Wednesday, AUGUST 6, 2025 |
Photo – WY Game and Fish logo – Courtesy Wyoming Game and Fish
A newly released report details the law enforcement activities of Game and Fish wardens.
On Monday, June 28th, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department released its 2024 Law Enforcement Report. Saratoga Game Warden Connor Worthen explained that the 42-page document provides detailed information and statistics on wildlife law enforcement activities across the state’s eight districts.
Worthen took over the Saratoga office from Game Warden Levi Wood in April.
According to the report, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department recorded 3,102 total violations in 2024. The majority, around 65 percent, were classified as wildlife infractions, including poaching and illegal possession. In the Laramie Region, which covers approximately 10,000 square miles including Carbon County, 667 total Game and Fish law enforcement actions took place. Game Warden Worthen said 397 of those enforcement actions were related to hunting. In many cases, the offenders received warnings rather than formal citations.
In 2023, Laramie Region game wardens conducted a total of 552 law enforcement actions. The previous year, they carried out 371.
Last November, one of the most notable Game and Fish cases occurred in Carbon County, when then-Saratoga Game Warden Levi Wood discovered a large number of frozen brown trout in a game processor’s freezer. A total of 32 frozen brown trout were taken from the North Platte River, 18 of which exceeded the maximum legal size. Additionally, anglers are only permitted to catch and possess three fish per day.
Warden Worthen said the three anglers from California were located on Veteran’s Island, in Saratoga. When confronted, the fishermen admitted to catching the trout, but said they did not know that they could only have three fish each day.
According to the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, one angler took 10 brown trout, four of which were more than 16 inches long. The second fisherman took 15 brown trout and one rainbow trout, with nine of the brown trout exceeding the size limit. And the third angler took seven brown trout, including five that were more than 16 inches long.
Due to the severity of their violations, the three out-of-state anglers were cited for exceeding the limit of game fish and violating size restrictions. Warden Worthen said the fishermen were ordered to pay a combined $1,140 in fines and $1,500 in restitution and had their national fishing privileges revoked for one year.
According to the Wyoming Game and Fish Department’s 2024 Law Enforcement Report, Laramie Region game wardens spent a total of 7,848 hours patrolling 115,948 miles of land and water last year.
Statewide, fishing without a license was the most common violation, with 263 reported incidents. Second, at 224 violations, was hunting, fishing, trapping, or collecting shed antlers on private property. Rounding out the top three most common violations of 2024 was failure to stop at an Aquatic Invasive Species check station for inspection, which saw 213 violations last year.
