Grasshoppers have the potential to cause significant harm to Wyoming’s rangeland and crops due to their voracious feeding habits. During outbreak years, adult grasshopper densities can exceed 30 insects per square yard, well beyond sustainable levels in most areas of the state.

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In 1973 the Wyoming legislature identified grasshoppers as a designated pest under the state weed and pest law. This designation allows Weed and Pest Control Districts to assist landowners and federal land managers in their district with implementing landscape-scale grasshopper management programs using practices established by the University of Wyoming, College of Agriculture including the use of the Reduced Agent and Area Treatment strategy (RAATs).  Weed and Pest Control Districts also work with USDA APHIS to monitor grasshopper outbreaks on local and state-wide levels.