ROCK SPRINGS –– A bill that would allow landowners the ability to sell their landowner hunting licenses was introduced to the Wyoming Legislature, seeing some support within the governing body but has also garnered criticism as well.
Senate File 118 would give landowners the ability to sell their elk, antelope, deer, and turkey hunting licenses to another person. Licenses issued to anyone aside from the landowner, including immediate family, would not be eligible for sale and the purchaser would be subject to state statutes and regulations regarding hunting licenses. Additionally, the licenses sold would be exempt from a landowner coupon payment.
The bill is sponsored by freshman Sen. Laura Pearson, R-Kemmerer, and has gotten support from Sweetwater County members of the Wyoming House. Local cosponsors are Rep. Marlene Brady, R-Green River, Rep. Scott Heiner, R-Green River, and Rep. Darin McCann, R-Rock Springs.
In an email to SweetwaterNOW, Pearson said it hasn’t seen full support from legislators.
“As you can imagine, support on one side, opposition on the other,” she wrote.
Pearson did not respond to a question asking her thoughts on the bill and why she believes it is needed.
Opponents to the bill have started making their opinions heard and include Muley Fanatic Foundation Founder and CEO Josh Coursey, who said the bill wasn’t a good idea and called it deplorable.
“The Muley Fanatic Foundation, along with several other groups as you have seen, have aligned to oppose SF 118 as transferable landowner licenses is nothing more than the exploitation and monetization of our wildlife resources, the “King’s deer” if you will to generate a revenue source,” he wrote in an email to SweetwaterNOW.
Coursey said the bill would only benefit wealthy non-residents willing to pay a premium for the opportunity to hunt Wyoming wildlife, saying the wildlife belongs to the people of Wyoming.
“The sciences of wildlife management require engagement in all three aspects of science, biological, social, and political,” Coursey wrote. “This is a prime example of why watching with a close eye the efforts put forth before our lawmakers requires engagement and action. The transfer of landowner licenses to monetize our wildlife resources will never be supported by the Muley Fanatic Foundation or the suite of other groups that oppose transferable landowner licenses. Period.”
The MFF is part of a coalition of sportsmen groups opposing Senate File 118. A press release issued Thursday by the Wyoming Wildlife Federation said the bill forces a move towards the privatization of wildlife and said it violates “the first pillar of the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation.” The group says the bill creates a system that removes opportunity for Wyoming hunters and gives tags to the highest bidder. The group uses New Mexico as an example, saying by law that 84% of the tags should go through a public draw, but after landowner licenses are accounted for, only 55% of elk licenses are available for the resident draw. They also say some hunt areas have such limited tags that a public draw might not occur if landowners seek tags to sell off.
“Implementing a transferable landowner tag system will activate many landowners sitting on the sidelines to jump into the application game to sell their tags,” the group said. “In many hunt units in Wyoming, transferrable landowner licenses could take up all of the available limited quota licenses before residents or non-residents have an opportunity to draw.”
The groups also say the bill could impact hunter access on private lands, opting to lease access to their land as opposed to participate in programs like AccessYes. They say the bill could increase pressure in general hunting units as fewer licenses would be available to draw, impacting the overall hunting experience in “overcrowded general hunt areas.”