Letter to the Editor

On Wednesday, April 17, I sat in on the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission meeting that took place in Riverton. The Zoom meeting had reached its maximum capacity of 500 participants, and the Holiday Inn conference room was packed with members of the public.

For the next two hours, the Commission listened while members of the public expressed their outrage and disappointment in the policies that allowed for the torture and killing of a wolf in Daniel, Wyoming.

Among them were: a woman who said that she had driven from her home in South Carolina with her family to speak, saying that she loved Wyoming but couldn’t in good conscience contribute her tourism dollars to a state that allowed for such a horrific act to occur; A local hunter who lamented the reputation that the incident involving Cody Roberts would give all Wyoming hunters; Members of local and regional wildlife advocacy organizations; ranchers; and concerned citizens from all over Wyoming.

Kristin Combs, Executive Director of the Wyoming Wildlife Advocates, said in the meeting that “This is not a one-time event by a sick individual, this is a more systemic problem of Wyoming’s laws and lack of protections and ethical considerations that have failed to protect all wildlife.”

The dozens of public commenters came from all walks of life and from all over the country, but a common message was clear: Do something.

The wolf that was tortured and killed in Daniel. (Photo courtesy of Wyoming Game and Fish Department press release)

A state that cares about its wildlife, about having a high standard of wildlife management, cannot also be a state that disregards the moral and ethical failure that is the wanton killing of wolves by any means available.

It is ridiculous that it takes national outrage for serious change to our policy around the treatment of wolves to be considered, and it is disheartening that after nearly 30 years since the reintroduction of wolves into Wyoming, we still don’t consider wolves to be deserving of humane treatment in their native habitat.

I respect the efforts of the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission to ensure that Wyoming remains, as they put it in a recent press release, the “gold standard” of wildlife management. As a citizen of Wyoming, however, I expect more from the lawmakers and land management professionals who are responsible for the stewardship of the lands and wildlife we depend upon.