New House Bill Says Snowmobiles Aren’t for “Whacking” Wolves — Again

The original story by Mark Heinz for Cowboy State Daily.

A bipartisan group in the US House is taking another swing at banning a practice critics call “whacking” — using snowmobiles to run down wolves and other predators — on federal land across all 50 states.

The proposal, introduced Thursday, is called the “Snowmobiles Aren’t Weapons Act” (SAW Act). It’s the second year in a row lawmakers have tried to pass it after last year’s version fizzled out.

Supporters say the bill was sparked by the February 2024 incident near Daniel, Wyoming, where local man Cody Roberts allegedly ran over a wolf with a snowmobile, captured it, abused it, and later killed it behind the Green River Bar.

That case is still moving through the courts — and this week Roberts’ attorney asked a judge to dismiss the felony animal cruelty charge against him.

“I think the Cody Roberts incident is still in the forefront of the minds of so many people,” said Wayne Pacelle, president of Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy, who has been pushing for the SAW Act since its first run.

The 2025 bill is led by Rep. Val Hoyle (D-Oregon) and co-sponsored by a bipartisan lineup: Rep. Mike Lawler (R-New York), Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Michigan), and Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pennsylvania).

Hoyle sits on the House Natural Resources Committee — the same committee as Wyoming Rep. Harriet Hageman, who also chairs the Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries.

Hageman loudly opposed the 2024 version of the bill. Her office didn’t respond to a comment request on the new one before publication.

The SAW Act would ban using snowmobiles to run over predators on federal land nationwide.

It would not apply on:

• private property;
• state-controlled lands.

That distinction matters in Wyoming, where “whacking” has not been banned at the state level.

Pacelle noted that Oregon, Colorado and Minnesota already have state laws restricting the practice. And Wyoming lawmakers have tried — and failed — to do something similar.

During the 2025 session, Rep. Mike Schmid (R-La Barge) introduced a Wyoming ban that didn’t pass. He’s told Cowboy State Daily he plans to try again in 2026.

Pacelle argues this isn’t a typical culture-war animal bill — he says it’s one of the rare issues where people who disagree on almost everything else line up on the same side.

“This is something that every dyed-in-the-wool hunter and every orthodox animal welfare activist can agree on,” he said, adding that running down animals with snowmobiles isn’t “traditional” and doesn’t reflect a “Western way of life.”

The bill dropped the same day the House took up H.R. 845, a separate measure that would remove Endangered Species Act protections for wolves across the Lower 48. That effort is sponsored by Reps. Lauren Boebert (R-Colorado) and Tom Tiffany (R-Wisconsin).

Wolf advocates worry loosening federal protections could encourage more aggressive state policies — including allowing “whacking.”

Wolves have already lost federal protection in Wyoming, Montana and Idaho, where wolf hunting and trapping are legal.

For now, the SAW Act is back — and its supporters are betting that the public backlash from a Wyoming wolf case, plus bipartisan sponsorship, gives it a better shot the second time around.