Wyoming
Wyoming sinks another $4.8M into predator killing as demand, costs keep growing
by Mike Koshmrl, WyoFile
CASPER—Sparse snow cover made killing predators more challenging and “dynamic” this past winter in Fremont County, Rob Crofts recalled.
Even if tracking and spotting wildlife was trickier, contracted trappers and hunters incentivized by a bounty program still managed to kill roughly 1,000 coyotes, the Fremont County Predator Board chairman reported before pausing to ask the Wyoming Animal Damage Management Board a question.
“What would that be like if we did not do predator control?” Crofts asked rhetorically.
He also pointed to the agriculture and livestock producers who benefit from that “control” — a sanitized way to describe what typically involves killing. Fremont County houses 987 farmers and ranchers who exceed $10,000 in sales, he said. He recapped the coyote and predator-control activity in his 4.9-million-acre county while pitching the Wyoming Animal Damage Management Board last week for more funding to do it all again.
Plainclothed federal government employees who carry out the lethal actions — running traplines to catch wolves and shooting coyotes from the air — sat nearby listening to the pitch in the Agricultural Resource and Learning Center building at the Natrona County fairgrounds.
Fremont County’s predator board applied for $387,000 for the coming fiscal year. Government trappers will have to make do with significantly less. Statewide, there is more demand for predator-focused dollars than money available, and by the time the statewide board signed off on its budget for 2026-27, the panel had knocked down Fremont County’s allocation to $290,000 — a nearly $97,000 haircut.
Almost all other county predator boards in Wyoming are in a similar position, and will have to get by with less funding than requested. There was a roughly $466,000 gap between county predator board requests and available funds. As a result, only three county boards are receiving their applied-for allocations. (Crook, $179,100, Sheridan, $188,700 and Weston, $100,000)
Sizable cuts to requested funds also hit the Johnson County Predator Board, which was granted $380,000, some 16% less than the $450,000 requested. Natrona County, meanwhile, was allocated $322,000 in funding — 11% less than the amount it applied for.
Growing investment
The shortfalls come at a time when Wyoming taxpayers are putting more and more money into efforts to kill animals the agriculture and livestock industries and county predator boards have deemed a nuisance. This coming fiscal year, it’s a nearly $4.8 million expense
The Wyoming Legislature allocates funds for the Animal Damage Management Board, created in 1999, on a two-year basis during the budget session.
In 2022, when state lawmakers set a COVID-shrunken two-year budget, the board was allocated some $5.8 million from Wyoming’s general fund. The expense grew to $8.4 million by 2024, and early this year, the Legislature signed off on a budget that gave Predator Management Coordinator Jerry Johnson nearly $9.8 million to distribute to the county boards over the next two years.
“They did take into account fuel costs and inflationary costs,” Johnson told WyoFile.
In Wyoming’s 2026-27 budget, lawmakers stipulated that $1.6 million of the funding be appropriated for “special projects prioritized for preventing listing” of a species under the Endangered Species Act.
In practice, that resulted in a sage grouse-specific line item for each county predator board. That species, which depends on the declining sagebrush biome, is facing sustained population decline.
Johnson and the Animal Damage Management Board broke up $800,000 in sage grouse-dedicated funds for the coming fiscal year, prioritizing counties that had the largest chunks of “core” habitat. Most county boards were granted $38,000, while Carbon, Natrona, Sweetwater and Fremont counties each received $65,750. Goshen County, on the eastern plains and holding few to no sage grouse, was awarded $5,000.
Not all counties receive money from the statewide board.
Teton County stands alone in not having a predator board, even though statutorily it’s technically supposed to possess one, Johnson said.
“They just choose to coexist, I guess,” he said. “They just don’t hire trappers.”
For counties to be eligible for state board funds, livestock producers in county districts must pay a $1 per-head predator fee when they sell. There’s about $1.2 million in proceeds across Wyoming, revenue that’s retained by county predator boards.
The Platte, Laramie and Sublette county boards don’t charge the full fee nor receive state board funding. Sublette County may start, however. Kristy Wardell, the county board treasurer, briefed the state board on efforts to convince local producers to pay the $1 per-head predator fee — she’s distributing a questionnaire to gauge interest.
A federal trapper told the state board that Sublette County could keep his staff busy if there were funds for a “full-time” program.
“That’s a very adverse landscape,” said Brady Smith, a district supervisor with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services. “Full suite of predators. You’re dealing with both the [wolf] trophy and predator zone.”
Bang for the buck?
County predator boards report their activities in an annual report submitted to the governor and three legislative committees.
Reporting requirements aren’t standardized, however, and some county boards provide much more information than others.
Big Horn County’s predator board is among those that delves into the specifics. In 2025, the board employed two Wildlife Service trappers, and they responded to $5,062 in reported livestock damage and another $6,900 in verified livestock damage.
Federal trappers working in the westslope Bighorn Range county targeted six species over the course of the fiscal year.
They reported killing 483 coyotes, including six dens of pups. Another 30 red foxes and six fox kit dens were eliminated. So were five ravens, including a nest, 206 raccoons and an untold number of nonnative European starlings on four different feedlots.
Other counties were sparse on details in the annual report.
The Lincoln County Predator Board, which has been investigated for Airborne Hunting Act violations, provided no overall accounting of the wildlife its civilian trappers killed using the state funding.
Woolgrower Jon Child, the county board’s chairman, used the report to detail a request for an additional $20,000. (Although Child wrote that he was asking for $20,000 more, state records show that he only asked for $10,000 more.)
“One other thing we would like to mention is that our equipment is wearing out and is not dependable,” Child wrote.
At last week’s meeting, the Animal Damage Management Board awarded Child and the Lincoln County Predator Board almost all of the requested funding. The county board received $295,000, just $3,500 less than what Child asked for.
Johnson, Wyoming’s predator management coordinator, proposes county funding levels to the statewide board. He explained his recommendation.
“Lincoln County’s always been fairly lean,” Johnson told the board. “I dropped him just a little bit.”
The Lincoln County Predator Board was in line to get the additional funding to help Child pay for a new snowmachine, he explained.
The Animal Damage Management Board made no changes to the county allocations that Johnson recommended. Last week, the board also set its budget for special projects. The nearly $268,000 in funds for those, which are often research-related, come out of a separate pot. The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission contributes $200,000, and the remainder comes from the Wyoming Department of Agriculture.
Although project dollars are routed through the Animal Damage Management Board, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department prioritizes the projects and recommends funding levels. Cuts, out of necessity, were steeper: There were 16 projects totalling nearly $440,000 in requested funding, but only about 60% of that sum was available.
Some board members took issue with some of the projects. Sharon O’Toole, representing the cattle industry, took issue with a joint Game and Fish-University of Wyoming research project that seeks to develop coyote abundance estimates to improve understanding of why the canines key in on subadult deer in some mule deer herds more than others.
“I would like to eliminate it altogether,” O’Toole said. “I don’t know, in the end, if anybody would learn anything that the trappers don’t already know.”
Game and Fish Director Angi Bruce, who co-chairs the state board, stood behind the project, her agency’s second-highest priority. She spoke to the research’s “indirect” benefits.
“[We’re] gaining that understanding of the factors out on the landscape that may lead to more coyote predation in one area versus the other,” Bruce said. “If we can get to the heart of that, then we can start to manipulate things in a way that makes an impact long-lasting.”
The Animal Damage Management Board agreed to give the coyote abundance project $40,000, about half of the $77,000 that proponents requested.
This article was originally published by WyoFile and is republished here with permission. WyoFile is an independent nonprofit news organization focused on Wyoming people, places and policy.
Related
The 78th National High School Finals Rodeo (NHSFR) starts on Sunday, July 19, in Lincoln, Nebraska, and goes through Saturday, July 25, 2026. There are 12 rodeo performances across the seven days, with six in the first round and six in the second round. The top 20 cowboys and cowgirls return to the championship short round at 7 p.m. on Saturday, July 25. Wyoming has 51 contestants competing across the 13 rodeo events, plus light rifle and trap shooting.
WYOMING RODEO ATHLETES OPEN COMPETITION AT NHSFR
Yoder’s Hadley Thompson was the All-Around Cowgirl at the 2025 NHSFR. She won national titles in the breakaway roping and goat last year in Rock Springs. Wyoming finished 11th in the team standings last year with 3,750.00 team points. The Cowboy State’s girls placed sixth, and the boys were 25th. Thompson also had the AQHA Horse of the Year for Cowgirls in CD Smokin Miss Kitty. Emeree Tavegie was sixth in pole bending.
The daily rodeo performances are at 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. The first go ends after Wednesday morning’s performance, while the second go ends after Saturday morning’s performance.
Wyoming State High School Finals Rodeo Results & NHSFR Qualifiers 2026
Wyoming’s contestants and events with their draw
Ryley Alameda – Reined Cow Horse (Mon AM, Thurs PM)
Wade Asay – Reined Cow Horse (Tues PM, Wed AM)
Claire Bilek – Girls Cutting (Mon AM, Fri PM)
Kolton Bonenberger – Bull Riding (Mon PM, Fri AM)
Jace Bowles – Team Roping (Mon AM, Fri PM)
Cooper Brownlee – Shooting Rifle and Shooting Trap
Blue Butler – Breakaway Roping (Mon AM, Fri PM); Goat Tying (Wed AM, Wed PM)
Kolbe Chant – Tie-Down Roping (Sun PM, Sat AM)
Heston Crozier – Shooting Trap
Blake Cushman – Pole Bending (Sun PM, Sat AM)
Karly Davis – Barrel Racing (Tues AM, Thurs PM)
Teague Duncan – Saddle Bronc (Tues PM, Thurs AM)
Memphis Erdman – Shooting Rifle
Hays Espenscheid – Team Roping (Tues AM, Thurs PM)
Kendrie Ewing – Barrel Racing (Wed AM, Wed PM)
Ellie Feathers – Shooting Rifle
Kashley Fornstrom – Barrel Racing (Tues PM, Thurs AM)
Kade Fraley – Saddle Bronc (Mon PM, Fri AM)
Landon Gold – Team Roping (Sun PM, Sat AM); Steer Wrestling (Wed AM, Wed PM)
Teague Goodman – Steer Wrestling (Tues AM, Thurs PM)
Tanner Griemsman – Team Roping (Tues AM, Thurs PM)
Cody Hayden – Boys Cutting (Mon AM, Fri PM)
Rhame Hicks – Goat Tying (Sun PM, Sat AM)
Stone Hooten – Shooting Trap
Coe Hornbuckle – Barrel Racing (Wed AM, Wed PM)
Carter Hutchison – Steer Wrestling (Tues PM, Thurs AM); Tie-Down Roping (Sun PM, Sat AM); Reined Cow Horse (Mon AM, Thurs AM)
Kress Johnson – Team Roping (Mon AM, Fri PM)
Taylor Kimzey – Shooting Rifle
Emma Martin – Pole Bending (Mon PM, Fri AM)
Bella Martinson – Breakaway Roping (Mon PM, Fri AM)
Anna McQueeney – Girls Cutting (Sun PM, Sat AM)
Raden Miller – Steer Wrestling (Mon AM, Fri PM)
Taten Mills – Team Roping (Mon PM, Fri AM)
Owen Monfeldt – Bull Riding (Tues AM, Thurs PM)
Ashtyn Noland – Reined Cow Horse (Mon PM, Thurs AM)
Keon Norris – Bareback Riding (Tues PM, Thurs AM)
Riggin Pearce – Bull Riding (Tues PM, Thurs AM)
Bridger Peil – Tie-Down Roping (Tues AM, Thurs PM)
Karly Peterson – Girls Cutting (Mon PM, Fri AM)
Nathan Peterson – Boys Cutting (Tues PM, Thurs AM)
Trenton Rogers – Bareback Riding (Wed AM, Wed PM)
Rickie Jo Rourke – Goat Tying (Tues AM, Thurs PM)
Tuf Scarborough – Saddle Bronc (Sun PM, Sat AM)
Ty Scarborough – Saddle Bronc (Wed AM, Wed PM)
Stetson St. Clair – Bull Riding (Wed AM, Wed PM); Team Roping (Sun PM, Sat AM)
Whitney Tarver – Team Roping (Mon PM, Fri AM)
Emeree Tavegie – Pole Bending (Mon AM, Fri PM)
Dylan Thar – Breakaway Roping (Tues AM, Thurs PM)
Hadley Thompson – Breakaway Roping (Mon AM, Fri PM); Pole Bending (Tues PM, Thurs AM); Goat Tying (Wed AM, Wed PM)
Cruz Viles – Team Roping (Mon AM, Fri PM)
Tuf Weber – Shooting Trap
The Light Rifle competition is on Tuesday, July 21, and the Short Go is on Wednesday, July 22 at 1:30 p.m. The Trap Shooting competition is on Thursday, July 23, and the Short Go is on Friday, July 24 at 8 a.m. The Reined Cow Horse event will start on Monday, July 20, and go through Thursday, July 23, each day at 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. The Reined Cow Horse Championship Short Go is on Friday at 4 p.m. The Cutting Events start on Sunday at 7 p.m., then will run at 9 a.m. from Monday through Friday. The 12th Cutting performance is Saturday, July 25 at 8 a.m. The Cutting Championship Short Go is on Saturday at 2 p.m.
National High School Finals Rodeo
National High School Finals Rodeo
Gallery Credit: Dakota Riddle Photography
CHEYENNE, Wyo. — As the Aug. 18 primary election approaches, Cap City News is introducing candidate questionnaires to help voters make informed decisions at the ballot box.
Every candidate in the primary field was sent the same three questions and given a limit of 500 words, which could be distributed among their answers as they saw fit. To ensure a fair and direct line to the community, all responses are published exactly as submitted, without edits or alterations.
Candidates were asked:
- What are the most crucial challenges your constituents are facing?
- If elected, how will you address these challenges?
- What qualities or qualifications do you possess that have prepared you to meet these challenges?
Questionnaires are being published on a rolling basis online through Aug. 11. They will be accessible via the Cap City News Election Tracker.
Jessica Crowder (R), Wyoming House District 43
What are the most crucial challenges your constituents are facing?
Wyoming is built on hard work, strong communities, and the responsible use of our natural resources. The families in House District 43 and Wyoming face real challenges — from the need for a more resilient, diverse economy to the increasing outmigration of young people. Wyoming families also face rising costs of healthcare, housing and more. House District 43 deserves a representative that puts people first and works to strengthen the place we call home through steady and thoughtful leadership.
If elected, how will you address these challenges?
As a legislator, I will use my experience working with landowners, businesses, and local governments to support the industries that define Wyoming while encouraging thoughtful growth and diversification. Our future depends on good jobs, strong schools, and communities where families can put down roots and thrive. We can honor the values that make Wyoming what it is while building something that lasts—an economy that works for working people, an education system that prepares the next generation, and communities that remain resilient and connected.
The rising cost of healthcare and the difficulty of accessing services are real challenges for Wyoming families. We need reforms that reduce costs, expand access—including to mental health resources—and meet people where they are. The 2026 Health Insurance Affordability Task Force is working to address rising costs, and I will work with this group and others to develop effective solutions that deliver the quality care our communities deserve.
Tax and housing reforms must be reviewed for possible refinement so people can afford to buy homes, stay in their homes, and build equity and pride of place. At the same time, every Wyoming county depends on a different mix of revenue, and we all rely on stable, predictable local funding for essential services. I will participate in honest, informed conversations about how to provide relief to those who need it most without jeopardizing essential services.
Wyoming’s economy depends on our core industries and new businesses that invest here. Both need clear, consistent processes and regulations so they have confidence in choosing Wyoming. Economic growth also relies on strong infrastructure and a skilled workforce. When these pieces work together—predictable regulations, reliable infrastructure, workforce readiness, and responsible budgeting—they create a stable environment that encourages growth, provides good jobs, and protects taxpayers.
What qualities/qualifications do you possess that have prepared you to meet these challenges?
I believe we maintain and create opportunity by respecting the people who live here and the land that sustains us. I grew up on a ranch and now raise my family in Laramie County, where we run a ranch and small business, so I understand the challenges facing families, landowners, and employers. With over 20 years of experience in agriculture, land management, and public policy, I’ve supported working lands, defended local interests, and strengthened communities. The values that guide this work—practical problem solving, respect for local knowledge, and a commitment to community—have broad application beyond land management and would serve me well in the legislature.
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