ROCK SPRINGS — The Rock Springs City Council denied a resident’s request to repeal an ordinance making it illegal to feed deer and other wildlife within city limits.

During the Council meeting tonight, longtime Rock Springs resident Bill Wonnacott asked the Council to repeal Section 3-545 of Ordinance 2021-13, which states residents cannot feed deer and other wildlife within city limits.

Wonnacott said this ordinance has no value for the community and the city has resources to reduce the impacts of wildlife. He said he didn’t know the city had such an ordinance until the City of Rock Springs gave him a citation for illegally feeding the deer. Wonnacott said he is tired of seeing starving deer on his property and so he has been feeding them for the past 7 years.

“We don’t have the year-round habitat to support wildlife,” he said.

He said he is also tired of wasting the Wyoming Game and Fish Department’s time by having to call in sick deer and watching them put them down. He encouraged the city to reconsider repealing the ordinance and allow residents to legally feed the deer. He said the State of Wyoming spends millions of dollars protecting wildlife migration corridors and Jackson has an Elk Refuge where they feed elk all winter long. According to Wonnacott, Jackson benefits from the elk refuge by providing sleigh rides through the refuge and local Boy Scout troops help raise funds to pay for the elk food. These efforts stimulate Jackson’s economy.

Rock Springs Mayor Tim Kaumo said that while this ordinance prohibits residents from feeding deer grain, human food, and pellets, it does not include natural materials such as gardens or apple trees. He said there’s nothing wrong with a resident allowing deer to eat their garden, flowers, grass, or apples from their trees. He suggested Wonnacott take this route.

Wonnacott said all of those kinds of resources die and there is nothing left for deer to eat after November.

“I buy feed for these deer,” Wonnacott said. “I’ve been doing it for years.”

Wonnacott said he didn’t even know about the ordinance until he was cited for breaking the law.

Mayor Kaumo explained that the ordinance was amended back in 2021 due to residents’ complaints about deer being fed within city limits. Kaumo said he didn’t think anyone on the Council would want to repeal the ordinance and looked up and down at the Councilors to see if anyone wanted to make a motion to repeal it. All Councilors were in agreement in not repealing the ordinance.

As for feeding the deer like Jackson feeds the elk, Mayor Kaumo said the City of Rock Springs simply doesn’t have it in the budget to run that type of program nor does it have a designated feeding area to do so.

“Maybe me buying 4 tons of corn each year isn’t the way to go…,” Wonnacott said. However, he suggested it be used as a short-term solution until the city can come up with a long-term solution for the starving deer.

Councilor Rob Zotti pointed out that deer have been successfully migrating for food during the winter months for years and by feeding the deer the city would be interrupting the natural migration process. He also suggested that Wonnacott was actually hurting the deer by feeding them corn saying numerous reputable websites state deer should not be feed corn.

Wonnacott disagreed with Zotti saying he’s been feeding them for years and knows all of the deer by name and they are not being harmed by him feeding and watering them.

After more discussion, the Council all agreed they did not have any interest in repealing the ordinance. Wonnacott said he did his best to try and do the right thing and that’s all he could do.