Citing a Wyoming law that protects landowners who allow outdoor recreation on their land, a federal judge has ruled against a woman who filed a wrongful death suit that blamed federal researchers after her husband was killed by a grizzly bear that had been tranquilized and released near the East Gate of Yellowstone National Park.
U.S. District Court Judge Nancy Freudenthal in Cheyenne issued a summary judgment in the civil case on Tuesday. Freudenthal dismissed the case “based upon Wyoming’s Recreational Use Act,” a state law that releases landowners from liability or obligations to warn non-paying recreation users in relation to potentially dangerous activities.