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Wyoming U.S. Attorney Will Rigorously Prosecute Marijuana on Federal Lands, Including Yellowstone and Grand Teton

The move follows the Justice Department's September rollback of Biden-era leniency on minor marijuana cases.

FILE - Tourists traverse a boardwalk in the Upper Geyser Basin, June 22, 2022, in Yellowstone National Park, Wyo. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown, File)
FILE - The Teton mountains reflect on Oxbow Bend in Grand Teton National Park in Moran, Wyo., on Friday, Aug. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Amber Baesler, File)
FILE - Tourists take photos in Grand Teton National Park, Wyo., Aug. 14, 2022. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)
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Overview

  • U.S. Attorney Darin Smith said his office will pursue marijuana possession and use cases on national parks and other federal lands in Wyoming, calling the drug's societal effects detrimental.
  • Federal law governs national parks regardless of state legalization, and marijuana remains a Schedule I controlled substance even as Colorado and Montana allow legal sales.
  • Smith framed the shift as a reversal of recent policy that discouraged misdemeanor prosecutions after Biden-era pardons, adding that his office began implementing the new approach in late September.
  • The Justice Department and Smith's office did not release the new guidance, and legal experts noted enforcement will hinge on available personnel as the Interior Department recruits 500 officers for the National Park Service.
  • Reactions ranged from criticism by park visitors and NORML over resource use to officials citing public-lands protection concerns, with rangers in Sequoia National Park seizing more than 2,300 marijuana plants in August.