Trapping Reform in Wyoming

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Fisher Comments Needed – Deadline February 11, 2017

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is considering granting Endangered Species Act protections for the Northern Rocky Mountain population of fisher.  There is currently limited information on the status of fishers in the Northern Rocky Mountains and wildlife managers are unsure of how many currently reside in the proposed area of protection.  Please provide comments to the USFWS that you would like to see this population protected.   Fisher are highly susceptible to being caught in marten traps and have likely been extirpated from Wyoming. The Wyoming Game and Fish Department continues to allow mostly unregulated trapping in habitat that would support fishers.

Missing Fisher to be Considered for Protected List article in the Jackson Hole News and Guide.

 

How to comment:
Visit the regulations.gov website.
Additional information on the potential action.
Deadline February 11, 2017

The USFWS is specifically looking for biological information to determine the current status of the distinct population segment of fisher and what threats exist to the fisher in the Northern Rocky Mountains.  Comments should contain scientific information and focus on causes of fisher mortality.

Talking Points:
 . Little research exists that proves there is a healthy population of fishers in the Northern 
   Rocky Mountains.
 . Trapping still remains a very viable threat to these animals in Idaho, Montana and
   Wyoming. Montana has a trapping season on fishers even though there is no data to
   prove their populations can support this.
 . Fisher are commonly caught in traps set for marten.  With an unlimited amount of 
   traps set in Wyoming, fisher are at risk of being caught and killed by traps.
 . There have been very few reported sightings of fisher in the past 10 years in Wyoming.
 . The impending delisting of wolves and possibly grizzly bears in Wyoming will only
   increase the amount of trapping and place fisher at further risk of becoming
   incidental catches in traps and snares.


Threatened and Endangered Species:  Trapping Has Implications
Are fisher extirpated in Wyoming?

Do we want the opportunity to view fisher in Wyoming? Some evidence suggests our mesopredators (often the target of trapping as ‘furbearer’) are disappearing, including the fisher and lynx. Wyoming houndsmen believe our bobcats are reaching record lows due to uncontrolled trapping just so a handful of people can benefit from the sale of the fur off the backs of these persecuted, secretive mesopredators.

The fisher is believed to be extirpated from the state, but what if the limited monitoring data is incorrect? Animals under Endangered Species Act listing deserve protection. Assuming ESA species are absent from the state has implications, as it allows trapping to continue in unlimited, unmonitored ways in what may well be critical habitat.

If you have any information about a fisher sighting, please share with us.
If you spot either animal, alive or not, in a trap or free, past or present or future, please share details and photos. Helpful information includes photos of tracks with a scale for comparison and location coordinates. Conclusions regarding the presence of fishers could be made more easily if there is verifiable physical evidence.
Send to  info@wyominguntrapped.org or call 307-201-2422.

Thank you!

 

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