Coyote killing contest regulations approved by Nevada lawmakers

Audio By Carbonatix

Putting an end to more than a decade of inaction and indecision, Nevada lawmakers on Wednesday finalized a state regulation for controversial coyote killing competitions on an 7-5 vote.

The Legislative Commission, a panel of state lawmakers that approves regulations when the full Legislature is not in session, voted to approve a season and hunting requirements for the competitions. Coyotes are considered an “unprotected” species in Nevada.

The regulation was approved last month by the Nevada Department of Wildlife Commission, a nine-member, governor-appointed panel responsible for establishing policy and setting regulations for state wildlife officials.

Under the regulation, the season will run from Sept. 1 to March 31. Participants will be required to hold a trapping or hunting license to participate.

Five Democratic lawmakers — Assm. Howard Watts (D-Las Vegas), Assm. Shea Backus (D-Las Vegas), Sen. Melanie Scheible (D-Las Vegas), Sen. Rochelle Nguyen (D-Las Vegas) and Sen. Marilyn Dondero Loop (D-Las Vegas) — voted against the regulation.

Debate over how to handle the competitions, in which coyotes are killed for cash prizes, dates back to 2015, when opponents petitioned the wildlife commission to address the issue. All efforts to eliminate the competitions have failed since, including bills in 2019 and 2023.

The passing of the regulation was an attempt “to find some middle ground with a regulation,” wildlife commission chair Shane Rogers told lawmakers.

The move had the vocal support of Sen. Robin Titus (R-Wellington) and Sen. Ira Hansen (R-Sparks).

“I applaud the wildlife commission for actually trying to solve this,” Titus said. “The wildlife commission has made a compromise … you came up with a solution.”

Opponents to the regulation, including lobbyist and former Nevada Republican Sen. Warren Hardy and Reno City Councilwoman Naomi Duerr, disagreed.

“This is not a regulation. This does nothing more than legitimize in statute this practice which … violates almost every tenant of ethical hunting,” Hardy said during public comment. “The statement the state will make by adopting this regulation is ‘We don’t care.’”

___

This story was originally published by The Nevada Independent and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.