The following story is a press release from the Wyoming Game and Fish Department:
CHEYENNE, Wyoming — Wyoming House Bill 0045, which removes otters from protected status, took effect after Gov. Mark Gordon signed the bill into law on Feb. 24. For the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, the bill will have important impacts for the management of otters in the state.
“Removing otters from the definition of a protected animal gives the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission authority to regulate management,” said Dan Smith, Game and Fish wildlife division supervisor and chief game warden. “It gives wildlife managers another tool in the toolbox when making decisions on how to mitigate conflict, build public support and tolerance and best manage otters.”
Since 1953, Wyoming otters have been classified as protected animals, banning any hunting and preventing any type of agency management. At the time, populations were nearly wiped out due to excessive fur trapping, environmental challenges, and habitat loss. The approach allowed for a slow population regrowth with native genetics for Wyoming otters and differed from other states that brought in nonnative otter populations to increase local populations.
With the passage of the new legislation and under Commission Regulation Chapter 52, otters are now classified as non-game animals. The new designation allows the Wyoming Game and Fish Department to use strategies such as deterrence, mitigation, and relocation to benefit otter populations. It also allows lethal removal as a last resort.
More than 80 mammal species in Wyoming are classified as nongame, including the swift fox, pygmy rabbit and iconic black-footed ferret. Game and Fish partners with several agencies and nonprofit organizations to improve the understanding of these species and improve management methods.
Smith emphasized that the nongame designation will not result in a recreational hunting or trapping season for otters.
“Trappers obtain a license to trap furbearing animals and predators,” he said. “This new legislation does not define or classify otters as furbearing animals, and they will have the same protections from hunting and trapping with their nongame designation as they did when they were defined as protected animals. At this time, the population has not rebounded to a level for Wyoming to consider a regulated harvest. ”
For Game and Fish Director Angi Bruce, bringing the management of Wyoming otter populations back into the agency’s scope will ultimately benefit both landowners and the health of the species.
“The important thing for the public to take away from this legislation is that it will not result in an automatic hunting or trapping season for otters,” Bruce said. “What this bill will do is allow our agency to better manage the species, and ultimately work towards projects that will help continue to grow a healthy population.”
