, under which wildlife was regarded as the property of royalty and aristocracy.
Getting Involved
Luke Worthington of Gillette, president of the Wyoming Houndsmen Association, said getting involved with the legislature can seem overwhelming to average hunters and anglers who are working full-time jobs.
But phone calls, emails and messages to legislators helped make a difference in getting bad bills shut down, he said.
He and other speakers praised the Wyoming Game and Fish Department for taking a “science-based” approach to wildlife management, rather than being swayed by politics.
Contact Mark Heinz at mark@cowboystatedaily.com
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
