ROCK SPRINGS –– The director of the Southwest Wyoming Regional Airport says the settlement of a lawsuit between itself and PETA allows the airport to move forward in its mission to serve the region’s residents and doesn’t mean the airport agrees with PETS’s stances or views.

The airport’s board unanimously agreed to a settlement with PETA allowing for the placement of a PETA advertisement in the airport and ends the legal dispute with no precedents being set and no admission of wrongdoing by any of the parties. 

“We appreciate U.S. District Judge William F. Downes. (Ret.), successful efforts to mediate this matter, which ends the lawsuit that PETA filed and means our airport can fully focus on our primary mission of serving the people of Southwest Wyoming and supporting the Wyoming way of life,” Devon Brubaker, director of the airport said. 

Brubaker emphasized that it’s important to understand that the settlement sets no precedents on advertising policies or practices for the airport and is not an indication that the airport agrees with PETA’s viewpoints, as expressed in the lawsuit or otherwise. The airport is regarded as a “limited public forum” which is entitled under law to place reasonable time, manner, and place restrictions on advertising and speech.  

“Our board, our leadership team and everyone involved with this airport believe fervently in the First Amendment and the right of free speech, as well as believing in our Wyoming way of life and our legacy of ranching and agricultural industries,” Brubaker said. “That includes hunting wild game in a manner that is sustainable, environmentally conscious, follows all game laws and always includes the ethical treatment of all animals. These beliefs are as old as Wyoming itself and long predate PETA’s founding. We consider this legal matter settled, and we’re moving on.”