The Wyoming Hunter Defense Fund: Protecting the Future of Hunting in Wyoming

In Wyoming, non-resident hunters play a vital role in supporting the state’s wildlife and hunting heritage. From helping meet harvest quotas to providing millions in tourism dollars and covering a major portion of the Wyoming Game & Fish Department’s budget, these hunters are essential to conservation and game management in the Cowboy State.

But until recently, sportsmen didn’t have a strong voice in the legislative process. That’s why the Wyoming Hunter Defense Fund (WHDF) was created.

Thanks to the Wyoming Hunter Defense Fund and those who have donated to this important cause, a victory was won last month that saved Wyoming nonresident hunting license allocations.

Senate Bill SF0069 would have cut nonresident license allocations for moose, bighorn sheep, mountain goat and grizzly to just 10%. This would have cut the number of nonresident moose tags in half and reduced nonresident bighorn sheep and mounting goat hunting opportunities by 60%.

Fortunately the Wyoming Hunter Defense Fund was able to lobby during the 2015 general legislative session. With help from the Wyoming Office of Tourism and other concerned businesses and individuals around the state, the bill was soundly defeated.

Despite the fact that hunting tourism represents hundreds of millions of dollars in economic impact and provides the majority of funding for our wildlife and hunting opportunities, bills like this have become all too common recently. If you are a Wyoming business owner, resident hunter, nonresident hunter or anyone who values the benefits of hunting tourism in Wyoming, we encourage you to donate to the Wyoming Hunter Defense fund.

We are already battling similar bills and the fight certainly is not over. A recent House Bill (HB112) sought to implement a 90/10 license allocation on all big game hunting licenses in Wyoming. This would have cut the number of nonresident hunters in Wyoming by half. That would equate to a loss of $100 million in tourism revenue, $7 million in lost license revenue for the Game and Fish Department, 250,000 acres in land access, and hundreds of thousands of dollars in Conservation Stamp funding.

The Wyoming Hunter Defense fund has been working hard to communicate this message to business owners, residents and nonresident hunters. Wyoming nonresident hunting license sales are a critical part of our state's economy and are in large part responsible for the great hunting opportunities that we enjoy today.

For more information, please visit wyominghunterdefensefund.com.