A controversial proposal that could help Wyoming landowners make money from elk, deer and pronghorn that use their property has passed muster with a legislative committee and will be up for debate when lawmakers convene in February in Cheyenne.

At issue are reforms that would make Wyoming’s landowner licenses “transferable,” or able to be sold. Landowner licenses, which date to 1949 in Wyoming, are special hunting tags awarded for elk, deer and pronghorn if property owners possess at least 160 acres and can demonstrate certain thresholds of animal use.

Some other western states have already made landowner licenses transferable to varying degrees. The change has led to non-residents paying top dollar for the hunt of their choice, at the expense of diminished opportunities for locals. The

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