Connect with us

Wyoming

Teton County Legislator Wants River Otters Off Wyoming’s Protected List

Published

on

Teton County Legislator Wants River Otters Off Wyoming’s Protected List


State Rep. Andrew Byron, R-Jackson, swears he doesn’t hate otters, but his House Bill 45 legislation would remove the aquatic critters as a protected animal in Wyoming. 

“I love otters,” Byron said. “I truly love otters.”

Byron said the primary reason for wanting to remove otters from the state’s protected status is to allow for hunting of the species that he believes has fully recovered since becoming nearly extinct in Wyoming about 70 years ago.

An avid fisherman, Byron said he saw many otters while out fishing this summer.

Advertisement

“They seem to be everywhere now,” he said.

Byron said he’s also received multiple complaints from people in Teton and Lincoln counties that otters have been eating up a sizable chunk of the fish populations there. 

He wants to remove the otters’ protected status so that Wyoming Game and Fish can have more power to manage the species, but said he has no desire to see it hunted or trapped. 

“It just opens up the opportunity to manage them,” he said. “There’s a number of animals we don’t manage, good or bad.”

Similar arguments have been made in Wyoming for delisting the grizzly bear from federal protected status. 

Advertisement

Otter Density

Currently, otters, along with the black‑footed ferret, fisher, lynx, pika and wolverine, are all considered protected animals in Wyoming and therefore can’t be hunted. 

What Byron’s bill would do is allow Wyoming Game and Fish to manage the otter as regular wildlife, which could open the door for it to be potentially managed for hunting and trapping someday.

State Sens. Barry Crago, R-Buffalo; Dan Dockstader, R-Afton; Ogden Driskill, R-Devils Tower; Bill Landen, R-Casper; and Reps. Dalton Banks, R-Cowley; Bob Davis, R-Baggs; Jeremy Haroldson, R-Wheatland; Mike Schmid, R-La Barge; and J.D. Williams, R-Lusk; have co-sponsored the legislation.

Otters are not a species protected federally by the Endangered Species Act.

Otter Disbelief

According to Game and Fish, otters have been a protected species in Wyoming since 1953. The northern river otter is the lone species of otter in Wyoming.

Advertisement

Historically, there were northern river otter populations across most major river drainages in the United States, Canada and much of Wyoming, but fur trapping, pollution and habitat degradation decimated the species by the mid 20th century.

University of Wyoming professor Merav Ben-David, one of the state’s perennial otter experts, said the river otter was completely extinct outside Yellowstone National Park by the time it became a protected species in Wyoming in 1953.

Various reintroduction efforts conducted throughout the Rocky Mountain region have been successful, but Ben-David said the otter population in Wyoming is still doing “terribly.” 

The main population centers for otters in Wyoming are in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and Greater Green River Basin of southwest Wyoming, although there’s some evidence they’ve started traveling up the Laramie River from Colorado to populate southeast Wyoming.

A 2010 Game and Fish study estimated 35-44 otters live around the Green and New Fork rivers, and designated the animal as “very rare” with “moderate vulnerability.” 

Advertisement

UW studies performed in 2015 and 2022 of the otter populations in the Green River found an average of one otter per 2.39-3.65 kilometers. Ben-David said a healthy population would represent three or four times those numbers.

“These are really low numbers compared to other areas,” she said.

Ben-David said the biggest reason why otters have been slow to recover in Wyoming is because their recovery started on lake-based habitats in Yellowstone. Rivers, she said, are a much more suitable location for otters to have success.

“Rivers are better for more fishing capacity,” she said.

Donal O’Toole, a UW professor and veterinary pathologist, said otter introduction programs in Missouri, Colorado and New York have had much more success in growing back otter populations than in Wyoming.

Advertisement

“Why are we different from other states?” he questioned. “Before we start killing things, we might want to make sure killing them makes any ecological sense.” 

Game and Fish told Cowboy State Daily in 2023 that the agency does some passive monitoring of otters’ distribution around the state, which includes updating their range and distribution maps based on submitted observations by staff and the public. Though trappers aren’t allowed to kill otters, they’re encouraged to report seeing them to help Game and Fish better ascertain their population and range in Wyoming. That’s according to the agency’s current fur bearing animal hunting or trapping regulations.

What’s Driving it?

O’Toole and Ben-David believe the main push for the legislation is out of frustration among people in southwest Wyoming who stock their own private ponds with fish.

“I think the need for change in law is being driven by a very personal vendetta,” Ben-David said. “It’s a misguided decision to change the law. There’s so many other wildlife things we need to worry about. This is ridiculous.”

During a Game and Fish Commission meeting in March, Alpine resident Tim Haberberger told the panel that people have been illegally killing and trapping otters in southwest Wyoming by the hundreds, disposing of the carcasses in dumpsters.

Advertisement

“This is getting ridiculous, there’s so many being caught and trapped in beaver traps,” he said. 

Haberberger said Wyoming is one of the few states where otters can’t be trapped. He wants the activity legalized and managed in Wyoming.

“It needs to (be) discussed,” he said.

But neither Ben-David nor O’Toole believe a desire to trap the otter is a major motivation behind Byron’s bill. Ben-David said the market for river otter fur has substantially declined, bringing in about $90-$150 per pelt in Alaska, where it’s legal. 

When factoring in the time and energy to trap an otter, Ben-David said most people don’t find it to be worth their time when they could trap other game and make much more money.

Advertisement

“Trapping in the mountains is way easier and you can make way more money,” Ben-David said. “If in one year you’d get 10 otter pelts, you’d have to wait 50 years to get another 10.”

Leo Wolfson can be reached at leo@cowboystatedaily.com.



Source link

Wyoming

Casper veteran David Giralt joins race for Wyoming U.S. House seat

Published

on

Casper veteran David Giralt joins race for Wyoming U.S. House seat


CASPER, Wyo. — David Giralt, a Casper-raised military veteran and conservative Republican, has announced his candidacy for Wyoming’s lone seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. The congressional seat is being vacated by Republican Rep. Harriet Hageman, who launched a campaign in December for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by retiring Sen. Cynthia Lummis. […]



Source link

Continue Reading

Wyoming

Rivalries and Playoff Positioning Highlight Week 11 Wyoming Girls Basketball Slate

Published

on

Rivalries and Playoff Positioning Highlight Week 11 Wyoming Girls Basketball Slate


It’s Week 11 in the 2026 Wyoming prep girls’ basketball season. That means it’s the end of the regular season. 3A and 4A schools have their final game or games to determine seeding before the regional tournament, or if a team is locked into a position, one last chance to fine-tune before the postseason. Games are spread across four days.

WYOPREPS WEEK 11 GIRLS BASKETBALL SCHEDULE 2026

Every game on the slate is a conference matchup. Several rivalry contests are part of this week’s schedule, such as East against Central, Cody at Powell, Lyman hosting Mountain View, and Rock Springs at Green River, just to name a few. Here is the Week 11 schedule of varsity games WyoPreps has. All schedules are subject to change. If you see a game missing, please email david@wyopreps.com.

CLASS 4A

Final Score: Laramie 68 Cheyenne South 27 (conference game)

Advertisement

CLASS 3A

Final Score: Lyman 40 Mountain View 26 (conference game)

Submit a Score to WyoPreps

CLASS 4A

Final Score: Evanston 41 Riverton 39 (conference game)

Final Score: Natrona County 42 Kelly Walsh 38 (conference game) – Peach Basket Classic

Advertisement

Final Score: #4 Thunder Basin 64 Campbell County 32 (conference game)

CLASS 3A

Final Score: #1 Cody 77 Worland 33 (conference game) – 5 different Fillies with a 3, and Hays led the way with 34 points.

Final Score: #2 Lander 49 Lyman 34 (conference game)

Final Score: #4 Wheatland 51 Douglas 40 (conference game)

Advertisement

Final Score: #5 Powell 48 Lovell 42 (conference game)

Final Score: Burns 56 Torrington 43 (conference game)

Final Score: Glenrock 78 Newcastle 30 (conference game)

Submit a Score to WyoPreps

 

Read More Girls Basketball News from WyoPreps

Advertisement

WyoPreps Coaches and Media Basketball Polls 2-25-26

WyoPreps Girls Basketball Standings 2-23-26

WyoPreps Girls Basketball Week 10 Scores 2026

WyoPreps Coaches and Media Basketball Polls 2-18-26

WyoPreps Girls Basketball Week 9 Scores 2026

Advertisement

WyoPreps Coaches and Media Basketball Polls 2-11-26

WyoPreps Girls Basketball Week 8 Scores 2026

WyoPreps Coaches and Media Basketball Polls 2-4-26

WyoPreps Girls Basketball Week 7 Scores 2026

WyoPreps Coaches and Media Basketball Polls 1-28-26

Advertisement

Nominate A Basketball Player for the WyoPreps Athlete of the Week Honor

WyoPreps Coaches and Media Basketball Polls 1-21-26

WyoPreps Girls Basketball Week 5 Scores 2026

WyoPreps Coaches and Media Basketball Polls 1-14-26

WyoPreps Girls Basketball Week 4 Scores 2025-26

Advertisement

WyoPreps Coaches and Media Basketball Rankings 1-7-26

WyoPreps Girls Basketball Week 3 Scores 2025-26

WyoPreps Coaches and Media Basketball Rankings 12-24-25

WyoPreps Girls Basketball Week 2 Scores 2025-26

WyoPreps Coaches and Media Basketball Rankings 12-17-25

Advertisement

WyoPreps Girls Basketball Week 1 Scores 2025-26

 

CLASS 4A

Rock Springs at #2 Green River, 5:30 p.m. (conference game)

#4 Thunder Basin at #5 Sheridan, 5:30 p.m. (conference game)

Advertisement

#1 Cheyenne East at #3 Cheyenne Central, 6 p.m. (conference game)

Jackson at Star Valley, 6 p.m. (conference game)

CLASS 3A

#3 Pinedale at Mountain View, 4 p.m. (conference game)

#1 Cody at #5 Powell, 5:30 p.m. (conference game)

Advertisement

Buffalo at Glenrock, 5:30 p.m. (conference game)

Submit a Score to WyoPreps

CLASS 3A

Newcastle at Buffalo, 12:30 p.m. (conference game)

Glenrock at Rawlins, 3 p.m. (conference game)

Torrington at #4 Wheatland, 5:30 p.m. (conference game)

Advertisement
Submit a Score to WyoPreps

 

Wyoming Boys 4A Swimming & Diving State Championships 2026

4A Boys State Swim Meet for 2026 in Cheyenne

Gallery Credit: David Settle, WyoPreps.com





Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Wyoming

Political storm in Wyoming as far-right activist caught handing checks to lawmakers

Published

on

Political storm in Wyoming as far-right activist caught handing checks to lawmakers


Controversy has engulfed Wyoming’s state legislature after a conservative activist was photographed handing checks to Republican lawmakers on the state house floor, in an incident that has highlighted intra-conservative divisions and the role of money in the Cowboy state’s politics.

The political storm started on 9 February, when Karlee Provenza, a Democratic lawmaker, took a photo showing Rebecca Bextel, a conservative activist and committeewoman for the Teton county Republican party, handing a check to Darin McCann, a Republican representative, on the legislative floor. Marlene Brady, another Republican representative, stands in the photo’s background, a similar piece of paper pinched between her fingers.

“You have a person from the richest county in the country coming down to Cheyenne to hand out checks on the house floor,” Provenza said. “I have never seen something so egregious.”

Questions around the checks were soon swirling, and answers weren’t forthcoming. When asked what Bextel gave to her, Brady told a reporter for local outlet WyoFile: “I can’t remember.”

Advertisement

Then Bextel herself addressed the incident. “I raised $400,000 in the last election cycle for conservative candidates, and I will be doubling that amount this year,” Bextel wrote on Facebook on 11 February. “There’s nothing wrong with delivering lawful campaign checks from Teton county donors when I am in Cheyenne.”

Since then, it has emerged that the checks came from Don Grasso, a wealthy Teton county donor, who told the Jackson Hole News and Guide that he wrote the checks for Bextel to deliver to 10 Freedom caucus-aligned politicians. Grasso said the checks were intended as campaign contributions, and were not tied to specific legislation. It is unclear how many checks were ultimately delivered, but two of four confirmed recipients include the speaker of the house, Chip Neiman, and John Bear, the former head of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus.

The Wyoming house has formed a legislative investigative committee, and the Laramie county sheriff’s office said they’d open a criminal investigation.

Bextel declined to answer questions from the Guardian. Brady, McCann and Bear did not respond to requests for comment.

Neiman said he considered the criticism a “wraparound smear campaign”. He said: “It never once crossed my mind that this was bribery.

Advertisement

“These legislators, myself included, are now guilty until we can prove that we’re innocent. How is that right in this country? Isn’t that a little bit backwards?”

The scandal has highlighted long-standing divisions in Wyoming’s Republican party, which in recent years has seen a growing divide between old school, more moderate conservatives and a harder-right Freedom Caucus.

Several former Republican lawmakers forcefully condemned their colleagues for accepting the checks, and a local Republican party branch called for the lawmakers’ resignations.

Ogden Driskill, a Wyoming Republican senator, told the Guardian he does not consider Bextel’s actions to be illegal, but that “just because you can do it doesn’t mean you should”.

Bextel has spent years pushing against housing mitigation fees in Wyoming, and Driskill noted that she distributed the house floor checks just days before a bill she had publicly supported was set to be heard. Bextel was registered as a member of the press, not as a lobbyist when she delivered the checks.

Advertisement

“Ethically and morally, it’s bankrupt to a massive degree,” Driskill said.

Neiman said that he and other legislators who received checks have supported similar bills in the past: “Bribery is paying somebody to do something they would not otherwise do.”

Nationally, the 2024 election cycle saw record-spending from the mega-wealthy, as well as dark money groups. Wyoming followed the trend, in a tense red-on-red primary season.

For those gearing up to campaign this year, Teton county, the richest in the US, and Bextel’s picturesque home turf, is an essential stop. Its extreme wealth gives it a foothold on the national level as well. Palantir chief executive Alex Karp and Donald Trump attended an annual Republican leadership fundraiser at Jackson Hole in 2024, and JD Vance attended the same one in 2025.

Bextel pulls dollars from Teton county into the Freedom Caucus side of Wyoming’s conservative split. She hosted no-press-allowed meet and greets earlier this year benefitting leading candidates for Wyoming’s governor and open US House seat.

Advertisement

In an interview with the Open Range Record, a media network she co-founded, Bextel said controversy around the checks was solely because she was making “even playing field” in Wyoming against the state’s more moderate Republicans, who she calls “George Soros” candidates. She said that she will be sure to keep raising money – just away from the legislative floor.

“I guess I’m gonna ask all the gentlemen and gentleladies to step outside the Capitol while I hand them a check,” Bextel said. “Let me be clear: I’m doubling down.”

But it’s not just wealthy local donors putting their weight behind the factions. Last election cycle, out of state groups spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on anonymous and often inaccurate mailers.

“These actors, especially from the far right, they like to push the bounds of the norms,” said Rosa Reyna Pugh, an organizing and advocacy consultant at Western States Center, an Oregon-based non-profit focused on democracy in the western United States. “They like to see what policies they can kind of push, and see where they can play a piece,” Reyna Pugh said.

While Neiman and Driskill fight politically, they do agree on one thing: summer will bring an expensive and brutal campaign season.

Advertisement

“You’re going to see more dark money than you’ve ever seen. We’ve done absolutely nothing to enforce it. Our secretary of state has not even made a slight attempt to deal with it,” Driskill said. “You’re going to see lots and lots of outside money and I think you’re seeing it on both sides.”

As national questions swirl around pay-to-play politics and profiteering in the Trump administration, Provenza wants better for the Cowboy State.

“We should not be aligning ourselves with how the federal government is conducting itself or how federal elections conduct themselves,” Provenza said. “We owe something far better and more honest to the people of Wyoming than that.”



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Trending