Wolf outcry hits Capitol Hill

By Sarah Elmquist Squires 

Lander Journal

Via Wyoming News Exchange

LANDER — The man on a snowmobile zipped across the snowy expanse. Up ahead, a dark speck in the blazing sun came to focus – a coyote looking back at the vehicles barreling toward it. Then, the impact; and then, the driver turns around to strike the wounded coyote, again. 

“We can stop that horror show of that footage, that sickening spectacle,” Wayne Pacelle of Animal Wellness Action said during a press conference last week, when a video was aired of the practice of coyote “whacking” – the practice of intentionally running down an animal with a snowmobile. 

That scene – albeit with a wounded wolf disabled by a man on a snowmobile – has captivated animal welfare activists across the world. 

That February incident involved Cody Roberts, who took the injured wolf in Sublette County, then muzzled the animal, fitted it with a shock collar and brought it to a Daniel bar for posed photos before dispatching it. 

Public outcry was amplified when Roberts was simply fined $250 for the act and Wyoming wildlife officials pointed to a lack of legal recourse for his actions. 

Now, as Wyoming lawmakers ponder a proposal that would not prohibit running down wolves and other predators but would require the animal be promptly killed, a bipartisan federal bill has been drafted that would outlaw the practice. 

The legislation, the “Snowmobiles Aren’t Weapons” (SAW) Act, doesn’t just apply to snowmobiles, Pacelle explained during the press conference, adding that the draft bill comes in response to what he called a “deficient and embarrassing recommendation” from the Wyoming panel tasked with studying the issue. 

“There should be no doubt about the future course of action for any state for this matter,” he said. “This is not a form of hunting … it is a form of animal cruelty.” 

The SAW Act’s lead author is Rep. Nancy Mace (R-South Carolina), with co-sponsors Reps. Don Davis (D-North Carolina), Matt Gaetz (R-Florida) and Try Carter (D-Louisiana). 

It would prohibit intentionally using a motor vehicle to harm or take wildlife on federal lands, and according to Mace’s office, includes fines up to $10,000 and a maximum of five years in prison, or both. 

The bill, H.R. 9568, was introduced in the House on Thursday and referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary. 

“This bill will preserve the safety and beauty of our natural spaces and ensure wildlife can thrive without the threat of harm from motor vehicles,” Mace said in a statement. 

Pacelle said he earlier approached Sen. Cynthia Lummis to see whether she would sponsor the bill. 

“I view her as the more natural resources senator from Wyoming,” he said, adding that she declined to support the proposed legislation. 

Lummis later criticized the bill, and U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman called it “poorly thought-out” and sponsored by Congressional leaders “who have minimal to nonexistent federal land, snow, or wolves in their district.” 

Some Western ranchers consider riding down wolves and coyotes predator management that’s needed to protect their livestock, and Pacelle said organizations like the American Farm Bureau have resisted lobbying to outlaw it. 

He insisted that wasn’t the case. “It goes without saying that there’s no wildlife management purpose to this,” he said, calling the practice “thrill killing.”

Instead, Pacelle argued that those who want to keep wolves off the Endangered Species List in the Mountain West would be wise to support efforts to curb predator whacking because it would demonstrate that state agencies can handle appropriate predator management. 

He said outlawing the practice would avoid “a lack of confidence that the state agency is going to be able to handle its responsibility without submitting to political pressure from a small band of radical ranchers or other zealots who think that all wolves should be eliminated.” 

Early efforts at lobbying Congress to author the bill included work with Texas Republican Representative Troy Nehls, Pacelle explained, but the legislation died after pushback from groups like the Texas Farm Bureau and Safari Club International. 

The bill includes exceptions for the safety of the driver or user of a motor vehicle if they struck an animal to avoid injury, death, or the destruction of property, or wildlife officials adhering to a “preexisting wildlife management plan.” 

It would apply to public land managed by the U.S. Department of the Interior and exclude lands managed by the Forest Service.

This story was published on September 21, 2024.