Trapping Reform in Wyoming

Social Icons

Wyoming Untrapped Logo

WU in the Media

2019

JH News & Guide Editorial

Cache Trapping is a Bad Idea

December 31, 2019

Read More

JH News & Guide Article

Trapper forewarns public about line up Cache Creek

December 23, 2019

Read More

JH News & Guide Article

Emeritus wolfer: Be vigilant for traps

November 27, 2019

Read More

2017

Wyo4News Interview Radio

Wyo4News Insights: Wyoming Untrapped

November 13, 2017

Read More

JH News & Guide Article

 Young or Old, the Bills Add Up

September 13, 2017

Read More

JH News & Guide Article

Stearns Pleads Not Guilty to Animal Cruelty
August 31, 2017

Read More

The Washington Post Article

This Bobcat Brings in $308,000 a Year
July 13, 2017

Read More

Planet Jackson Hole Article

Wildlife Accounting
July 12, 2017

Read More

JH News & Guide Article

Bobcat’s Worth?  Study Says More Alive Than Dead
July 12, 2017

Read More

JH News & Guide Article

Goldendoodle Escapes Trap Set for Muskrats
July 4, 2017

Read More

JH News & Guide Article

Griz With Trap on Foot Still Hasn’t Been Found
June 21 2017

Read More

JH News & Guide Article

Coyote-killing M-44s Targeted as Dangerous
June 14, 2017

Read More

JH News & Guide Article

Grizzly on Togwotee is Seen Carrying a Trap
June 7, 2017

Read More

JH News & Guide Article

Coyote-killing M-44s still OK in Wyoming
April 12, 2017

Read More

KHOL 89.1 Interview Radio

Wyoming Untrapped – Coyote Killings
February 22, 2017

Read More

JH News & Guide Article

Missing Fishers to be Considered for Protected List
February 1, 2017

Read More

JH News & Guide Article

Trapping reform bill is dropped by House
January 25, 2017

Read More

2016

JH News & Guide Article

Keep Your Pets Safe From Traps
September 21, 2016

Read More

JH News & Guide Article

Nonprofit Pursues Trapping Reg Tweaks
September 14, 2016

Read More

KHOL 89.1 Interview

Could You Release Your Dog From A Trap?
September 13, 2016

Read More

JH News & Guide Article

Bill Sets Trap For Lions
January 23, 2016

Read More

2015

JH News & Guide Article

State Says Trapping OK On Edge Of Town, Cache
July 15, 2015

Read More

JH News & Guide Article

State’s Trapping Plan Lambasted By Citizens
June 3, 2015

Read More

JH News & Guide Article

Proposal Would Stop Cache Creek Trapping
May 13, 2015

Read More

Letters to the Editor

L Robertson/ WU Board of Directors, (January 17, 2024)

January 17, 2024 – Jackson Hole News and Guide

Traps cause suffering

Extreme cold temperatures settled in Wyoming for the past few days, minus 28 degrees with minus 50 wind chill last night in areas following a foot of snow. High temperatures today are subzero teens, dropping even lower tonight.

Any animal caught in a trap or snare is suffering from the freezing temperatures, unable to find shelter, food and water, unable to move in fear and pain, and suffering the severest cold winter conditions.

The public is requested not to harass wildlife in the winter, but this treatment is the worst form of harassment and is legal for days.

When caught in leg-hold traps, bobcat paws can freeze if wind chill dips below negative 10.

“Typical foothold traps and snares often produce some level of complete or partial restriction of blood flow to the limb distal to the mechanism and/or damage at some level to the tissues at the gripping point,” writes Winston Vickers, associate veterinarian of the Wildlife Health Center at University of California, Davis. “Adding extreme hypothermic conditions would presumably make the situation worse.”

There is no protection for the thousands of wild or domestic animals caught in traps and snares during these storms. The weather can be so extreme that traps can’t be checked until the conditions lighten. Yet there is no call to shut the traps before these extreme weather systems move in.

Traps and snares should be disarmed during extreme cold spells, which would add the only humane component to this culture. Trapping reform in Wyoming is progressing but has a long way to go as we continue discussions with our wildlife decision-makers.

Please call or write to share your voice. Try Gov. Mark Gordon, Wyoming Game and Fish Commission President Ralph Brokaw, Wyoming Game and Fish Department Director Brian Nesvik, Wyoming Department of Agriculture Director Doug Miyamoto and State Director USDA/Wildlife Services Jared Zierenberg. The online version of this letter at JHNewsAndGuide.com has their email addresses.

Let them know that allowing animals to be legally trapped and snared in these severely cold temperatures for up to three days, one week, or longer is unacceptable. There are solutions, starting with a mandatory requirement to check traps and snares every 24 hours.

L. Robertson Jackson

Contacts:

You can politely reach out to:
Governor Mark Gordon
governor@wyo.gov
307-777-7434
Wyoming Game and Fish Commission
President Ralph Brokaw
Ralph.Brokaw@wyo.gov
307-777-4600
Wyoming Department of Agriculture
https://wyagric.state.wy.us/directors-office
Director Doug Miyamoto
doug.miyamoto@wyo.gov
307-777-6569
Wyoming Game and Fish Department
Director Brian Nesvik
brian.nesvik@wyo.gov
307-777-4501
State Director USDA/Wildlife Services-
Jared Zierenberg
Casper, WY 82602-0059
jared.r.zierenberg@aphis.usda.gov
307-261-5336

 

Elena Tillman / WU Supporter, (March 24, 2023)

March 24, 2023 – Pinedale Roundup

Traps Are a Safety Hazard on Public Lands

As an eager visitor to the naturally beautiful state of Wyoming, I was appalled and disappointed to learn of the ubiquitous and indiscriminate trapping and snaring practices present on these precious public lands. My family and I highly value the natural world, including wildlife and its vital role in our ecosystem; we traveled to the area to enjoy the awe-inspiring and historically significant wilderness, and were in disbelief that trapping is still permitted.
Not only have we seen traps cause needless suffering to wildlife, we discovered that thousands of non-target animals, including pets, livestock, endangered and threatened species, and birds of prey are victims as well. As a result, not only does our family feel unsafe to recreate on the trails as we see this as an issue of public safety, but also no longer wish to support communities that engage in cruel and brutal behavior towards highly sentient animals, secondary to outdated management practices.
Additionally, from a bio-diversity perspective, a law of ecology states that complexity brings forth stability. Indiscriminate killing of mammals and raptors therefore opposes this basic principle. As an avid outdoorswoman, I implore state and local wildlife management agencies to expeditiously implement the models of modern-day wildlife biology and ethics, through laws and regulations that reflect empirical evidence.
Thank you!
Very Respectfully,
Elena Tillman

Elena Tillman / WU Supporter, (March 22, 2023)

March 22, 2023 – Jackson Hole News and Guide

Traps Are Appalling

As an eager visitor to the naturally beautiful state of Wyoming, I was appalled and disappointed to learn of the ubiquitous and indiscriminate trapping and snaring practices present on these precious public lands. My family and I highly value the natural world, including wildlife and its vital role in our ecosystem; we traveled to the area to enjoy the awe-inspiring and historically significant wilderness, and were in disbelief that trapping is still permitted.
Not only have we seen traps cause needless suffering to wildlife, we discovered that thousands of non-target animals, including pets, livestock, endangered and threatened species, and birds of prey are victims as well. As a result, not only does our family feel unsafe to recreate on the trails as we see this as an issue of public safety, but also no longer wish to support communities that engage in cruel and brutal behavior towards highly sentient animals, secondary to outdated management practices.
Additionally, from a bio-diversity perspective, a law of ecology states that complexity brings forth stability. Indiscriminate killing of mammals and raptors therefore opposes this basic principle. As an avid outdoorswoman, I implore state and local wildlife management agencies to expeditiously implement the models of modern-day wildlife biology and ethics, through laws and regulations that reflect empirical evidence.
Thank you!
Very Respectfully,
Elena Tillman

Leslie Patten / WU Board of Directors (March 17, 2021)

March 17, 2021 – Salt Lake City Tribune

(Jacob W. Frank/National Park Service via AP) This Nov. 7, 2017, photo provided by the National Park Service shows a wolf in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming.

(Jacob W. Frank/National Park Service via AP) This Nov. 7, 2017, photo provided by the National Park Service shows a wolf in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming.

One day in late spring, when the light is low and dusk lingers for hours, I head out for a hike in a series of craggy volcanic contours of hills and narrow arroyos. Following an animal trail, I slide into a tight channel with a trickle of water, looking for bear or cougar tracks.

As I head back up to the makeshift trail, a wolf comes trotting by. We see each other simultaneously, less than 10 feet apart. I relish the moment, but she doesn’t. Startled, she jolts, eyes me for less than a moment, then darts off.

This was my last close wolf encounter, two years ago. Although these encounters are vivid in my memory, my multi-year observations of the impacts wolves had on my valley is the story I cherish most.

I was fortunate to be able to buy a home in a remote valley next to Yellowstone National Park in 2005, about a decade after wolf reintroduction. Wolves had been in the valley for a few years, managed by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and protected from hunting.

Elk descend from the high country in December, and wolves follow. Coyotes were learning about living with wolves, many times to their demise. With fewer coyotes, foxes made a comeback and I saw them often. By watching winter bird activity of eagles, ravens, and magpies, I could find wolf kills.

In 2012, Endangered Species protections were removed for wolves in Wyoming. The state immediately began a hunt lasting two years, until federal protections were restored. From 2014 to 2016, wolves in Wyoming were back on the Endangered Species list and had a short reprieve.

But in 2017, Wyoming wolves were delisted again. Wyoming Game & Fish has decided my hunt zone, adjacent to the park, is easier for wolf hunting “opportunity” due to backcountry access. That translates into the highest wolf-killing quotas in the area where wolves are managed by the state.

With five consecutive years of hunting now, I no longer see wolves nor hear them. My winter nights are silent.

Wyoming Game & Fish manages wolves based on hunting opportunity. What about my opportunity, to hear the primal howl of wolves, to observe them, and to witness all the amazing changes — changes that resulted in a landscape teeming with life? Without the natural play of all the varied wildlife, my valley, like so much of the lower 48, is a bereft landscape.

I’m using my sorrow and anger to express what we who cherish our wild lands and wildlife must do: speak up and press for change in state wildlife management, especially adjacent to our National Parks. This may mean relisting wolves and revamping the parameters upon which jurisdiction can be given back to the states.

While fighting for reform, I’ll remember those rare and powerful moments I was privileged to experience. One evening while returning home at dusk, three wolves ran across the highway, beginning their night’s hunt. I was struck by their excitement, intensity, and force.

Life can be suppressed, but it cannot be crushed. Wolves, in their ceaseless energy and deep intelligence, epitomize the purity and dynamism of life itself.

Leslie Patten

Leslie Patten

Leslie Patten is the author of “Ghostwalker: Tracking a Mountain Lion’s Soul through Science and Story.” Her latest book, “Shadow Landscape: Notes from the Field,” describes intimate wildlife encounters. She lives in Northwest Wyoming.

Wyoming Untrapped (December 29, 2021)

December 29, 2021 – Jackson Hole News and Guide

Be Snare Aware

Our beautiful Wyoming landscapes are littered with thousands of lethal snares every day of the year. They are cheap, lightweight, easy to use and can catch animals of any size. These detrimental steel devices trap animals indiscriminately, killing and maiming endangered species, even if they are not the primary target. If the snares are legal, no one is held accountable for killing these animals, or your beloved pet.

We have provided the tools to release our pets from these steel devices, including a trap-snare safety brochure and trap-release workshops. The public is now aware that these traps and snares are managed with check times that desperately need refinement. They understand that there is no requirement for non-target reporting, which makes it impossible to know how many pets, livestock and wildlife are being injured and killed annually by trapping and snaring. And they realize that wildlife cannot be effectively managed without knowing their populations. We are on our own when we step out onto those very lands which belong to each of us.

The good news is that Wyoming Untrapped has not received any reports of domestic or wild trapping incidents in Teton County in two years, although some may not have been reported.

Snaring season is in full swing during these holidays. One of the most important tools you should carry in the field is a cable-cutter tool, hefty enough to cut an eight-of-an-inch-thick aircraft cable. Deadly trigger-powered snares have killed pets and countless other non-target and target animals in our state. Until these brutal steel devices can be removed from our landscapes, it’s your responsibility to stay safe and to know what to do.

Please learn to protect yourselves and your four-legged friends! See WyomingUntrapped.org for all the tools you will need to stay safe on our public trails.

L. Robertson Wyoming Untrapped

Susan Eriksen-Meier/ Wyoming Untrapped (May 21, 2021)

May 21, 2021 – Casper Star Tribune Guest Column

Wyoming Untrapped: Beware of hazards on public lands

In Wyoming, we need our space and the freedom to roam on our public lands. Increased visitation and development is sending us further afield in search of solitude. We are blessed to have such a spacious state. However, we are faced with increased hazards almost anywhere on our public lands as dogs and other “non-target” species are trapped and snared.

Traps and snares can kill your pet, and it’s legal under Wyoming law, even directly on public trails. More than 80 Wyoming dogs have been reported trapped unintentionally since 2010. Some of those died with their owners desperately trying to save their lives. Without the right equipment and information, they never had a chance. Trap release preparedness is part of being responsible for the safety of your dog and anyone else who’s with you.

When you head out, remember TRAP: Take your jacket. Remember your wire cutters. Always have a static leash. Prepare to carry your dog.

First, take care of you. An injured animal, even your best friend, is going to bite. Using your jacket, put your dog’s head into one sleeve so you are less likely to be bitten. The sleeve of your coat also covers the dog’s eyes and smells like you, providing some comfort.

Leghold traps are the easiest to deal with. Using your hands or feet, compress the levers or springs on each side of the trap to open its jaws and release the dog. It is always a good idea to visit a veterinarian after any incident to rule out a fracture or a dog’s broken teeth from biting at the trap.

Killing neck snares are more of an emergency and are deadly. They are designed to asphyxiate by way of a high-grade wire noose and a one-way locking tab. Some have a spring so that animals go into shock quickly, within a minute or two. Snares are intended to catch animals immediately behind the jaw and compress the carotid arteries and trachea.

Some animals are snared lower down the neck, resulting in a slower, more painful death. This is why in some states, but not yet Wyoming, trappers are required to check snares every 24 hours. The best choice is to cut the wire around the animal’s neck, but you’ll need good (Felco-type) wire cutters to sever the wire. Always carry your cutters and be prepared to use them.

Lethal Conibears, or body-grip/quick-kill traps, are square frame devices with strong springs. They can be challenging to open, particularly the large ones found near wetland areas. Trappers set these with a specific tool, and it is unlikely you will have a setting tool with you on your hike, and only a possibility that you will be able to save your pet. However, if you have strong hands and it is a smaller body-grip trap, you may be able to compress one spring and latch the device so the animal can breathe. If springs are too strong, there is a simple way to open the trap using a leash or rope. It requires threading it through the large rings of the spring. This gives enough leverage to compress the springs and possibly free the dog.

It’s heart-wrenching and dangerous to leave your trapped and injured dog alone while you go get help. In a good scenario, you’ll carry your dog back to the truck after you have freed her. If she’s a 75-pound lab mix, and you’re 20 miles out, that could be a problem. Be prepared to walk out by bringing a backpack or dog-carrying harness like the Fido-Pro.

It is legal to remove your pet from a trap or snare, but illegal to remove it. Report the incident to the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, along with the geographic coordinates. If able, take a photo of your pet and the trap. Also report the incident details to Wyoming Untrapped for recording on the only database of dog-trapping incidents.

Please know what to do before heading out into the field. Find all the information necessary to save the life of your pet on wyominguntrapped.org, including online trap release instructional videos, a downloadable trap release brochure that you can carry with you, and trap-release tool kits called UNtrap Packs. In-person workshops are also available. Keep in touch with Wyoming Untrapped for workshop locations throughout Wyoming, dates, and times. Meanwhile, get involved with trapping reform issues in our state. We all love our dogs. Please stay trap-aware and keep yours alive and well.

Wyoming Untrapped promotes trapping reform through education and advocacy for Wyoming’s people, pets and wildlife.

Susan Eriksen-Meier is the founder of Eriksen-Meier Consulting. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Natural Resources from the University of Massachusetts, a Masters in Environmental Science from Antioch New England Graduate School, and is a Standards for Excellence licensed consultant. Susan spends as much time as possible on Wyoming trails with her best friend, Fritz, a herding mix who found his way into Susan’s heart through the Star Valley Animal Shelter.

Loren Taylor/ WU Executive Director (May 19, 2021)

May 21, 2021 – Jackson Hole News and Guide

Traps and Trails Don’t Mix

Over 80 dogs have fallen victim to the hidden dangers of traps and snares in Wyoming. Leaving many maimed and at least ten killed, even more, are left unreported. The majority of these incidents occur on public lands when dog owners and their beloved pets hit the trails. Learning that these brutal unmanned traps are widely dispersed and prevalent on public lands and perfectly legal for trappers to trap and kill your pet with no accountability is horrifying to most pet owners.

Currently, in Wyoming, trappers can place traps and snares almost anywhere on public lands, including in the middle of a hiking trail. While fur trapping is restricted to the winter season, trapping for predators such as coyote and wolves can occur year-round and requires no license. The public will never be safe on public lands until trapping is reformed. Together we can create change, and your voices are needed.

Over the last several months, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD) reevaluated its current trapping regulations using an intensive public participation process. As a result, the WGFD has proposed five trapping regulation changes for public comment that will go to a final vote and possibly into effect in July 2021. Recognizing the hazards traps are to dogs, WGFD has recommended changes that apply mostly to Wildlife Habitat Management Areas (WHMA), to protect hunting dogs during the open pheasant hunting season. Opting not to evoke these same recommendations on all public lands, leaving all other pet owners, our pets, and wildlife still vulnerable to these hidden dangers on the landscape.  

These recommendations are a step in the right direction, but even if these changes are adopted in July 2021, they fail to address the majority of trapping dangers facing you, your family, and our wildlife. Your opinion matters. You could save lives. The WGFD will be accepting public comment on Chapter 4, Furbearing Animal Hunting or Trapping Seasons until Friday, June 4, at 5 pm. The WDGF will be hosting a virtual public meeting to discuss Chapter 4, and Chapter 47 Gray Wolf Hunting Season in Jackson this Tuesday and Wednesday at 6 pm. You can register for these meetings or submit a public comment by visiting www.wgfd.wyo.gov. Please share your public comment today.

For more information on trapping regulation changes, talking points, or trapping in Wyoming, please visit www.wyominguntrapped.org.

Loren Taylor
Executive Director
Wyoming Untrapped

Ann Smith / WU Board of Directors (January 6, 2021)

January 6, 2021 – Jackson Hole News and Guide

Check traps every day

The snow has been gently falling. It seems peaceful on the landscape. But the winter season is the most dangerous time of the year for all Wyoming wildlife. In a state rated as one of the worst in the nation for lax trapping regulations and animal cruelty laws, wildlife are exposed to extreme winter conditions for up to three days in traps and seven to 13 days in snares that are littered across our public lands.

The brutality begins as trapped wildlife are unable to respond to their instincts to flee the jaws of a steel trap or snare, sometimes called a “steel necktie.” A leading bobcat researcher stated that “Leghold traps require a huge amount of skill (which many trappers don’t have) and can still be tricky even in the best of circumstances. They can still result in leg and paw fractures or loss of blood flow, resulting in the death of the foot/toes. The problems with footholds are particularly relevant in cold environments” when an animal can chew off its own paw. If you have seen wildlife missing front or hind paws, imagine why.

As we envision a future where inhumane traps and snares are unimaginable, how can we secure changes (short of a ban) for urgent issues while quickly striving for substantial reform? Twentyfour- hour trap checks may provide a palatable option for wildlife managers, resulting in earlier action, and one that we all can agree with. This step would reduce domestic and wild animals’ injuries and increase survival rates when animals are caught unintentionally.

A 24-hour rule in Wyoming makes sense. Even the Wyoming Game and Fish Department’s online Hunter Ed course recommends 24-hour trap checks. Wyoming should join the other 36 states that have already taken the progressive leap.

The past is not a place we want to live in. It’s time for decision-makers to acknowledge the public’s increasing power of voice for immediate solutions for trapping and snaring reform. The tide of public opinion has shifted and we aren’t going back.

Ann Smith/ Wyoming Untrapped Board Director
Jackson, WY

Rodger McDaniel (December 27, 2020)

December 27, 2020 – Wyoming Tribune Eagle

Trapping regulations need to protect pets from harm
The fuse has been lit on the most volatile issue of which most Wyoming people are unaware. If you are not a trapper or have not had your pet die a horrible death in a trap laid alongside a trail on public lands, you probably know nothing about the debate quietly being fought between trappers and those who think trapping should be regulated.
Full disclosure. I learned of the conflict from my wife, an animal rights advocate, involved with other Wyoming people encouraging the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission to enact trapping regulations.
I chose to write about the controversy for two purposes: to make people aware of it and, in the hope that those on both sides of the issue will make this a matter of greater public dialogue.
Trappers point out that their hobby or vocation is protected in the Wyoming Constitution. It is true that Article 1, Section 39 of the constitution mentions trapping. It also refers to hunting and fishing. And it subjects all three pursuits to regulation. Specifically, the provision says it is not intended to “diminish other private rights or alter the duty of the state to manage wildlife.”
Among those “other private rights” is access to public lands. Virtually unregulated, trapping significantly limits the ability of the public to fully enjoy public lands without the threat of injury or death to pets or children.
Game and Fish does not keep data about unintended injuries or deaths caused by trapping. However, a trapping-regulation advocacy group does. Wyoming Untrapped collects reports on the multiple incidents when those freely enjoying hikes or camping with a family pet on public lands have experienced tragedy.
Most are surprised to learn that traps are set close to trails in popular mountain venues. A Wyoming travel website invites people to enjoy trails in areas like Vedauwoo. “Mountain bikers, hikers and trail runners can progress tirelessly on trails among the pine and aspen trees with views of the Medicine Bow Mountains.” https://travelwyoming.com/…/hike-bike-climb-and-camp…
The Wyoming Untrapped website warns those using public lands. There is good reason to beware. Last month, a couple was hiking at Vedauwoo with two dogs. The dogs were near the trail when one, stopping to sniff what turned out to be bait, was seized by a hidden trap. Although the dog and its humans were traumatized, the dog limped away alive. The dog’s owners said, “We had no idea that traps were even something to worry about while exploring public lands.” https://wyominguntrapped.org/database/#def1487019603-2-54
Other pets have not been so fortunate. Mac, for example died near Pavillion. This beloved family dog was “caught in a POWER neck snare (an extremely lethal device) set for bobcats.”
A Casper nurse took her two dogs to an area they often visited. The dogs exercised by running on the sandstone outcroppings. Both dogs were killed by a hidden M-44 cyanide bomb.
These incidents all harmed pets. But, any of them could just as easily have taken the life of a small, curious child. Maybe your pet; perhaps your child.
Christy Stewart was with family, walking her dog up Wickiup Knoll Trail outside of Afton, same as she’d done almost every day for the past four years. Her dog, a 3-year-old Pyrenees named “Sage,” practically grew up on that run. Sage died, trapped on that trail.
“Out of sight for just minutes, the dog caught a scent of fresh meat used to bait a bobcat snare. It didn’t take long. Sage suffocated, hung in a trap just 20 feet off the trail.“
Afton game warden James Hobbs investigated the incident and reported the trap, baited using a cubby set, was legal.
Therein lies the problem. Not one of these tragedies was the result of any violation of law or regulation. A growing number of public lands users are asking the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission to solve that problem by enacting reasonable trapping regulations so they can safely use public lands without exposing their pets and children to deadly, hidden dangers.
– Rodger McDaniel
** Rodger McDaniel lives in Laramie and is the pastor at Highlands Presbyterian Church in Cheyenne. Email: rmc81448@gmail.com.

Wyoming Untrapped (September 9, 2020)

September 9, 2020 – Jackson Hole News & Guide

Trap reform being realized
The face of trapping in Wyoming is shifting. Wyoming Untrapped, joined by other advocates, filed a petition to the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission last January to address trapping reform this year. The commission responded by initiating a process to learn more about trapping. The Wyoming Game and Fish Department initiated a statewide survey, which revealed the need for change by a wide range of stakeholders. On Oct. 1, furbearer trapping season will open and tens of thousands of traps will be set on our landscapes, in addition to the thousands that are there year-round. Thousands of animals will be injured or killed in these traps or snares.
All corners of our state are now aware of the critical need to address the lack of safety on our public landscapes for our people, pets and wildlife.
Game and Fish scheduled five collaborative public meetings statewide to discuss trapping reform before presenting its recommendation to the commission. Two more are left: virtual meetings today in Laramie and Thursday in Lander.
Wyoming Untrapped has asserted in the past and continues to assert that the following trapping regulation changes are necessary: trap-free areas, a ban of all trigger-loaded power snares and Senneker snares, mandatory signage, trap setbacks off trails (300 feet), mandatory reporting of nontarget species and pets, mandatory reporting of all species trapped, mandatory trapper education, mandatory conservation stamp purchase, live traps used wherever possible, 24-hour trap checks, removal of all traps at end of season, a statewide trapping reform stakeholder task force and a review of furbearer trapping regulations every two years.
Our Wyoming voices matter more than ever.
L. Robertson Jackson
Wyoming Untrapped

Patty and Frank Ewing (August 31, 2020)

August 31, 2020 – Jackson Hole News & Guide

Set trap-fee areas
The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission, which meets in Jackson today, Sept. 2, has made progress in following up with public meetings after initiating an evaluation of trapping issues.
This letter focuses on the need to designate trap-free areas in the Cache Creek and Game Creek drainages. Beavers — which were once numerous along Cache Creek, even creating ponds within town limits (until stopped by Cache Creek being diverted underground through much of Jackson) — are gone where we live at the mouth of the canyon. The large, beautiful beaver ponds a short distance upstream have essentially dried up. These large beaver ponds with multiple beaver lodges on private property contiguous to our property are gone.
The ponds were large and deep, and in addition to creating wonderful protected wildlife habitat, the ponds were used by firefighting helicopters to scoop out huge buckets of water during the recent Horse Thief wildfire which threatened Jackson. Obviously, wetlands created by beavers also create an important green wet zone that is extremely beneficial in containing wildfires. A dry, hot summer such as we are currently experiencing has greatly increased the danger of wildfires. Because of the ease of access to the canyon, it is most certain that beavers have been trapped out. There is no other explanation for the dearth of beavers.
Because of their proximity to Jackson, the Cache Creek and Game Creek drainages in the Bridger-Teton National Forest are the most heavily used trails in Teton County. We have lived at the mouth of Cache Creek canyon for almost 60 years and have observed the transformation of the canyon rich with wildlife. The system of trails once used only by horseback riders, hunters and a few hikers has become heavily used by hundreds of daily mountain bikers, walkers and hikers, most with pets and a few brave horseback riders. Winter use by skiers, walkers, fat tire bikes and snowmobiles, often at night, is rising sharply.
We support reform efforts that Wyoming Untrapped is proposing, including: ban the use of power snares and Senneker snares and instead require live traps; require traps to be checked every 24 hours; have trap-free trail areas; require 300-foot trap setbacks; require reporting of species trapped to determine whether trapping is an effective wildlife management measure; require all traps to be removed at the end of the season; increase the cost of trapping licenses; require certification through a trappers education course; and require purchase of a conservation stamp, the same as anglers and hunters.
While only the Wyoming Legislature can make some of the needed changes, the Game and Fish Commission should take the lead.
Patty and Frank Ewing
Jack
Jackson Hole News&Guide

 

Peter Moyer (April 25, 2018)

April 25, 2018 – Jackson Hole News & Guide

Trapping is a True Blunderbuss Approach to Game Management

Bruce Thompson wrote an excellent letter to you on trapping, for your public input. Here are just a few points, from my own perspective (for what that is worth!):

. Trapping is a true blunderbuss approach to game management, in terms of non-target wildlife species including protected species, and domestic animals. By contrast, like most people I do not object to hunting with a bullet or arrow, or fishing where both target and non-target species can be released.

. I see almost no economic benefit to Wyoming from trapping in modern times, unlike hunting and fishing and wildlife viewing. And, there is a bit economic downside from torturing and killing wildlife by trapping in Wyoming–more so all the time, with social media and other media avenues.

. With down, pile and other insulation, and faux furs for decoration, there is no modern day need for trapped animal skins. And, much of the remaining trade is just with communist China and communist Russia.

. Much stricter control on trapping in Wyoming could be promoted in a very positive manner. Right now the trapping p.r. is almost all bad for Wyoming, and it will get worse. Barbaric, bottom line.

Sure, Jeremiah Johnson is still one of my all-time favorite movies, and Bridger/Colter/Glass are heroes to me from distant times. But that was long ago, and their genuine need for trapping is long gone. I hope that I am not insulting anyone still wearing beaver skin hats to fancy gatherings in New York or London.”

Peter Moyer: Wyoming attorney

Jackson, WY

Bruce S. Thompson (April 18, 2018)

April 18, 2018 – Jackson Hole News & Guide

Speak Out Against Trapping

Our Wyoming Game and Fish Department has embarked on a major research study to develop a new agencywide strategic plan. As part of this planning and development process this agency has created a wildlife forum for citizens to help “Forge the Future of Wyoming’s Wildlife.” I encourage all citizens to avail themselves of this rare opportunity for input.

I see Game and Fish as being in a somewhat schizophrenic position: inherently responsible to oversee the health, sustainability and appreciation of the state’s wildlife, which belongs to all stakeholders, while at the same time inherently beholden to the significant and vocal minority — hunters and anglers — that provides the bulk of the very income necessary for it to operate. This hazards an occasional rift between decisions based on sound management and those compelled by service to those “paying the bills.”

Don’t misunderstand. Many, many fine, dedicated individuals work for the agency, and much of the work is performed honestly, thoughtfully and with measurable benefit. But I sincerely believe that this trust is, at times, broken when it comes to two questionable and arguably archaic practices: lethal trapping and hunting purely for trophy. The following comments are in regard to trapping.

I suggest it is time for a full cost-benefit analysis of the practice in ways that includes all impacts: biology, ecology, aesthetics, safety, ethics, economy and, overall, the mores of a civilized and compassionate 21st-century society.

Further, I call for the creation of a statewide trapping advisory committee to lend a fully and proportionally representative citizen perspective to review all elements of science and management related to trapping.

  • There is a virtual absence of sportsmanship, fair chase and compassion in lethal trapping.
  • The overall presumption of trapping as “wildlife management” is rarely cost effective.
  • Lethal trapping as it exists today demonstrates little or no benefit to the functional value of a healthy ecosystem.
  • We don’t have reliable population counts of many of our state’s furbearers, but we allow unlimited quotas. Where’s the science?
  • Innumerable and unacceptable deaths and severe injuries occur to nontarget species, and even animals released alive often die from their injuries.
  • Our wildlife is a public treasure owned by all citizens and taxpayers. Trapping rarely serves any citizen other than the one setting the trap.
  • Our public lands should remain safe havens for all. All people, pets and wildlife should be assured safety, which means vast trap-free areas for all.
  • Trapping for fun, trophy, fur and feeding one’s ego is no longer deemed acceptable by our general population.
  • The pure cruelty of trapping causes injuries, exposure, dehydration and immense suffering. It is culturally and compassionately unworthy of us.
  • The general public is woefully uninformed about the brutal, archaic and poorly managed trapping taking place in our state.

Wyoming wildlife, large and small, need our voice. If you would like to comment on the future of our a wild Wyoming, and for trapping reform, I encourage all to comment at WildlifeForum.org/wildlife.

Bruce S. Thompson

Dubois

 

Wyoming Untrapped (February 7, 2018)

February 7, 2018 – Jackson Hole News & Guide

Wanted: Wildlife Watchers

No one needs to tell us that nongame species have long suffered as low priority in Wyoming’s wildlife management. However, our Wyoming Game and Fish Department is now providing an unprecedented opportunity to contribute public input to drive the future of Wyoming’s wildlife. This opportunity follows a Game and Fish programmatic evaluation by the Wildlife Management Institute as requested by the state of Wyoming to review 12 selected programs within Game and Fish. The result of this directive will be substantial new research to understand attitudes toward agency priorities and management issues of concern by the public, including all Wyoming residents. This process will guide Game and Fish in developing a new agency wide strategic plan.

Are we concerned? Of course.
Do we feel skeptical? Maybe.
Do we believe in the power of numbers? Better still.

Rarely does this invitation to speak out come along. Now it is up to the unheard and underrepresented public — you — to speak your mind, loud and strong, on behalf of the furbearing speechless. Only by triggering that notorious power of numbers will we succeed.

The actions outlined here comprise what might well be the most substantive path we can take to mobilize on behalf of Wyoming citizens. Game and Fish has launched its feedback initiative, “Forging the Future of Wyoming Wildlife,” for you to provide input in three ways: an online “Wildlife Forum,” “Stay Up to Date” email updates and 10 statewide public meetings.

Game and Fish manages both hunting and trapping, but it is the latter that has become most susceptible to the shifting tide of 21st-century wildlife management philosophy and public intolerance. Focus the energy of your words on trapping reform and wildlife watching, for the critical need to value and protect wildlife as vital contributors to the health of our public landscapes and for the intrinsic character and worth of all furbearing animals.

The Jackson public meeting is 4-7 p.m. Saturday in the Cook Auditorium at the National Museum of Wildlife Art.

Please comment. Show up. Stay informed.
The future of Wyoming wildlife is up to you!

L. Robertson
Wyoming Untrapped
Jackson, WY

Wyoming Untrapped (May 24, 2017)

May 2017 – Jackson Hole News & Guide

Manage Wolves for All

With wolves listed as a predatory species for a majority of the year during the spring, summer and autumn months just south and west of town, there will be many more dogs caught by traps as people get outside to engage in recreational activities.

We are encouraging citizens to keep their pets on a leash or very close by when recreating on public lands south and west of town. Wolf traps are larger than traps set for other species and will easily catch and injure or kill pets. The archaic trapping regulations in Wyoming allow trappers to place an unlimited number of traps of any size on public lands. Traps do not have to be set off of trails. Snares do not have to be checked for up to 13 days. The laws and regulations favor the very few individual trappers and give no protections to the hundreds of thousands of pet owners in this state. If your dog is caught or injured, the trapper holds no legal responsibility whatsoever.

Numerous studies have been published that indicate nonlethal measures are more effective at reducing livestock losses from predators than lethal measures. We eradicated wolves from this state once; it can easily happen again. The current management plan does not include any provisions for educating livestock producers on nonlethal techniques or prevention of depredation. It focuses only on how many wolves can be killed and where. Wyoming is once again “managing” our wolves and other predators to minimum numbers. One hundred wolves do not constitute a healthy population.

With tourism the No. 2 industry in the state, why aren’t we managing our wildlife to reflect current nationwide cultural values? Millions of tourists are visiting Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks every year, bringing much-needed income to the state. Will visitors return when the wolves they used to see every year are gone? How will the residents of this state who love wildlife feel when they can no longer catch a glimpse of a wolf on our public lands? A wolf license costs $19 while that same wolf alive can bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars that benefits the whole community. All people should have access to shared resources that are held in trust for the public.

There is also a significant volume of mounting evidence that shows predator populations are self-regulating. Wolves do not need to be hunted. Perhaps the most disgusting thing is that wolves will now be afforded no protection in a majority of the state, not even from animal cruelty laws. Are you aware that there are contests to see who can kill the most predators that are held statewide every year? Wolves will be killed as a part of this repulsive and completely unnecessary, outdated practice. They will be shot on sight, run over with snowmobiles (which currently happens to coyotes — just search for it on YouTube), beaten to death, poisoned by M-44 cyanide bombs, left to suffer in traps for up to three days, chased down and shot from aircraft and generally treated lower than dirt. This is unacceptable treatment of any animal, but especially so for an iconic keystone species like the wolf.

We are in the geologic era known as the Anthropocene in which species are going extinct at an alarming rate, much faster than ever before. Large mammals will be the first to go. And we are allowing some of the most vulnerable to purposely be killed? When are we going to move our wildlife management into the modern century? When are we going to listen to science and evidence instead of relying on anachronistic attitudes based on fear and ignorance?

Almost 70 years after Aldo Leopold wrote and taught about the importance of our moral responsibility to the natural world, it’s incredible we are still discussing the wanton killing of predators. The focus of wolf management has to change to co-existence if we are to leave a lasting legacy of complete, diverse ecosystems behind to our children.

Kristin Combs
Program Director
Wyoming Untrapped
Jackson, WY

Wyoming Untrapped (April 7, 2016)

April  2016 – From Pinedale Roundup

Put an End to Senseless Killings

Wyoming Untrapped (WU), a wildlife advocacy group in the state, learned about an annual hunting contest in Sublette County that has been kept mostly under wraps until local citizens wrote letters to the editor and contacted WU. The coyote-killing contest consists of killing as many coyotes as possible for fun and prize money, and was partially funded and supported by the Sublette County Predator Management Board.

These senseless predator killing contests, which occur across the state, are often called coyote-calling contests, varmint hunts or predator hunts. We believe these events are not hunting; they are a blood sport.

Our WU mission is dedicated to creating a safe and humane environment for our people, pets and wildlife, and to promote an overall ethic of compassionate conservation for wildlife and other natural resources. Our highest priority is to address our state’s archaic and indiscriminate trapping regulations as well as wildlife management, which allows the cruel and inhumane senseless killing of wildlife in the form of predator-killing contests for money and prizes, such as the “mangiest mutt” award or the “biggest dog” award. These “management tools” are not based on a sound science foundation, and are in urgent need of reform.

WU is fighting for freedom in wildness each and every day. Although there is a deep-rooted resistance to change in Wyoming and our challenges are steep, we have made significant progress. For the first time in our state’s history, WU has brought the reality of our trapping and wildlife management to the forefront of the public eye and ignited the dialog surrounding the need to bring trapping reform and wildlife management into the 21st century. Change is coming to Wyoming.

To voice your opinion to end these predator-killing contests, contact your county commissioners or the local predator control board.

To report trapping incidents or predator killing contests, please call Wyoming Untrapped at 307-201-2422 or email info@wyominguntrapped.org.

L. Robertson
Wyoming Untrapped

http://www.pinedaleroundup.com/v2_news_articles.php?heading=0&story_id=4545&page=76

Dr. Mark Elbroch (February 10, 2016)

February 2016

WYOMING’S LIONS ESCAPE TRAPPING

O PI NI O N
Wyoming’s lions escape trapping plan

I
n January a bill was introduced in the Wyoming Legislature that, if it had passed, would have allowed any person with a valid hunting license to kill a mountain lion using a trap or snare. As a Wyoming resident and biologist, I’m thrilled to tell you that our Legislature voted yesterday in favor of science and to protect the balance of nature on which our state so deeply depends.

HB12 failed to pass the House on Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2016, at 2:23 p.m. This bill was not based on valid research, and the potential negative consequences for mountain lions, other wildlife, Wyoming citizens and the Wyoming Game and Fish Department would have been far-reaching.

Ostensibly, this bill was introduced to provide “additional tools” to reverse recent mule deer population declines, a valuable game species for Wyoming residents. In reality, the connection between mountain lions and mule deer population declines is tenuous at best. The Wyoming Game and Fish Department has said that mule deer declines are largely the result of other factors, including habitat loss and disruption to migration corridors. It is also well accepted among wildlife biologists that deer dynamics are driven primarily by weather patterns and resulting forage availability, not predators. In fact, a recent intensive, long-term study from the Idaho Department of Fish and Game emphasized that removing mountain lions and coyotes did not provide any long-term benefit to deer populations. The researchers reported: “In conclusion, benefits of predator removal appear to be marginal and short term in southeastern Idaho and likely will not appreciably change long-term dynamics of mule deer populations in the intermountain west.”

Like mule deer, mountain lions are also experiencing signifi cant population declines in some areas. Research conducted by Panthera’s Teton Cougar Project in Teton County, Wyoming, shows that lion numbers north of Jackson have declined by half in eight years. Mountain lions in Wyoming are hunted with all legal firearms, archery equipment and trailing hounds, and these methods have proven effective in reducing mountain lion populations across the West. Introducing trapping — an imprecise method of hunting — could have crippled mountain lion populations further, as well as rapidly and unexpectedly influenced other wildlife populations.

The nature of trapping is indiscriminate. Trapping consists of snares and leghold traps, including steel jaws, which often cause serious injury to animals — breaking legs, ripping skin or completely severing limbs, via the trap or through self-mutilation. Traps deliver painful, slow deaths to wildlife and domestic animals unlucky enough to be caught. In Wyoming it is currently illegal to kill a female mountain lion with kittens or the kittens themselves. However, a trapper cannot dictate what animal is caught, resulting in the potential maiming or killing of female mountain lions, their kittens or federally listed wolves, wolverines, Canada lynx or grizzly bears. Traps may also injure people should they stumble into one. Importantly, voting down HB12 maintained protection for the reproductive capital of our mountain lion populations: female mountain lions with kittens and the kittens themselves. Trapping is not only imprecise in its implementation, it is also nearly impossible to track and monitor. This bill would have completely undermined mountain lion management currently conducted by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, introducing chaos to a tracking system that may not be ideal but works. When Wyoming’s House and Senate representatives introduce legislation that threatens their own Wyoming Game and Fish Department’s ability to protect our state’s immense and singular biodiversity, something is clearly wrong.

But Rep. Sam Krone eloquently opposed the bill for sportsmen against indiscriminate trapping, followed by Rep. Charles Pelkey, who emphasized the potential consequences of increased trapping on domestic animals and people. In the end the bill did not gain the required two-thirds majority to move forward.

Every year visitors flock to Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks, investing millions of dollars in Wyoming communities in the hope of glimpsing charismatic apex predators like the mountain lion. In voting down HB12, Wyoming voted for sustainable, scientific decision-making for our state and every creature with which we share this precarious and wonderful balance that we call home. In voting against mountain lion trapping, Wyoming chose evidence-based science over old mythology perpetuating fear and persecution of this amazing animal. It made me proud to live in Wyoming.

Yet the possibility remains that this bill will be reintroduced to the Senate this week. To ensure Wyoming’s mountain lion trapping legislation stops in its tracks, continue to contact members of the Wyoming legislature this week.

If the bill is halted, New Mexico and Texas will be the only states in our country to allow the trapping of mountain lions. Dr. Mark Elbroch is lead scientist of Panthera’s Puma Program.

GUEST SHOT

Dr. Mark Elbroch

http://jhnewsandguide.wy.newsmemory.com/publink.php?shareid=1238ecf30

Wyoming Untrapped (August 12, 2015)

August 12, 2015

RUN WILD, FREE, AND UNTRAPPED

Dear Editor,

The recent ad for the Old Bill’s Fun Run, showing two cute little fox kits, is one of the most powerful we have seen.  We are reminded how proud we are to live in a community that gives with such tremendous passion and generosity for its people and its extraordinary wildlife.

We adore our foxes!  Unfortunately, many people in Teton County and throughout the state do not know that these little red foxes are designated “predatory animals” in Wyoming.  This means that every single day of the year, in unlimited numbers, they can be shot-on-sight or trapped in legholds for 72 hours, or up to 13 days in snares and conibears, with no concern for the suffering or pain, fear, thirst and hunger, but only for their fur or for fun.  Yes, this is how Wyoming treats our wildlife due to antiquated trapping regulations that need reform.

Wyoming Untrapped, dedicated to create a safe and humane environment for people, pets and wildlife, is working to change these archaic rules through education and trapping regulation reform.  Public awareness is already making a difference, one person at a time.

My family is grateful for the opportunity to support Old Bill’s Fun Run, our community non-profits, and the wildlife that live in our remaining wild areas.  Please help support Wyoming Untrapped and other wildlife-oriented non-profits through Old Bill’s, ensuring that you will have a direct positive impact on wildlife conservation.

Run wild, free and UNtrapped at Old Bill’s Fun Run everyone!

Peter Moyer (August 5, 2015)

From  Jackson Hole News and Guide, August 5, 2015

Cecil the Lion

Well-deserved global outrage has resulted from the recent killing of “Cecil the Lion” in Zimbabwe by a Minnesota dentist, for his $50,000 fee.  The lion was lured outside the safety of a national park, using bait.  He was then wounded by the dentist with an arrow (at night, spot lighted), tracked, shot and killed by the dentist 40 hours later.  The lion was skinned for the trophy room, with the carcass discarded.

All for money and ego, not need.

There are definite parallels to the modern day wild animal fur trade.  There is no real “need” nowadays:  fleece, Gore-Tex and other modern day materials are warmer, lighter, cheaper and abundant.  Pine martens, bobcats, foxes, otters, beavers, etc. are not esteemed as table fare. Faux fur is decorative enough.  There is no significant benefit to our economy–unlike hunting and fishing–and many of our wild animal furs are shipped to Russia and Communist China.

And trapping is brutal, whether for recreation or for profit.  How many of us humans would like to suffocate in a snare, or try to chew off a trapped limb?!

The Cecil the Lion incident revealed the great depth of compassion for wildlife felt by many of us humans, on a global scale. When the public is aware, people care.

Trapping results in the brutal treatment of our treasured and diminishing wildlife resources. In the American West trapping often occurs on forested and riparian lands owned by the people of the United States.  We are responsible, and we can do better.

Peter F. Moyer

Wyoming Untrapped (July 15, 2015)

From  Jackson Hole News and Guide, July 15, 2015

CONTACT THE COMMISSIONERS

The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission on Friday rejected the efforts to address the adverse effects of trapping on the safety of people, pets and wildlife in Teton County by such means as trail setbacks, signage and the closure of a single heavily traveled trail on the outskirts of Jackson, Cache Creek.

The changes to Chapter 4 Trapping Regulations proposed by WGFD were supported by Wyoming Untrapped (WU), the Teton County Commission, Bridger Teton National Forest, and many Jackson residents for whom Representative Ruth Ann Petroff spoke.  An additional 5700 positive public comments were submitted, including 600 from Wyoming residents.  They were overwhelmingly in favor of the new regulations for Teton County.

Commissioner Little, when making the motion to remove the closure of Cache Creek from the draft commented that she believed agreeing to WU’s proposal was the beginning of the slippery slope intended to disenfranchise the rights and heritage of Wyoming’s trappers. Efforts by conservation and advocacy organizations do not pre-empt the slippery slope. Sustainable funding is the main threat to game agencies and hunters today.  Even Governor Mead has acknowledged that a solution to long-term funding must be found. The slippery slope is the reduction occurring among the hunting and trapping community due to cultural change. Finding a way to accommodate ALL users whether hunting or non-hunting will be the answer to collaborative management and sustainability.

Even though WU was hugely successful in bringing extensive support to the table and also offered to take financial responsibility for trail use data collection, signage and trap-release education, the Commission decided that the ‘need’ for reform had not been established. However, numerical substantiation of damage and injury to non-target animals, including dogs, is impossible to establish because of the very limited requirement to report.

“We understand that change happens slowly in Wyoming.  Trapping reform is a reasonable expectation by the public, especially when traditional practices and social use of trails coincide.  It just makes sense.  WU is the first organization in the state’s history that has addressed trapping reform, and we have raised public awareness at a fast pace.  However, our governing Game and Fish Commission is not ready to address the need to modernize our current archaic trapping regulations.  Continued awareness and collaboration will eventually change that.  Our modern public demands it.  And it’s the time in history for change.”

Please let your Commissioners know that you also support trapping reform.

Wyoming Untrapped

Jake Nichols - Planet JH (May 27, 2015)

From  PlanetJH.com

THE MENACE OF MODERN DAY TRAPPERS

It’s hard to believe the practice of trapping is making a resurgence in Teton County solely on economic realities.  Fur prices skyrocketed during the recession, though they’ve tailed off recently.  Eye-popping price-per-pelt figures have spurred many a Davy Crocket-wannabe to invest in a half-dozen 330 conibears and head for the hills.

In Wyoming’s more rural counties, where 4H is more popular than junior cotillion classes, trapping could understandably provide a means to put dinner on the table one cape at a time.  But in ritzy Teton County, where any derelict can walk into a restaurant for breakfast and be the sous chef by that evening’s dinner, there are easier ways to skin a cat making a buck.

That leads me to the neo-woodsman movement as the primary factor driving the uptick in trapping activity in Teton County.  One scan of Facebook and it’s easy to find several tree-hugging hipsters who’ve suddenly discovered their inner-man(woman) by growing vegetable in the backyard and hunting their own protein.  An extension of the Paleo Peacenik crusade probably involves Silicon Valley warriors who’ve traded in their iPhones for Bowie knives.

Wyoming Untrapped has been working feverishly to get trapping banned in the Cache Creek drainage and other popular recreation areas where rusty jaws are more likely to clamp down on a Golden Retriever than a read fox.  Lisa Robertson launched WU after incidents in Red Top Meadows and elsewhere highlighted the dangers of traps placed too close to dog walking trails.

Running a trap line close to the trail in Cache Creek is just plain lazy.  Real mountain men hump it to get to their traps and they check them responsibly.  Too many trendy trappers are looking for the path of no resistance.  Robertson is right.  No trapping should be allowed anywhere near trails in popular areas like Cache Creek. This is not the 1800s.

And WU and its ilk shouldn’t stop there.  State trapping laws are updated every three years.  This summer marks Game & Fish discussions about possible revisions (July 8-10 in Cody).  One thing that desperately needs to change is how often traps need to be checked.  In Wyoming, an animal can spend three days in a leg-hold trap waiting for a mercy killing.  Other type traps and snares require 13 days between required checks.  That’s simply too long to allow an animal to suffer.

Jake Nichols

Wyoming Untrapped (May 25, 2015)

From Jackson Hole News and Guide, May 25,2015

UNTRAP SUPPORT

To the editor:

Wyoming Untrapped (WU) is reaching out to the public with an URGENT request.  As you may be aware, furbearer and predator trapping on public lands have uniquely impacted Teton County.  Five dogs belonging to area residents have been injured in legholds, snares, and conibear traps on US Forest Service lands in recent years.  At present, regulations allow for traps to be set directly on hiking trails.  No reporting of such incidents is required. Neither of those who engage in trapping activities nor the agencies that regulate them are required to report such incidents, so the problem is surely much larger than five dogs — indeed, we recently learned of two more previously unreported incidents.  WU was founded in response to these incidents and we are making strides toward safer public lands for both residents and visitors alike.  Now, we need our community’s help.

WU is not an organization focused on banning trapping.  Instead, we advocate for ways to improve trapping regulations to mitigate the impacts that the practice has on other people, their pets, and their shared public lands.  At present, we are advocating for the WGFD and the WGF Commission to implement trapping regulations that would prohibit furbearer traps from being set in the Cache Creek drainage in the Bridger-Teton National Forest and on Snow King Mountain, and would prohibit furbearer traps from being set within 300 feet of some of our community’s busiest trails.  Interests from elsewhere in the state are pushing back against regulations that would affect Teton County, so it is imperative that the local community voice its support for this small, reasonable change that could mitigate some of the unnecessary risk currently imposed on anyone who ventures out onto our public lands with their pet.

Specifically, we ask that you:

  • Submit written public comment to the WGFD and WGF Commission supporting furbearer-trapping setbacks in Teton County and a closure of the Cache Creek drainage and Snow King Mountain to furbearer trapping.  The public comment period closes May 29 at 5 p.m.  To see the list of trails recommended for setbacks, and to take-action: www.wyominguntrapped.org/take-action/.
  • Please attend WGFD’s public meeting Thursday, May 28, Antler Inn, 6 p.m., to represent our community interests.

    We hope that you will help us in representing Teton County and the public’s reasonable expectation for safety on our public lands, and our vested interest in trapping regulation reform.

Bert Fortner (May 13, 2015)

From Jackson Hole News and Guide, May13,2015

The public lands in Wyoming are fantastic. We have BLM land, school sections and national forest all for the public to use freely for just about any outdoor activity you can imagine. But are they safe?

There is one activity on public lands that jeopardizes the safety of public use for most of us: trapping. I absolutely am not against trapping, and predator control in Wyoming is a necessity. But on public lands there should not be traps that endanger the rest of us who enjoy using them. There are deadly snares and severe steel traps set everywhere and even right along paths and roadways. If you are out hiking, camping or doing whatever activity you enjoy and have your pets and small children with you, beware! There have been many cases of pets maimed or killed by these traps.

There is an alternative for the trappers, so they still have rights on the public lands: live traps. You can be very successful using live traps, and if the wrong animal (like your pet) gets caught it can be turned loose with no harm done.

There are thousands of acres of private land to trap on with snares and steel traps, and landowners will jump at the chance to have someone help with predator control. So let’s make it safe for everyone to use public lands.

After all, they are called “public lands” not “trapper lands.” To look at your rights and voice your opinion, go to the website WyomingUntrapped.org and go to “Take Action.”

Bert Fortner, Gillette

Samantha Rowe (May 11, 2015)

From Cody Enterprise, May 11, 2015

Public lands are for the benefit for everyone: outdoor enthusiasts, horseback riders, hikers, hunters/trappers and fishermen, parents and children taking adventures and anyone else.

However, when one has to avoid public land, because their dog may be caught and killed by a deadly snare, then it infringes on the rightful use of others.

At this time the Wyoming law allows all types of trapping on all public lands. This includes deadly snares and powerful steel traps. There have been several incidences of pets being caught in these devices.

I have taken my dog to the vet after freeing it from a trap. If a pet or small child gets caught in a snare it could kill them.

I am not against trapping; it is the trapper’s right. But on public lands I feel they should have to use live traps. If your pet gets caught in it, it will not be harmed, and there are no dangers to children. They are still getting to trap effectively without a risk to anyone or anything else.

Colorado’s laws specify live traps on public land and it works.

(s) Samantha Lowe

Gillette

Peter Moyer (January 9, 2015)

There are many locals and visitors who treasure Wyoming’s great wildlife species on our extensive public lands: pine martens, beavers, ermine, badgers, otters, bobcats, mink, red squirrels, etc.

By contrast, there are not many people who need to trap and kill these esteemed wildlife resources outside of carefully defined areas. Nor is there a significant benefit to our economy–trapping produces very little local revenue, visitor income, retail trade, outfitting work, licensing income, table fare, or conservation support. Unlike hunting and fishing activities, which are and should be widely supported throughout Wyoming.

Very broad trapping setbacks from hiking areas, and other area trapping restrictions on our public lands, simply make sense. It is not just concern for dogs and other “non-target species” killed or maimed in traps, where trapping is far more indiscriminate than hunting aimed at specific target species.

Absent broad setbacks and area restrictions, wildlife resources should not be compromised in our magnificent public surroundings just so a very limited group of people can trap and kill. It is nice to have the critters around, and nice to have ecological balance. It is public land, where there should be fair and proper management balance considering the nature and relative importance of different uses.

/s/

Peter F. Moyer

Wyoming Untrapped (December 31, 2014)

TRAPPING REFORM – Jackson Hole News and Guide

Imagine you and a friend are out on a bluebird winter day, walking your dog on a Forest Service trail near Jackson. Your well-behaved dog is wandering along the trail, wagging her tail as she follows each scent she finds. You get caught up in your conversation and your attention wavers from your dog for just a few moments. Suddenly, your dog yelps from just a few feet off the trail — she’s been caught in a trap. If you’re lucky, it is a leg-hold trap that your dog will suffer from, but hopefully survive. If you’re unlucky, your dog’s neck has just been snapped by a quick-kill conibear or slowly squeezed by a snare. Either way, the trap was completely legal and the person who set it is not liable in any way.

Gruesome? Yes. Possible? Absolutely. A scenario not unlike the above became reality for one family in Casper only weeks ago. It has happened here, too, and could happen again at any time. Should this be the reality of recreating in Jackson Hole?

As compassionate people we don’t want to imagine a dog being trapped, don’t want to think about trapping and don’t want to see images of trapped pets and wildlife — but as community, we must not look away. Trapping regulations are antiquated, and the trapping status quo endures because it remains off the radar of nonconsumptive public land and wildlife users.

Trapping season is in full swing, and traps of all varieties can be found almost anywhere on public land — even on your favorite hiking trails. Thousands of furbearing animals including bobcats, American martens, weasels and many others are trapped without limit. Nontarget species regularly caught in traps include not only pets but also threatened species like Canada lynx. Dog owners, hikers, wildlife watchers, photographers and the rest of the nontrapping public deserve a reasonable expectation of safety while recreating on public lands and deserve to be considered in wildlife management decisions.

We need to put trapping reform on the radar. Wyoming Untrapped is working on establishing trapping setbacks along trails in Teton County through its “Traps and Trails Campaign.” Setbacks are a step forward, and you can help affect change — visit WyomingUntrapped. org for information on taking action. It is time for this community to take a hard look at trapping reform.

Katy Canetta – Program Director Wyoming Untrapped

Peter Moyer (August 25, 2014)

From Peter Moyer, August 25, 2014

Our wildlife cannot vote or mount campaigns or write checks, so they really need great and dedicated people like you!! The historical perspective is interesting. Furs used to be necessary for warmth in Northern climes. Beaver hides and other furs like ermine were decorative, but few looked at ecology or animal cruelty back in those days. Trappers were iconic and admired, and still are from our distant modern perspective. Even though there is no real need for warmth or decorative pelts from wild animals any more.

The cruelty to trapped animals is barbaric in modern times. Absolutely barbaric. The value of those animals in wild ecosystems is very, very important. Many of our most productive riparian wetlands–for so many critters and many humans as well–have been created by beavers. Predators trapped cruelly for their furs play a very important role as checks and balances in many ecosystems. And the “Collateral Damage” of trapping is very bad, such as wolverines.

Anyway, sorry to be so windy but it is a great cause, more power to you! Some people are mostly concerned with dogs, but it goes way beyond that.

K Brown (July 26, 2014)

Shared by Cdapress.com.

K. BROWN/Guest opinion 

I am a responsible Idaho hound hunter and I have great concerns about trapping in the state of Idaho. I believe that it is time to address the elephant in the room and I feel that we need to make some major adjustments to trapping before it is too late for both trappers and hound hunters.

Here are the facts:

* Trapping and dog hunting do not mix.

I purchase my hound tag every year just like the trapper does, but I cannot hunt year round for fear of having another dog lost to a snare. I, myself, have even been caught in a snare just looking for my dogs. This is how out of control trapping has become.

* No regulated limits to the number of snares, leg hold traps and conibear traps on the ground. Collateral damage to wildlife.

A typical snare runs around $2.25 per snare. Most trappers put out so many snares that they have to put ribbons on bushes to find them again. Every day, a variety of wildlife falls victim to the trapper’s collateral damage list. When I buy a deer tag, I fill that tag only once and I know that it is against the law to bag another deer. The trapper has a free pass to kill or maim unlimited amounts of deer, cougar, bobcats, elk, moose, rabbits, etc. as needed to obtain his target. These are only considered “untargeted incidentals” and remain very legal.

* Domestic dog owners.

Hundreds of people recreate with dogs in the state of Idaho. Most trappers trap where it is easy to get to their traps – along highways, roads or trails. This always puts domestic dogs at risk when one is recreating, walking or just letting the dog out to relieve himself.

Hundreds of dogs are killed every year that belong to domestic dog owners. We are all being held hostage by this loosely regulated sport that has absolutely no oversight or consequences for breaking what few laws they may or may not follow.

* No limits on number of animals caught except otter and beaver

The bobcats have suffered terribly due to a five-month trapping season that makes it legal to trap virtually everything when in fact the bobcat season is only two months long – another pass for the trapper. Now with wolf trapping, bears are being caught in November before they can even go into hibernation. Trapping to this degree is affecting everything.

* New residents and so called “bunny huggers” dominating Idaho

There are 1.6 million people in Idaho with only approximately 2,000 trapping licenses issued. How long do you think it will take for people to realize that they can not safely recreate with dogs because of trapping? How long will they tolerate the inhumane treatment of animals and suffering that all victims of the snare or trap must endure?

This is slowly turning into a state that is leaning toward ethics. Numbers have always taken precedence over history and heritage. I worry that the dog hunting will go out the door along with the trapping if we don’t find some balance for everyone.

* Trap damage

Bone damage, tissue damage, blood vessel damage, skin and nerve damage or in most all cases … death. Even if one of my dogs survived, it would never be able to hunt again.

My recommendations:

* Outlaw conibear traps set on dry land.

These traps kill instantly and have no business being set where humans interact with wildlife and nature. In most states, they can only be used under water. The average person can not even release a pet much less themselves without special hardware for one of these monsters.

* Outlaw snares.

Snares are unforgiving to all animals. They are not only cheap to buy, but are 100 percent effective and can be set over an unfathomable amount of area – catching almost anything that is moving, either in or out of season. Because of the unfair and indiscriminating amount of collateral death caused to wildlife while trying to catch targeted animals, they should never be legal due to this factor alone.

* Limit the amount of traps a person can set.

Change the 72-hour torture check to 24 hours every day. This would make a trapper think twice about laying out 80 to 100 traps and just letting them ride till the weekend (which is what most of them do because they work). Legally, he would have to think about the time involved in checking traps within a 24-hour time frame. Because there is no oversight, most of them get away with this anyway, but at least it would be illegal.

* Limit the number of animals to be caught.

This sport has turned into a killing free-for-all. There are limits on everything else we value with hunting. Why not for the trapper?

* Require trapper liability insurance.

The people who illegally snared and killed my $5,000 young hound didn’t appear to have any remorse. After the incident, it was business as usual with just a slap on the wrist. I was the one who suffered the emotional and financial loss from their negligence, but they were well within most of the trapping laws.

There has to be some accountability to protect the average person who recreates in our woods and wetlands. They should be able to freely use these public lands without fear of losing their dogs. The rules can’t always be overwhelmingly in favor of the trapper or it will come to an end. Trappers would be more mindful of where they trap if they were required to have trappers insurance.

* Raise the license fees to trap.

If Fish and Game can not afford to patrol and control trappers, maybe they should consider raising the fees to put some balance out there for the rest of us when it comes to recreating together. This would cut down unnecessary kills and keep the till full.

* Require only “live” traps.

This would really solve the problem. There could then be some control as to what should or shouldn’t be taken. I know this would be a hard pill for the trapper to swallow, but we need to find a way to level the playing field for the common man. Other states do this with much success and everyone is happy, not to mention this leaves a larger abundance of wildlife for others to pursue such as myself. Needless killing of fur bearers is never a good idea for wildlife populations or for anyone.

In Conclusion:

My thoughts are not new with regard to trapping in Idaho. I have watched what I dearly enjoy doing go down the drain in the St. Joe country. Trappers gobble up what little bit of country is left that supports the lion or bobcat populations. There is no such thing as working side by side with snares and conibear traps when you do what I do. The trapper has had it pretty good doing whatever he has wanted to do on our public lands for decades, but this isn’t going to last – not with the new mindset of the people who are moving into this state. People love their dogs and they are concerned about animal suffering, but there are still solutions that could happen to make everyone happy.

Earlier this year, a mother, her 12-year-old son and their large dog were looking for antler sheds near Kellogg. The dog was trapped and died in an unmarked conibear trap that neither of them could open. There was nothing the boy could do but watch his dog die. Turned out this trapper was found when he returned for the trap, but he only received a slap on the wrist for not marking the trap. He went on to use the conibear trap up Cougar Gulch near Cd’A where he also trapped and killed two more domestic dogs. Fish and Game could do absolutely nothing about these incidents because he was well within the law. This is nothing short of insufferable.

How long will it be before a 12-year-old boy loses his foot in one of these monster traps? How many more domestic dogs will be victim to a snare, leaving their grieving owners wondering about what their rights are on public lands? This has to change or the power of the people will bring it to an end – and I am afraid they will take down dog hunting while they are at it.

We have to make laws so everyone can enjoy these lands together. There needs to be compromise on everyone’s part. No one sport should be able to dominate and hold everyone else hostage while they willy nilly do whatever they want without facing consequences. We need some drastic steps and changes made with regard to trapping – and we need it done soon.

K. Brown is a resident of Plummer.

Jean Molde (July 18, 2014)

From the Reno Gazette-Journal

In the July 14 Reno Gazette-Journal, we learn that a young man accused of cruel acts on domestic dogs has been arrested and faces felony charges. We applaud. Yet, on the same front page of the paper, we are told that the Nevada Department of Wildlife commissioners are having difficulty making a decision regarding making a change in the regulation requiring how frequently a trapper must visit his/her traps. Is it somehow less cruel than the aforementioned crime the young man is accused of to cause an animal to languish in a trap for up to four days, in pain, frightened, thirsty and hungry, just because the activity is not in the public eye and the animal is wild?

Jean Molde, Reno

TrailSafe Nevada (July 15, 2014)

A post by TrailSafe Nevada

Mr. Les Smith (“Hunters, trappers key to management” – July 6 Letter to the Editor LVRJ – also July 9 Nevada Appeal) posits “people [who] would love to make wildlife management an environmental issue.” How is wildlife management not an environmental issue? He follows this statement with: “ If it becomes one, hunting and trapping will be gone, and so will the funding that comes with them.” This is the slippery slope mantra aired by sportsmen at Wildlife Commission meetings whenever trapping regulation is discussed. The sportsmen passionately defend trapping. They believe that if trapping is curtailed, even minimally, somehow hunting and then gun ownership will be next. They refer to a “secret agenda” we animal activists ourselves are unaware of. In reaction to this exaggerated fear, we see bills attempting to secure hunting and trapping “rights” for eternity – even attempting constitutional amendments. One activity – hunting – is well regulated in the interest of wildlife management. Hunters take mandatory education; buy tags; observe seasons and a host of regulations. Trapping is something else altogether. There are no bag limits; no limits upon number of traps set; no limits upon the agony a trapped animal suffers. If the people Mr. Smith defines as such a threat have not already brought the hunting and trapping communities to their knees, when and how will they do so? Is he saying a few grassroots animal activists can match the money and influence of the larger hunting groups? Trappers join coalitions with these hunting groups and enjoy great advantages thereby. These coalitions control wildlife policy in our state. Most animal advocates make a clear distinction between hunting and trapping. To object to the excesses of one is not a threat to the other.

Mauricio Handler (November 25, 2015)

November 2015

NO STUFFED WILDLIFE

Stuffed dead wildlife for sale decorate tourist and souvenir stores in downtown Jackson.

After a week at the Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival trying to figure out, together with 800 delegates from around the world, how we can be a voice for conservation and wildlife proliferation in a time of unprecedented animal extinction, I am revolted at the reality of the local mentality and the message it sends to all Jackson visitors from around the world, including China and other Asian countries.

How can we expect them to conserve, protect and cultivate a culture of wildlife welfare when we give them this front row seat to a horror show? As I said, all animals are for sale. Is this an oxymoron? Let’s wake up. Do not support businesses like these and make your voices heard. We are not above nature; we are part of it.

Taxidermy from the 20th century I understand — it was a different time. But to bring this to the forefront of today’s world and to have all for sale? Something is not right with this picture.

Many species are disappearing from the Wyoming landscape because trapping and furring are legal here.

We are talking dozens of animals in each store.

China is a huge problem for the endangered species of our planet. People there trade, consume and dissect anything and everything. But with Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks attracting waves of Chinese tourists, this issue in Jackson and other prohunting and pro-trapping locations in the U.S. is definitely is not helping the cause.

Make sure you watch “Racing Extinction” airing in 220-plus countries Dec. 2. This is the very best environmental film ever made. It is the beginning of a global movement. Let your voice be heard.

Wyoming Untrapped is single-handedly trying to address this issue in the area. Please join it and lend it your support when possible.

Mauricio Handler, filmmaker Durham, Maine

https://www.jhnewsandguide.com/opinion/letters/letter-to-the-editor-oct-21/article_2eda0b4c-fe5a-506d-a312-747d959e9e36.html

Leslie Patten (March 12, 2014)

Jackson Hole News and Guide, 3/12/14 Trapped In December

I spent a month exploring Anazasi ruins around Bluff, Utah. One morning I drove along an excellent dirt access road indicated in my guide book toward a popular hiking trail. Recent snows created muddy conditions, so I decided to walk the remaining few miles to the trailhead. I let my dog out, and we both walked on the road itself. My dog was about 15 feet ahead of me when he began yelping in pain. I rushed to his side and saw his foot was caught in a leghold trap meant for coyotes. The trap had been hidden under the dirt directly on the public road, ‘baited’ only with dog scat and scent — in other words, there was no indication to a human that a trap was there. Luckily, I was able to free my dog quickly, and he had no injuries. Although my experience took place in Utah, I live in Wyoming and know many people whose dogs have been caught in traps here. People recreating with children and dogs need to know that trapping is legal everywhere except in national parks. Coyotes can be trapped year round. Wolves can be trapped in 85 percent of Wyoming year round. Other wildlife such as bobcats have a long season in the winter months. It’s only a matter of time, as recreational use increases, before a child is trapped. Releasing a leghold trap is not intuitive. One has to practice before an incident occurs. Snares require a hiker to carry a good pair of wire cutters so your dog won’t choke to death. If you come across a conibear trap, then kiss your dog goodbye because you’ll never release him in time as it takes only seconds for the animal to die. Trapping is not only cruel and antiquated, but trappers are selling our wildlife overseas to China and Russia for coats. As fur prices escalate, more people are trapping, many of them inexperienced and unethical. Last year, trappers placed bobcat sets around the perimeter of Joshua Tree National Park in California, hoping for the $750 that a pelt can bring, robbing the American public visiting that park of the pleasure of seeing our native wildlife. Old, outdated laws and attitudes favor the trapper who pays a miniscule fee for his license. Nonconsumptive users of recreational lands are not only at risk but so is the tranquility of their outdoor experience. Leslie Patten Cody

Kirk Robinson (May 30, 2014)

Kirk Robinson wrote a beautiful essay about wildlife management.  Shared by Trap Free New Mexico.

I work for Western Wildlife Conservancy, a non-profit wildlife conservation organization that I founded several years ago in Salt Lake City. I am motivated by a concern for the future of the West, of our wildlands and wildlife, the health of our watersheds and a place where people (individuals and families, not the species) can flourish and stay in touch with wild nature. I want to know how we can best work together to ensure these things. This is particularly urgent given continued population growth, habitat fragmentation and degradation, and the reality of climate change – not to mention the majority of our Western politicians, who seem oblivious to these important matters.

One of my most cherished memories is working side by side with my grandfather on a ranch one summer when I was 16. We rode horses, rounded up calves, branded them, castrated them, and treated them for pink eye; I learned to drive a tractor and helped out with the irrigation and haying. There were no other kids on the ranch, so in the evenings I was left to myself for a couple of hours between dinner and bedtime. One evening after dinner I went out for a walk with my Winchester semi-automatic .22 rifle, on the lookout for something to shoot. In those days, it was a rite of passage for a boy to get a “varmint” rifle at about age 14.

While walking a path along the edge of an alfalfa field I saw a large bird with a whitish breast standing in the middle of the field about 100 yards away. A sitting duck, so to speak. Pointing my rifle in the direction of the bird and raising it slightly to allow for distance, I pulled the trigger. Instantly the bird fell over. Excitedly, I climbed over the fence and ran over to it. It was a beautiful barn owl, stone dead, its bright yellow eyes still open. I wondered what to do with it. Taxidermy wasn’t an option, but just leaving it seemed wasteful, so I plucked out a few of its feathers and proceeded to saw off its talons with a dull packet knife. After salvaging these trifles, I put my trophies in my shirt pocket and carried the dead bird over to the edge of the field and threw it into the sagebrush. Then I started walking back to the ranch house in the waning light, guided by the glow from a window a few hundred yards away. As I walked along, feeling some remorse for what I’d done, another owl, just like the one I’d killed, flew toward me and began to fly in circles just a few feet above my head. I thought it might attack me and I was scared, so I stopped. When I did, it lit on the nearest fence post, about six feet away, and stared straight at my face with its big yellow eyes. It was very spooky. I didn’t want to kill it too, so I tried shooting at the post below it instead, hoping to scare it off. But it wouldn’t leave. So I began walking again; and again the owl began circling my head on its silent wings. After a few seconds I stopped again and it stopped too, lighting on the nearest fence post and staring straight at my face. I shot at the post again. It didn’t move. This was repeated about a half dozen times, the owl following me nearly all the way back to the ranch house, each time looking me in the face with its big yellow eyes. I don’t know what became of my trophies, but the memory of that experience has stayed with me for 50 years. It was my Aldo Leopold moment.
The theme of this conference is “Integrating scientific findings into [cougar] management.” This is an interesting theme. It suggests that it isn’t obvious how scientific finds should be integrated into wildlife management. Why is this? When you think about it for just a moment, you see it is because science by itself doesn’t dictate wildlife management. Values play a role too.

Wildlife management programs involve values. There is no escaping it. Sometimes the values are of a purely practical nature, such as ways to simplify data collection or save money, or what not. Other times they involve killing animals and manipulating ecosystems to try to achieve some goal. The value judgments (or assumptions) reflected in the goal, and often in the methods for achieving it, are inexorably moral ones – even when the values at issue are not consciously entertained. They are institutionalized values.

This fact invites the question what values should prevail – what would be the morally best or right action in a given circumstance? Certainly it’s not always easy to know, but in practice the prevailing values tend to be the ones favored by the most politically influential interest groups, which are ranchers and hunters. Wildlife management agencies are largely captives of these interest groups. Consequently, wildlife management agencies are loath to forego the chance to provide hunting opportunities; and in general herbivores are favored over carnivores, with comparatively little concern for the welfare of animals or their roles in ecosystems.

In philosophy there is a grand distinction called the fact/value distinction. And there are fundamentally just two views about it. One view is that facts have nothing at all to do with values. The idea is that facts are objective and value neutral, while values are subjective – matters of arbitrary personal opinion. According to this view, different people have their own values, which might vary, and they project their values onto value neutral reality; whereas reality itself is value free.

Science tends to reinforce this view by teaching us to think of facts as objective, mind-independent states of affairs that make up the world, ideally susceptible of exhaustive description in terms of quantitative measures, such as mass and momentum, which can be represented in mathematical formulas. This idea is reinforced by the dominant economic paradigm which treats everything as a resource having only extrinsic value – a commodity to be used or treated however one chooses. This is reflected, for example, in the names of agencies, such as the “Utah Division of Wildlife Resources.”

The competing view about facts and values is that facts are not always value neutral, but are sometimes bearers of value, and that recognition of such value is important to making good moral choices. The term often used for this value is ‘intrinsic value’. It is value that things are believed to have independently of human valuing – a kind of value just as real as a physical object, but that isn’t captured by science and isn’t commensurable with economic value.

Wildlife management agencies, as public institutions, are largely beholden to political and money interests, so they often have to disregard questions of intrinsic value. Wildlife managers are often required to act as if facts are not bearers of value, even though some managers might take a different personal view, as I know many of them do. In that case, they must live with a certain amount of cognitive dissonance. Conservation activists, such as I and my colleagues, on the other hand, are not forced to ignore intrinsic values and so we tend to emphasize them in order to give them due recognition. And therefore, our views about how wildlife species ought to be managed, particularly predator species, tend to clash with official agency views.

Which view is correct? You are all familiar with Aldo Leopold’s account in Thinking like a Mountain, of an incident in his youth when he worked for the Forest Service. One day he shot an old she-wolf and arrived at her side just in time to see a “fierce green fire dying in her eyes.” 40 years later he formulated his famous “land ethic”: “A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise.” This famous passage is frequently quoted but rarely receives the kind of attention it deserves. Notice the words ‘right’, ‘wrong’, and ‘beauty’. These are value terms, whereas ‘integrity’ and ‘stability’ are scientific terms that apply to factual states of affairs. Leopold was certainly aware of this and deliberately meant to imply that facts can be bearers of value – value that he described as being of the “philosophic kind,” more commonly referred to as intrinsic value. He did not shy away from this conviction, which may have been planted in his mind decades earlier by the incident with the wolf.

Not everything is beautiful, but some things are. Not all beauty is merely “in the eye of the beholder.” And beauty can be more than “skin deep.” Wild animals are beautiful. Healthy ecosystems are beautiful. Wilderness is beautiful. People can be beautiful too. Beauty is a kind of intrinsic value and it deserves our respect. This was Leopold’s conviction; and it is my conviction too.

Wyoming Untrapped (Dec 12, 2013)

Jackson Hole News and Guide 12/4/2013 Reform trapping

On Nov. 22, two dogs were caught in snare and foothold traps while walking with their owner and caretaker along Fall Creek Road, a popular recreation area. The traps probably were aimed at fox or coyote, predators for which few trapping regulations apply in Wyoming. All too often, however, traps don’t discrimi­nate and other species often are caught. Sometimes they’re our pets. The Fall Creek incident was the second in little more than a year in that area. It was the fourth known incident in Jackson Hole during the same time period. Others undoubtedly have not been reported. Fortunately, these two dogs on Fall Creek were freed, but only after the owner and caretaker ran back to her vehicle and drove back to her house to retrieve bolt cutters. One dog was freed from the foothold trap after a ride to the veterinarian in Wilson.    In the Buffalo Valley last year a dog walking with its owner was caught in a foothold trap and required about $2,000 of veterinary care. Another dog was caught in a snare but uninjured the same day in the same place. These incidents raise the question of whether more popular recreation areas on public land should be off-limits to trapping. Trapping in Wyoming peaked in the mid-1880s, but persists today. The Wyoming Department of Game and Fish reported that approximately 1,800 permits to trap furbearing animals were issued in 2011. No permits are required to trap predators, such as coyote, fox and wolf. In 85 percent of the state, predator trapping is allowed at all times of the year. Trappers are not required to report trapping of “non-target” animals unless they’re seriously injured or killed, so no records are available to tell us how often it happens. Trappers also have no responsibility for any harm that may come to you or your dog if you happen to step into a trap. Trapping regulations today are at best antiquated. Trap check times are ridiculously long in some instances, resulting in days of suffering for trapped animals. For example, if placed on a Monday, body grip and conibear traps need not be checked for 13 days. What do you suppose would happen to your dog during that time? With the removal of the gray wolf from the federal Endangered Species List, anecdotal evidence suggests that trapping frequency and trap size have increased. And predator trappers are allowed to use any size and number of traps and place them almost anywhere on public lands. With the price of bobcat pelts rising, we can expect more trapping. It is time to take a hard look at the practice of trapping and how it’s regulated on our public lands. Roger Hayden Executive Director Wyoming Untrapped

Linnea Gardner (July 3, 2013)

Jackson Hole News and Guide   5/3/2013 Another Trap Incident

Beware everyone who recreates in the Munger Mountain/Fall Creek area.  On June 30th, in an effort to cool off, a friend, my dog and I went down to the large meadow, about 1.5 miles south of the bus turnaround on Fall Creek Road, to wade in the creek.  As we came out of the creek, about 10 feet from the embankment, we encountered a 6-inch-plus leg-hold trap staked in the ground and virtually invisible as it blended in so well with the dirt and growth. Fortunately for all of us, the trap had been sprung.  Unfortunately for the animal it had caught.  There was a chewed off paw still in the trap.  It looked like the trap had been abandoned and had been there for a while, possibly since last winter.  I could not find an identification tag or the stake. This area is heavily used for recreation in all seasons.  My friend and I were both wearing sandals for wading and could easily have stepped on the trap had it been open.  My dog got his muzzle right up to it before I even saw it.  Less than 20 yards away, two young boys were playing in the creek and running around the embankments.  I see people there daily, fishing and wandering the banks.  These people include families with children and neighbors letting their dogs out for a good run and to play in the creek. This is my public land, too, and my “backyard,” and I go there regularly and have for over a dozen years. My dog was snared a mile from this location in December, and now I’m coming across leg-hold traps 100 yards from the road.  I’m so angry. I don’t know how many other traps there might be out there.  Sprung or not.  I don’t’ want to find out the hard way.  I don’t want there to be a third time and have my dog maimed or killed, or get my foot caught in one of those.  I don’t want it to happen to anyone else. This is a safety issue for everyone.  There are some areas that need to be off-limits for trapping of any kind. Voice your concern:  Wyoming Game and Fish, Jackson 733-2321.  Bridger-Teton National Forest, Jackson District 739-5400. Linnea Gardner Wilson, WY

Ursula Neese (January 4, 2013)

Shared by Footloose Montana, published in the Livingston Enterprise. Editor.

The day was like many in Montana — a cold winter blue sky day. We were walking our dog last week in an area where we have walked for the past 17 years. Our dog was glad to be out in this familiar setting and was out to our side about 30 feet sniffing and looking for rodents, when all of a sudden she was bolting in the air frantically screeching, yelping and biting uncontrollably. We ran to help. It took a second to realize what it was: “My god, it’s two traps that were clamped down on her front leg above the paw and her back leg at her paw.” She was fiercely trying to bite them off. Blood was flowing. We were freaked, and tried to calm her. We tried to restrain her from hurting herself more. She finally went into shock and became docile. We were afraid to try and release the traps for fear of hurting her more. My friend started having severe chest pain and I had to take over restraining Solano. We both had our cell phones, so we called 911, our vet, and the land owner. We then tried to pull the traps from the ground where they were staked. No luck. Such a mixture of archaic tortures and telephones! Our vet arrived and the sheriff was not far behind. Our vet was able to release the traps. Solano was taken to our vet’s office, X-rayed, and found to have no broken bones, though she has several broken teeth from trying to bite off the steel traps. My friend continued to have chest pain. Both were lucky. Other pets or people might not be so lucky. A wild animal would definitely not be so lucky. The thought of how my dog reacted and was injured in this very short amount of time reminds us of the unthinkable process a wild animal might go through in the 24 to 48 hours before her killer arrives. Montana regulations are very much all about the trapper and not about the public or the animals that are being trapped. A trap can be set only 150 feet from a road, and the trap does not need to be marked in any way for a person to see it. In fact, most of the regs are all about the hunt. This treatment of animals is not a hunt at all — it is malicious torture of our wildlife and can lead to injury of people and their pets. I suggest that anyone thinking of joining the trapper group please take two traps into a field, stake them down, and when they are nicely frozen in, walk out and place both hands into the traps so they will snap into place. I’m sure no trapper would do this, but I hope you get the point. We must stop this trapping now, please write, call your legislators. So the second part to this horrific day: When Solano was caught in a wolf trap and DD and I were struggling for Solano’s life, a rush of adrenaline and calcium was heading for DD’s heart. What that means in the medical world is that she was having a heart attack caused by the anxiety of our dog’s life being threatened in an instant. We took her to the ER in Livingston, where her enzyme levels indicated that her heart was sustaining damage. She was taken then to Bozeman by ambulance, and into the cath lab. They determined that she had a Stress Cardiomiopathy a “mild heart attack” that is solely produced in a fight or flight situation. She is going to be fine. She does not have a diseased heart — her attacker was the wolf trap. Ursula Neese South of Livingston

John Ruther (May 21, 2008)

May 24, 2017 – Jackson Hole News and Guide

Manage Wolves for All

With wolves listed as a predatory species for a majority of the year during the spring, summer and autumn months just south and west of town, there will be many more dogs caught by traps as people get outside to engage in recreational activities.

We are encouraging citizens to keep their pets on a leash or very close by when recreating on public lands south and west of town. Wolf traps are larger than traps set for other species and will easily catch and injure or kill pets. The archaic trapping regulations in Wyoming allow trappers to place an unlimited number of traps of any size on public lands. Traps do not have to be set off of trails. Snares do not have to be checked for up to 13 days. The laws and regulations favor the very few individual trappers and give no protections to the hundreds of thousands of pet owners in this state. If your dog is caught or injured, the trapper holds no legal responsibility whatsoever.

Numerous studies have been published that indicate nonlethal measures are more effective at reducing livestock losses from predators than lethal measures. We eradicated wolves from this state once; it can easily happen again. The current management plan does not include any provisions for educating livestock producers on nonlethal techniques or prevention of depredation. It focuses only on how many wolves can be killed and where. Wyoming is once again “managing” our wolves and other predators to minimum numbers. One hundred wolves do not constitute a healthy population.

With tourism the No. 2 industry in the state, why aren’t we managing our wildlife to reflect current nationwide cultural values? Millions of tourists are visiting Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks every year, bringing much-needed income to the state. Will visitors return when the wolves they used to see every year are gone? How will the residents of this state who love wildlife feel when they can no longer catch a glimpse of a wolf on our public lands? A wolf license costs $19 while that same wolf alive can bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars that benefits the whole community. All people should have access to shared resources that are held in trust for the public.

There is also a significant volume of mounting evidence that shows predator populations are self-regulating. Wolves do not need to be hunted. Perhaps the most disgusting thing is that wolves will now be afforded no protection in a majority of the state, not even from animal cruelty laws. Are you aware that there are contests to see who can kill the most predators that are held statewide every year? Wolves will be killed as a part of this repulsive and completely unnecessary, outdated practice. They will be shot on sight, run over with snowmobiles (which currently happens to coyotes — just search for it on YouTube), beaten to death, poisoned by M-44 cyanide bombs, left to suffer in traps for up to three days, chased down and shot from aircraft and generally treated lower than dirt. This is unacceptable treatment of any animal, but especially so for an iconic keystone species like the wolf.

We are in the geologic era known as the Anthropocene in which species are going extinct at an alarming rate, much faster than ever before. Large mammals will be the first to go. And we are allowing some of the most vulnerable to purposely be killed? When are we going to move our wildlife management into the modern century? When are we going to listen to science and evidence instead of relying on anachronistic attitudes based on fear and ignorance?

Almost 70 years after Aldo Leopold wrote and taught about the importance of our moral responsibility to the natural world, it’s incredible we are still discussing the wanton killing of predators. The focus of wolf management has to change to co-existence if we are to leave a lasting legacy of complete, diverse ecosystems behind to our children.

Kristin Combs Program Director Wyoming Untrapped
Jackson, WY

https://wyominguntrapped.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Kristins-LTE-Wolf-Management-5.24.17-JHNG.docx

Shared by Footloose Montana.

Hello, my name is John Ruther and I would like to deliver a message, using the experience of my dog companion Logans’ death in a snare trap.

The first hint of a snare’s work is your animal will be jumping, acting as if he is getting into mischief off there in the woods. Then, as your attention wanders, the corner of your eye will catch the jumping turning bizzare, almost as if a buck deer, or bear, or mountain lion, or something, is throwing him backwards, violently, over and over. It will be quiet, all the while there will be only the struggle. As you walk cautiously towards that place there will be stillness. When you see your animal it will be alive, fighting with every ounce of life it has left to get air into its’ lungs. Its’ legs will be straight out, perpendicular from the body, the tail will be rigid, the eyes will be wide and bright and pleading, the mouth and tongue will be the wrong color, a precursor to death purple.You may think, as I did, that your animal friend has broken his neck. You might speak to your friend to try to comfort him in what suddenly seems to be his final moments, you will search his body for wounds, you will gently roll him to search his other side and to be prepared to give heart compressions. The realization of his life slipping away will compel you to say his name to him what seems to be a thousand times. In the end you will be staring into his eyes, they will be the eyes of your best friend, they will be shining and filled with terror, and then, as sure as we all will die, the brightness fades slowly, and that unique irreplaceable spirit is no longer there. And then, as you stroke your friends’ still warm body for the last time, you may find it, as I did, the hidden wire around his neck, the snare embedded in his neck and lying in the tall grass and tied to the bush. Then the absurd but necessary for your sanity attempts at mouth to mouth resuscitation and heart compressions, and finally the acknowledgement that it all is very wrong, but absolutely real. This must be trapping at its’ best, the physical killing of a dog and the spiritual killing of a man.

Ann Smith / WU Board of Directors (January 6, 2021)

January 6, 2021 – Jackson Hole News and Guide

Check traps every day

The snow has been gently falling. It seems peaceful on the landscape. But the winter season is the most dangerous time of the year for all Wyoming wildlife. In a state rated as one of the worst in the nation for lax trapping regulations and animal cruelty laws, wildlife are exposed to extreme winter conditions for up to three days in traps and seven to 13 days in snares that are littered across our public lands.

The brutality begins as trapped wildlife are unable to respond to their instincts to flee the jaws of a steel trap or snare, sometimes called a “steel necktie.” A leading bobcat researcher stated that “Leghold traps require a huge amount of skill (which many trappers don’t have) and can still be tricky even in the best of circumstances. They can still result in leg and paw fractures or loss of blood flow, resulting in the death of the foot/toes. The problems with footholds are particularly relevant in cold environments” when an animal can chew off its own paw. If you have seen wildlife missing front or hind paws, imagine why.

As we envision a future where inhumane traps and snares are unimaginable, how can we secure changes (short of a ban) for urgent issues while quickly striving for substantial reform? Twentyfour- hour trap checks may provide a palatable option for wildlife managers, resulting in earlier action, and one that we all can agree with. This step would reduce domestic and wild animals’ injuries and increase survival rates when animals are caught unintentionally.

A 24-hour rule in Wyoming makes sense. Even the Wyoming Game and Fish Department’s online Hunter Ed course recommends 24-hour trap checks. Wyoming should join the other 36 states that have already taken the progressive leap.

The past is not a place we want to live in. It’s time for decision-makers to acknowledge the public’s increasing power of voice for immediate solutions for trapping and snaring reform. The tide of public opinion has shifted and we aren’t going back.

Ann Smith/ Wyoming Untrapped Board Director
Jackson, WY

Ann Smith / WU Board of Directors (January 6, 2021)

January 6, 2021 – Jackson Hole News and Guide

Check traps every day

The snow has been gently falling. It seems peaceful on the landscape. But the winter season is the most dangerous time of the year for all Wyoming wildlife. In a state rated as one of the worst in the nation for lax trapping regulations and animal cruelty laws, wildlife are exposed to extreme winter conditions for up to three days in traps and seven to 13 days in snares that are littered across our public lands.

The brutality begins as trapped wildlife are unable to respond to their instincts to flee the jaws of a steel trap or snare, sometimes called a “steel necktie.” A leading bobcat researcher stated that “Leghold traps require a huge amount of skill (which many trappers don’t have) and can still be tricky even in the best of circumstances. They can still result in leg and paw fractures or loss of blood flow, resulting in the death of the foot/toes. The problems with footholds are particularly relevant in cold environments” when an animal can chew off its own paw. If you have seen wildlife missing front or hind paws, imagine why.

As we envision a future where inhumane traps and snares are unimaginable, how can we secure changes (short of a ban) for urgent issues while quickly striving for substantial reform? Twentyfour- hour trap checks may provide a palatable option for wildlife managers, resulting in earlier action, and one that we all can agree with. This step would reduce domestic and wild animals’ injuries and increase survival rates when animals are caught unintentionally.

A 24-hour rule in Wyoming makes sense. Even the Wyoming Game and Fish Department’s online Hunter Ed course recommends 24-hour trap checks. Wyoming should join the other 36 states that have already taken the progressive leap.

The past is not a place we want to live in. It’s time for decision-makers to acknowledge the public’s increasing power of voice for immediate solutions for trapping and snaring reform. The tide of public opinion has shifted and we aren’t going back.

Ann Smith/ Wyoming Untrapped Board Director
Jackson, WY

Rodger McDaniel (December 27, 2020)

December 27, 2020 – Wyoming Tribune Eagle

Trapping regulations need to protect pets from harm
The fuse has been lit on the most volatile issue of which most Wyoming people are unaware. If you are not a trapper or have not had your pet die a horrible death in a trap laid alongside a trail on public lands, you probably know nothing about the debate quietly being fought between trappers and those who think trapping should be regulated.
Full disclosure. I learned of the conflict from my wife, an animal rights advocate, involved with other Wyoming people encouraging the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission to enact trapping regulations.
I chose to write about the controversy for two purposes: to make people aware of it and, in the hope that those on both sides of the issue will make this a matter of greater public dialogue.
Trappers point out that their hobby or vocation is protected in the Wyoming Constitution. It is true that Article 1, Section 39 of the constitution mentions trapping. It also refers to hunting and fishing. And it subjects all three pursuits to regulation. Specifically, the provision says it is not intended to “diminish other private rights or alter the duty of the state to manage wildlife.”
Among those “other private rights” is access to public lands. Virtually unregulated, trapping significantly limits the ability of the public to fully enjoy public lands without the threat of injury or death to pets or children.
Game and Fish does not keep data about unintended injuries or deaths caused by trapping. However, a trapping-regulation advocacy group does. Wyoming Untrapped collects reports on the multiple incidents when those freely enjoying hikes or camping with a family pet on public lands have experienced tragedy.
Most are surprised to learn that traps are set close to trails in popular mountain venues. A Wyoming travel website invites people to enjoy trails in areas like Vedauwoo. “Mountain bikers, hikers and trail runners can progress tirelessly on trails among the pine and aspen trees with views of the Medicine Bow Mountains.” https://travelwyoming.com/…/hike-bike-climb-and-camp…
The Wyoming Untrapped website warns those using public lands. There is good reason to beware. Last month, a couple was hiking at Vedauwoo with two dogs. The dogs were near the trail when one, stopping to sniff what turned out to be bait, was seized by a hidden trap. Although the dog and its humans were traumatized, the dog limped away alive. The dog’s owners said, “We had no idea that traps were even something to worry about while exploring public lands.” https://wyominguntrapped.org/database/#def1487019603-2-54
Other pets have not been so fortunate. Mac, for example died near Pavillion. This beloved family dog was “caught in a POWER neck snare (an extremely lethal device) set for bobcats.”
A Casper nurse took her two dogs to an area they often visited. The dogs exercised by running on the sandstone outcroppings. Both dogs were killed by a hidden M-44 cyanide bomb.
These incidents all harmed pets. But, any of them could just as easily have taken the life of a small, curious child. Maybe your pet; perhaps your child.
Christy Stewart was with family, walking her dog up Wickiup Knoll Trail outside of Afton, same as she’d done almost every day for the past four years. Her dog, a 3-year-old Pyrenees named “Sage,” practically grew up on that run. Sage died, trapped on that trail.
“Out of sight for just minutes, the dog caught a scent of fresh meat used to bait a bobcat snare. It didn’t take long. Sage suffocated, hung in a trap just 20 feet off the trail.“
Afton game warden James Hobbs investigated the incident and reported the trap, baited using a cubby set, was legal.
Therein lies the problem. Not one of these tragedies was the result of any violation of law or regulation. A growing number of public lands users are asking the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission to solve that problem by enacting reasonable trapping regulations so they can safely use public lands without exposing their pets and children to deadly, hidden dangers.
– Rodger McDaniel
** Rodger McDaniel lives in Laramie and is the pastor at Highlands Presbyterian Church in Cheyenne. Email: rmc81448@gmail.com.

Wyoming Untrapped (September 9, 2020)

September 9, 2020 – Jackson Hole News & Guide

Trap reform being realized
The face of trapping in Wyoming is shifting. Wyoming Untrapped, joined by other advocates, filed a petition to the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission last January to address trapping reform this year. The commission responded by initiating a process to learn more about trapping. The Wyoming Game and Fish Department initiated a statewide survey, which revealed the need for change by a wide range of stakeholders. On Oct. 1, furbearer trapping season will open and tens of thousands of traps will be set on our landscapes, in addition to the thousands that are there year-round. Thousands of animals will be injured or killed in these traps or snares.
All corners of our state are now aware of the critical need to address the lack of safety on our public landscapes for our people, pets and wildlife.
Game and Fish scheduled five collaborative public meetings statewide to discuss trapping reform before presenting its recommendation to the commission. Two more are left: virtual meetings today in Laramie and Thursday in Lander.
Wyoming Untrapped has asserted in the past and continues to assert that the following trapping regulation changes are necessary: trap-free areas, a ban of all trigger-loaded power snares and Senneker snares, mandatory signage, trap setbacks off trails (300 feet), mandatory reporting of nontarget species and pets, mandatory reporting of all species trapped, mandatory trapper education, mandatory conservation stamp purchase, live traps used wherever possible, 24-hour trap checks, removal of all traps at end of season, a statewide trapping reform stakeholder task force and a review of furbearer trapping regulations every two years.
Our Wyoming voices matter more than ever.
L. Robertson Jackson
Wyoming Untrapped

Patty and Frank Ewing (August 31, 2020)

August 31, 2020 – Jackson Hole News & Guide

Set trap-fee areas
The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission, which meets in Jackson today, Sept. 2, has made progress in following up with public meetings after initiating an evaluation of trapping issues.
This letter focuses on the need to designate trap-free areas in the Cache Creek and Game Creek drainages. Beavers — which were once numerous along Cache Creek, even creating ponds within town limits (until stopped by Cache Creek being diverted underground through much of Jackson) — are gone where we live at the mouth of the canyon. The large, beautiful beaver ponds a short distance upstream have essentially dried up. These large beaver ponds with multiple beaver lodges on private property contiguous to our property are gone.
The ponds were large and deep, and in addition to creating wonderful protected wildlife habitat, the ponds were used by firefighting helicopters to scoop out huge buckets of water during the recent Horse Thief wildfire which threatened Jackson. Obviously, wetlands created by beavers also create an important green wet zone that is extremely beneficial in containing wildfires. A dry, hot summer such as we are currently experiencing has greatly increased the danger of wildfires. Because of the ease of access to the canyon, it is most certain that beavers have been trapped out. There is no other explanation for the dearth of beavers.
Because of their proximity to Jackson, the Cache Creek and Game Creek drainages in the Bridger-Teton National Forest are the most heavily used trails in Teton County. We have lived at the mouth of Cache Creek canyon for almost 60 years and have observed the transformation of the canyon rich with wildlife. The system of trails once used only by horseback riders, hunters and a few hikers has become heavily used by hundreds of daily mountain bikers, walkers and hikers, most with pets and a few brave horseback riders. Winter use by skiers, walkers, fat tire bikes and snowmobiles, often at night, is rising sharply.
We support reform efforts that Wyoming Untrapped is proposing, including: ban the use of power snares and Senneker snares and instead require live traps; require traps to be checked every 24 hours; have trap-free trail areas; require 300-foot trap setbacks; require reporting of species trapped to determine whether trapping is an effective wildlife management measure; require all traps to be removed at the end of the season; increase the cost of trapping licenses; require certification through a trappers education course; and require purchase of a conservation stamp, the same as anglers and hunters.
While only the Wyoming Legislature can make some of the needed changes, the Game and Fish Commission should take the lead.
Patty and Frank Ewing
Jack
Jackson Hole News&Guide

 

Peter Moyer (April 25, 2018)

April 25, 2018 – Jackson Hole News & Guide

Trapping is a True Blunderbuss Approach to Game Management

Bruce Thompson wrote an excellent letter to you on trapping, for your public input. Here are just a few points, from my own perspective (for what that is worth!):

. Trapping is a true blunderbuss approach to game management, in terms of non-target wildlife species including protected species, and domestic animals. By contrast, like most people I do not object to hunting with a bullet or arrow, or fishing where both target and non-target species can be released.

. I see almost no economic benefit to Wyoming from trapping in modern times, unlike hunting and fishing and wildlife viewing. And, there is a bit economic downside from torturing and killing wildlife by trapping in Wyoming–more so all the time, with social media and other media avenues.

. With down, pile and other insulation, and faux furs for decoration, there is no modern day need for trapped animal skins. And, much of the remaining trade is just with communist China and communist Russia.

. Much stricter control on trapping in Wyoming could be promoted in a very positive manner. Right now the trapping p.r. is almost all bad for Wyoming, and it will get worse. Barbaric, bottom line.

Sure, Jeremiah Johnson is still one of my all-time favorite movies, and Bridger/Colter/Glass are heroes to me from distant times. But that was long ago, and their genuine need for trapping is long gone. I hope that I am not insulting anyone still wearing beaver skin hats to fancy gatherings in New York or London.”

Peter Moyer: Wyoming attorney

Jackson, WY

Bruce S. Thompson (April 18, 2018)

April 18, 2018 – Jackson Hole News & Guide

Speak Out Against Trapping

Our Wyoming Game and Fish Department has embarked on a major research study to develop a new agencywide strategic plan. As part of this planning and development process this agency has created a wildlife forum for citizens to help “Forge the Future of Wyoming’s Wildlife.” I encourage all citizens to avail themselves of this rare opportunity for input.

I see Game and Fish as being in a somewhat schizophrenic position: inherently responsible to oversee the health, sustainability and appreciation of the state’s wildlife, which belongs to all stakeholders, while at the same time inherently beholden to the significant and vocal minority — hunters and anglers — that provides the bulk of the very income necessary for it to operate. This hazards an occasional rift between decisions based on sound management and those compelled by service to those “paying the bills.”

Don’t misunderstand. Many, many fine, dedicated individuals work for the agency, and much of the work is performed honestly, thoughtfully and with measurable benefit. But I sincerely believe that this trust is, at times, broken when it comes to two questionable and arguably archaic practices: lethal trapping and hunting purely for trophy. The following comments are in regard to trapping.

I suggest it is time for a full cost-benefit analysis of the practice in ways that includes all impacts: biology, ecology, aesthetics, safety, ethics, economy and, overall, the mores of a civilized and compassionate 21st-century society.

Further, I call for the creation of a statewide trapping advisory committee to lend a fully and proportionally representative citizen perspective to review all elements of science and management related to trapping.

  • There is a virtual absence of sportsmanship, fair chase and compassion in lethal trapping.
  • The overall presumption of trapping as “wildlife management” is rarely cost effective.
  • Lethal trapping as it exists today demonstrates little or no benefit to the functional value of a healthy ecosystem.
  • We don’t have reliable population counts of many of our state’s furbearers, but we allow unlimited quotas. Where’s the science?
  • Innumerable and unacceptable deaths and severe injuries occur to nontarget species, and even animals released alive often die from their injuries.
  • Our wildlife is a public treasure owned by all citizens and taxpayers. Trapping rarely serves any citizen other than the one setting the trap.
  • Our public lands should remain safe havens for all. All people, pets and wildlife should be assured safety, which means vast trap-free areas for all.
  • Trapping for fun, trophy, fur and feeding one’s ego is no longer deemed acceptable by our general population.
  • The pure cruelty of trapping causes injuries, exposure, dehydration and immense suffering. It is culturally and compassionately unworthy of us.
  • The general public is woefully uninformed about the brutal, archaic and poorly managed trapping taking place in our state.

Wyoming wildlife, large and small, need our voice. If you would like to comment on the future of our a wild Wyoming, and for trapping reform, I encourage all to comment at WildlifeForum.org/wildlife.

Bruce S. Thompson

Dubois

 

Wyoming Untrapped (February 7, 2018)

February 7, 2018 – Jackson Hole News & Guide

Wanted: Wildlife Watchers

No one needs to tell us that nongame species have long suffered as low priority in Wyoming’s wildlife management. However, our Wyoming Game and Fish Department is now providing an unprecedented opportunity to contribute public input to drive the future of Wyoming’s wildlife. This opportunity follows a Game and Fish programmatic evaluation by the Wildlife Management Institute as requested by the state of Wyoming to review 12 selected programs within Game and Fish. The result of this directive will be substantial new research to understand attitudes toward agency priorities and management issues of concern by the public, including all Wyoming residents. This process will guide Game and Fish in developing a new agency wide strategic plan.

Are we concerned? Of course.
Do we feel skeptical? Maybe.
Do we believe in the power of numbers? Better still.

Rarely does this invitation to speak out come along. Now it is up to the unheard and underrepresented public — you — to speak your mind, loud and strong, on behalf of the furbearing speechless. Only by triggering that notorious power of numbers will we succeed.

The actions outlined here comprise what might well be the most substantive path we can take to mobilize on behalf of Wyoming citizens. Game and Fish has launched its feedback initiative, “Forging the Future of Wyoming Wildlife,” for you to provide input in three ways: an online “Wildlife Forum,” “Stay Up to Date” email updates and 10 statewide public meetings.

Game and Fish manages both hunting and trapping, but it is the latter that has become most susceptible to the shifting tide of 21st-century wildlife management philosophy and public intolerance. Focus the energy of your words on trapping reform and wildlife watching, for the critical need to value and protect wildlife as vital contributors to the health of our public landscapes and for the intrinsic character and worth of all furbearing animals.

The Jackson public meeting is 4-7 p.m. Saturday in the Cook Auditorium at the National Museum of Wildlife Art.

Please comment. Show up. Stay informed.
The future of Wyoming wildlife is up to you!

L. Robertson
Wyoming Untrapped
Jackson, WY

Wyoming Untrapped (May 24, 2017)

May 2017 – Jackson Hole News & Guide

Manage Wolves for All

With wolves listed as a predatory species for a majority of the year during the spring, summer and autumn months just south and west of town, there will be many more dogs caught by traps as people get outside to engage in recreational activities.

We are encouraging citizens to keep their pets on a leash or very close by when recreating on public lands south and west of town. Wolf traps are larger than traps set for other species and will easily catch and injure or kill pets. The archaic trapping regulations in Wyoming allow trappers to place an unlimited number of traps of any size on public lands. Traps do not have to be set off of trails. Snares do not have to be checked for up to 13 days. The laws and regulations favor the very few individual trappers and give no protections to the hundreds of thousands of pet owners in this state. If your dog is caught or injured, the trapper holds no legal responsibility whatsoever.

Numerous studies have been published that indicate nonlethal measures are more effective at reducing livestock losses from predators than lethal measures. We eradicated wolves from this state once; it can easily happen again. The current management plan does not include any provisions for educating livestock producers on nonlethal techniques or prevention of depredation. It focuses only on how many wolves can be killed and where. Wyoming is once again “managing” our wolves and other predators to minimum numbers. One hundred wolves do not constitute a healthy population.

With tourism the No. 2 industry in the state, why aren’t we managing our wildlife to reflect current nationwide cultural values? Millions of tourists are visiting Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks every year, bringing much-needed income to the state. Will visitors return when the wolves they used to see every year are gone? How will the residents of this state who love wildlife feel when they can no longer catch a glimpse of a wolf on our public lands? A wolf license costs $19 while that same wolf alive can bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars that benefits the whole community. All people should have access to shared resources that are held in trust for the public.

There is also a significant volume of mounting evidence that shows predator populations are self-regulating. Wolves do not need to be hunted. Perhaps the most disgusting thing is that wolves will now be afforded no protection in a majority of the state, not even from animal cruelty laws. Are you aware that there are contests to see who can kill the most predators that are held statewide every year? Wolves will be killed as a part of this repulsive and completely unnecessary, outdated practice. They will be shot on sight, run over with snowmobiles (which currently happens to coyotes — just search for it on YouTube), beaten to death, poisoned by M-44 cyanide bombs, left to suffer in traps for up to three days, chased down and shot from aircraft and generally treated lower than dirt. This is unacceptable treatment of any animal, but especially so for an iconic keystone species like the wolf.

We are in the geologic era known as the Anthropocene in which species are going extinct at an alarming rate, much faster than ever before. Large mammals will be the first to go. And we are allowing some of the most vulnerable to purposely be killed? When are we going to move our wildlife management into the modern century? When are we going to listen to science and evidence instead of relying on anachronistic attitudes based on fear and ignorance?

Almost 70 years after Aldo Leopold wrote and taught about the importance of our moral responsibility to the natural world, it’s incredible we are still discussing the wanton killing of predators. The focus of wolf management has to change to co-existence if we are to leave a lasting legacy of complete, diverse ecosystems behind to our children.

Kristin Combs
Program Director
Wyoming Untrapped
Jackson, WY

Wyoming Untrapped (April 7, 2016)

April  2016 – From Pinedale Roundup

Put an End to Senseless Killings

Wyoming Untrapped (WU), a wildlife advocacy group in the state, learned about an annual hunting contest in Sublette County that has been kept mostly under wraps until local citizens wrote letters to the editor and contacted WU. The coyote-killing contest consists of killing as many coyotes as possible for fun and prize money, and was partially funded and supported by the Sublette County Predator Management Board.

These senseless predator killing contests, which occur across the state, are often called coyote-calling contests, varmint hunts or predator hunts. We believe these events are not hunting; they are a blood sport.

Our WU mission is dedicated to creating a safe and humane environment for our people, pets and wildlife, and to promote an overall ethic of compassionate conservation for wildlife and other natural resources. Our highest priority is to address our state’s archaic and indiscriminate trapping regulations as well as wildlife management, which allows the cruel and inhumane senseless killing of wildlife in the form of predator-killing contests for money and prizes, such as the “mangiest mutt” award or the “biggest dog” award. These “management tools” are not based on a sound science foundation, and are in urgent need of reform.

WU is fighting for freedom in wildness each and every day. Although there is a deep-rooted resistance to change in Wyoming and our challenges are steep, we have made significant progress. For the first time in our state’s history, WU has brought the reality of our trapping and wildlife management to the forefront of the public eye and ignited the dialog surrounding the need to bring trapping reform and wildlife management into the 21st century. Change is coming to Wyoming.

To voice your opinion to end these predator-killing contests, contact your county commissioners or the local predator control board.

To report trapping incidents or predator killing contests, please call Wyoming Untrapped at 307-201-2422 or email info@wyominguntrapped.org.

L. Robertson
Wyoming Untrapped

http://www.pinedaleroundup.com/v2_news_articles.php?heading=0&story_id=4545&page=76

Dr. Mark Elbroch (February 10, 2016)

February 2016

WYOMING’S LIONS ESCAPE TRAPPING

O PI NI O N
Wyoming’s lions escape trapping plan

I
n January a bill was introduced in the Wyoming Legislature that, if it had passed, would have allowed any person with a valid hunting license to kill a mountain lion using a trap or snare. As a Wyoming resident and biologist, I’m thrilled to tell you that our Legislature voted yesterday in favor of science and to protect the balance of nature on which our state so deeply depends.

HB12 failed to pass the House on Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2016, at 2:23 p.m. This bill was not based on valid research, and the potential negative consequences for mountain lions, other wildlife, Wyoming citizens and the Wyoming Game and Fish Department would have been far-reaching.

Ostensibly, this bill was introduced to provide “additional tools” to reverse recent mule deer population declines, a valuable game species for Wyoming residents. In reality, the connection between mountain lions and mule deer population declines is tenuous at best. The Wyoming Game and Fish Department has said that mule deer declines are largely the result of other factors, including habitat loss and disruption to migration corridors. It is also well accepted among wildlife biologists that deer dynamics are driven primarily by weather patterns and resulting forage availability, not predators. In fact, a recent intensive, long-term study from the Idaho Department of Fish and Game emphasized that removing mountain lions and coyotes did not provide any long-term benefit to deer populations. The researchers reported: “In conclusion, benefits of predator removal appear to be marginal and short term in southeastern Idaho and likely will not appreciably change long-term dynamics of mule deer populations in the intermountain west.”

Like mule deer, mountain lions are also experiencing signifi cant population declines in some areas. Research conducted by Panthera’s Teton Cougar Project in Teton County, Wyoming, shows that lion numbers north of Jackson have declined by half in eight years. Mountain lions in Wyoming are hunted with all legal firearms, archery equipment and trailing hounds, and these methods have proven effective in reducing mountain lion populations across the West. Introducing trapping — an imprecise method of hunting — could have crippled mountain lion populations further, as well as rapidly and unexpectedly influenced other wildlife populations.

The nature of trapping is indiscriminate. Trapping consists of snares and leghold traps, including steel jaws, which often cause serious injury to animals — breaking legs, ripping skin or completely severing limbs, via the trap or through self-mutilation. Traps deliver painful, slow deaths to wildlife and domestic animals unlucky enough to be caught. In Wyoming it is currently illegal to kill a female mountain lion with kittens or the kittens themselves. However, a trapper cannot dictate what animal is caught, resulting in the potential maiming or killing of female mountain lions, their kittens or federally listed wolves, wolverines, Canada lynx or grizzly bears. Traps may also injure people should they stumble into one. Importantly, voting down HB12 maintained protection for the reproductive capital of our mountain lion populations: female mountain lions with kittens and the kittens themselves. Trapping is not only imprecise in its implementation, it is also nearly impossible to track and monitor. This bill would have completely undermined mountain lion management currently conducted by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, introducing chaos to a tracking system that may not be ideal but works. When Wyoming’s House and Senate representatives introduce legislation that threatens their own Wyoming Game and Fish Department’s ability to protect our state’s immense and singular biodiversity, something is clearly wrong.

But Rep. Sam Krone eloquently opposed the bill for sportsmen against indiscriminate trapping, followed by Rep. Charles Pelkey, who emphasized the potential consequences of increased trapping on domestic animals and people. In the end the bill did not gain the required two-thirds majority to move forward.

Every year visitors flock to Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks, investing millions of dollars in Wyoming communities in the hope of glimpsing charismatic apex predators like the mountain lion. In voting down HB12, Wyoming voted for sustainable, scientific decision-making for our state and every creature with which we share this precarious and wonderful balance that we call home. In voting against mountain lion trapping, Wyoming chose evidence-based science over old mythology perpetuating fear and persecution of this amazing animal. It made me proud to live in Wyoming.

Yet the possibility remains that this bill will be reintroduced to the Senate this week. To ensure Wyoming’s mountain lion trapping legislation stops in its tracks, continue to contact members of the Wyoming legislature this week.

If the bill is halted, New Mexico and Texas will be the only states in our country to allow the trapping of mountain lions. Dr. Mark Elbroch is lead scientist of Panthera’s Puma Program.

GUEST SHOT

Dr. Mark Elbroch

http://jhnewsandguide.wy.newsmemory.com/publink.php?shareid=1238ecf30

Wyoming Untrapped (August 12, 2015)

August 12, 2015

RUN WILD, FREE, AND UNTRAPPED

Dear Editor,

The recent ad for the Old Bill’s Fun Run, showing two cute little fox kits, is one of the most powerful we have seen.  We are reminded how proud we are to live in a community that gives with such tremendous passion and generosity for its people and its extraordinary wildlife.

We adore our foxes!  Unfortunately, many people in Teton County and throughout the state do not know that these little red foxes are designated “predatory animals” in Wyoming.  This means that every single day of the year, in unlimited numbers, they can be shot-on-sight or trapped in legholds for 72 hours, or up to 13 days in snares and conibears, with no concern for the suffering or pain, fear, thirst and hunger, but only for their fur or for fun.  Yes, this is how Wyoming treats our wildlife due to antiquated trapping regulations that need reform.

Wyoming Untrapped, dedicated to create a safe and humane environment for people, pets and wildlife, is working to change these archaic rules through education and trapping regulation reform.  Public awareness is already making a difference, one person at a time.

My family is grateful for the opportunity to support Old Bill’s Fun Run, our community non-profits, and the wildlife that live in our remaining wild areas.  Please help support Wyoming Untrapped and other wildlife-oriented non-profits through Old Bill’s, ensuring that you will have a direct positive impact on wildlife conservation.

Run wild, free and UNtrapped at Old Bill’s Fun Run everyone!

Peter Moyer (August 5, 2015)

From  Jackson Hole News and Guide, August 5, 2015

Cecil the Lion

Well-deserved global outrage has resulted from the recent killing of “Cecil the Lion” in Zimbabwe by a Minnesota dentist, for his $50,000 fee.  The lion was lured outside the safety of a national park, using bait.  He was then wounded by the dentist with an arrow (at night, spot lighted), tracked, shot and killed by the dentist 40 hours later.  The lion was skinned for the trophy room, with the carcass discarded.

All for money and ego, not need.

There are definite parallels to the modern day wild animal fur trade.  There is no real “need” nowadays:  fleece, Gore-Tex and other modern day materials are warmer, lighter, cheaper and abundant.  Pine martens, bobcats, foxes, otters, beavers, etc. are not esteemed as table fare. Faux fur is decorative enough.  There is no significant benefit to our economy–unlike hunting and fishing–and many of our wild animal furs are shipped to Russia and Communist China.

And trapping is brutal, whether for recreation or for profit.  How many of us humans would like to suffocate in a snare, or try to chew off a trapped limb?!

The Cecil the Lion incident revealed the great depth of compassion for wildlife felt by many of us humans, on a global scale. When the public is aware, people care.

Trapping results in the brutal treatment of our treasured and diminishing wildlife resources. In the American West trapping often occurs on forested and riparian lands owned by the people of the United States.  We are responsible, and we can do better.

Peter F. Moyer

Wyoming Untrapped (July 15, 2015)

From  Jackson Hole News and Guide, July 15, 2015

CONTACT THE COMMISSIONERS

The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission on Friday rejected the efforts to address the adverse effects of trapping on the safety of people, pets and wildlife in Teton County by such means as trail setbacks, signage and the closure of a single heavily traveled trail on the outskirts of Jackson, Cache Creek.

The changes to Chapter 4 Trapping Regulations proposed by WGFD were supported by Wyoming Untrapped (WU), the Teton County Commission, Bridger Teton National Forest, and many Jackson residents for whom Representative Ruth Ann Petroff spoke.  An additional 5700 positive public comments were submitted, including 600 from Wyoming residents.  They were overwhelmingly in favor of the new regulations for Teton County.

Commissioner Little, when making the motion to remove the closure of Cache Creek from the draft commented that she believed agreeing to WU’s proposal was the beginning of the slippery slope intended to disenfranchise the rights and heritage of Wyoming’s trappers. Efforts by conservation and advocacy organizations do not pre-empt the slippery slope. Sustainable funding is the main threat to game agencies and hunters today.  Even Governor Mead has acknowledged that a solution to long-term funding must be found. The slippery slope is the reduction occurring among the hunting and trapping community due to cultural change. Finding a way to accommodate ALL users whether hunting or non-hunting will be the answer to collaborative management and sustainability.

Even though WU was hugely successful in bringing extensive support to the table and also offered to take financial responsibility for trail use data collection, signage and trap-release education, the Commission decided that the ‘need’ for reform had not been established. However, numerical substantiation of damage and injury to non-target animals, including dogs, is impossible to establish because of the very limited requirement to report.

“We understand that change happens slowly in Wyoming.  Trapping reform is a reasonable expectation by the public, especially when traditional practices and social use of trails coincide.  It just makes sense.  WU is the first organization in the state’s history that has addressed trapping reform, and we have raised public awareness at a fast pace.  However, our governing Game and Fish Commission is not ready to address the need to modernize our current archaic trapping regulations.  Continued awareness and collaboration will eventually change that.  Our modern public demands it.  And it’s the time in history for change.”

Please let your Commissioners know that you also support trapping reform.

Wyoming Untrapped

Jake Nichols - Planet JH (May 27, 2015)

From  PlanetJH.com

THE MENACE OF MODERN DAY TRAPPERS

It’s hard to believe the practice of trapping is making a resurgence in Teton County solely on economic realities.  Fur prices skyrocketed during the recession, though they’ve tailed off recently.  Eye-popping price-per-pelt figures have spurred many a Davy Crocket-wannabe to invest in a half-dozen 330 conibears and head for the hills.

In Wyoming’s more rural counties, where 4H is more popular than junior cotillion classes, trapping could understandably provide a means to put dinner on the table one cape at a time.  But in ritzy Teton County, where any derelict can walk into a restaurant for breakfast and be the sous chef by that evening’s dinner, there are easier ways to skin a cat making a buck.

That leads me to the neo-woodsman movement as the primary factor driving the uptick in trapping activity in Teton County.  One scan of Facebook and it’s easy to find several tree-hugging hipsters who’ve suddenly discovered their inner-man(woman) by growing vegetable in the backyard and hunting their own protein.  An extension of the Paleo Peacenik crusade probably involves Silicon Valley warriors who’ve traded in their iPhones for Bowie knives.

Wyoming Untrapped has been working feverishly to get trapping banned in the Cache Creek drainage and other popular recreation areas where rusty jaws are more likely to clamp down on a Golden Retriever than a read fox.  Lisa Robertson launched WU after incidents in Red Top Meadows and elsewhere highlighted the dangers of traps placed too close to dog walking trails.

Running a trap line close to the trail in Cache Creek is just plain lazy.  Real mountain men hump it to get to their traps and they check them responsibly.  Too many trendy trappers are looking for the path of no resistance.  Robertson is right.  No trapping should be allowed anywhere near trails in popular areas like Cache Creek. This is not the 1800s.

And WU and its ilk shouldn’t stop there.  State trapping laws are updated every three years.  This summer marks Game & Fish discussions about possible revisions (July 8-10 in Cody).  One thing that desperately needs to change is how often traps need to be checked.  In Wyoming, an animal can spend three days in a leg-hold trap waiting for a mercy killing.  Other type traps and snares require 13 days between required checks.  That’s simply too long to allow an animal to suffer.

Jake Nichols

Wyoming Untrapped (May 25, 2015)

From Jackson Hole News and Guide, May 25,2015

UNTRAP SUPPORT

To the editor:

Wyoming Untrapped (WU) is reaching out to the public with an URGENT request.  As you may be aware, furbearer and predator trapping on public lands have uniquely impacted Teton County.  Five dogs belonging to area residents have been injured in legholds, snares, and conibear traps on US Forest Service lands in recent years.  At present, regulations allow for traps to be set directly on hiking trails.  No reporting of such incidents is required. Neither of those who engage in trapping activities nor the agencies that regulate them are required to report such incidents, so the problem is surely much larger than five dogs — indeed, we recently learned of two more previously unreported incidents.  WU was founded in response to these incidents and we are making strides toward safer public lands for both residents and visitors alike.  Now, we need our community’s help.

WU is not an organization focused on banning trapping.  Instead, we advocate for ways to improve trapping regulations to mitigate the impacts that the practice has on other people, their pets, and their shared public lands.  At present, we are advocating for the WGFD and the WGF Commission to implement trapping regulations that would prohibit furbearer traps from being set in the Cache Creek drainage in the Bridger-Teton National Forest and on Snow King Mountain, and would prohibit furbearer traps from being set within 300 feet of some of our community’s busiest trails.  Interests from elsewhere in the state are pushing back against regulations that would affect Teton County, so it is imperative that the local community voice its support for this small, reasonable change that could mitigate some of the unnecessary risk currently imposed on anyone who ventures out onto our public lands with their pet.

Specifically, we ask that you:

  • Submit written public comment to the WGFD and WGF Commission supporting furbearer-trapping setbacks in Teton County and a closure of the Cache Creek drainage and Snow King Mountain to furbearer trapping.  The public comment period closes May 29 at 5 p.m.  To see the list of trails recommended for setbacks, and to take-action: www.wyominguntrapped.org/take-action/.
  • Please attend WGFD’s public meeting Thursday, May 28, Antler Inn, 6 p.m., to represent our community interests.

    We hope that you will help us in representing Teton County and the public’s reasonable expectation for safety on our public lands, and our vested interest in trapping regulation reform.

Bert Fortner (May 13, 2015)

From Jackson Hole News and Guide, May13,2015

The public lands in Wyoming are fantastic. We have BLM land, school sections and national forest all for the public to use freely for just about any outdoor activity you can imagine. But are they safe?

There is one activity on public lands that jeopardizes the safety of public use for most of us: trapping. I absolutely am not against trapping, and predator control in Wyoming is a necessity. But on public lands there should not be traps that endanger the rest of us who enjoy using them. There are deadly snares and severe steel traps set everywhere and even right along paths and roadways. If you are out hiking, camping or doing whatever activity you enjoy and have your pets and small children with you, beware! There have been many cases of pets maimed or killed by these traps.

There is an alternative for the trappers, so they still have rights on the public lands: live traps. You can be very successful using live traps, and if the wrong animal (like your pet) gets caught it can be turned loose with no harm done.

There are thousands of acres of private land to trap on with snares and steel traps, and landowners will jump at the chance to have someone help with predator control. So let’s make it safe for everyone to use public lands.

After all, they are called “public lands” not “trapper lands.” To look at your rights and voice your opinion, go to the website WyomingUntrapped.org and go to “Take Action.”

Bert Fortner, Gillette

Samantha Rowe (May 11, 2015)

From Cody Enterprise, May 11, 2015

Public lands are for the benefit for everyone: outdoor enthusiasts, horseback riders, hikers, hunters/trappers and fishermen, parents and children taking adventures and anyone else.

However, when one has to avoid public land, because their dog may be caught and killed by a deadly snare, then it infringes on the rightful use of others.

At this time the Wyoming law allows all types of trapping on all public lands. This includes deadly snares and powerful steel traps. There have been several incidences of pets being caught in these devices.

I have taken my dog to the vet after freeing it from a trap. If a pet or small child gets caught in a snare it could kill them.

I am not against trapping; it is the trapper’s right. But on public lands I feel they should have to use live traps. If your pet gets caught in it, it will not be harmed, and there are no dangers to children. They are still getting to trap effectively without a risk to anyone or anything else.

Colorado’s laws specify live traps on public land and it works.

(s) Samantha Lowe

Gillette

Peter Moyer (January 9, 2015)

There are many locals and visitors who treasure Wyoming’s great wildlife species on our extensive public lands: pine martens, beavers, ermine, badgers, otters, bobcats, mink, red squirrels, etc.

By contrast, there are not many people who need to trap and kill these esteemed wildlife resources outside of carefully defined areas. Nor is there a significant benefit to our economy–trapping produces very little local revenue, visitor income, retail trade, outfitting work, licensing income, table fare, or conservation support. Unlike hunting and fishing activities, which are and should be widely supported throughout Wyoming.

Very broad trapping setbacks from hiking areas, and other area trapping restrictions on our public lands, simply make sense. It is not just concern for dogs and other “non-target species” killed or maimed in traps, where trapping is far more indiscriminate than hunting aimed at specific target species.

Absent broad setbacks and area restrictions, wildlife resources should not be compromised in our magnificent public surroundings just so a very limited group of people can trap and kill. It is nice to have the critters around, and nice to have ecological balance. It is public land, where there should be fair and proper management balance considering the nature and relative importance of different uses.

/s/

Peter F. Moyer

Wyoming Untrapped (December 31, 2014)

TRAPPING REFORM – Jackson Hole News and Guide

Imagine you and a friend are out on a bluebird winter day, walking your dog on a Forest Service trail near Jackson. Your well-behaved dog is wandering along the trail, wagging her tail as she follows each scent she finds. You get caught up in your conversation and your attention wavers from your dog for just a few moments. Suddenly, your dog yelps from just a few feet off the trail — she’s been caught in a trap. If you’re lucky, it is a leg-hold trap that your dog will suffer from, but hopefully survive. If you’re unlucky, your dog’s neck has just been snapped by a quick-kill conibear or slowly squeezed by a snare. Either way, the trap was completely legal and the person who set it is not liable in any way.

Gruesome? Yes. Possible? Absolutely. A scenario not unlike the above became reality for one family in Casper only weeks ago. It has happened here, too, and could happen again at any time. Should this be the reality of recreating in Jackson Hole?

As compassionate people we don’t want to imagine a dog being trapped, don’t want to think about trapping and don’t want to see images of trapped pets and wildlife — but as community, we must not look away. Trapping regulations are antiquated, and the trapping status quo endures because it remains off the radar of nonconsumptive public land and wildlife users.

Trapping season is in full swing, and traps of all varieties can be found almost anywhere on public land — even on your favorite hiking trails. Thousands of furbearing animals including bobcats, American martens, weasels and many others are trapped without limit. Nontarget species regularly caught in traps include not only pets but also threatened species like Canada lynx. Dog owners, hikers, wildlife watchers, photographers and the rest of the nontrapping public deserve a reasonable expectation of safety while recreating on public lands and deserve to be considered in wildlife management decisions.

We need to put trapping reform on the radar. Wyoming Untrapped is working on establishing trapping setbacks along trails in Teton County through its “Traps and Trails Campaign.” Setbacks are a step forward, and you can help affect change — visit WyomingUntrapped. org for information on taking action. It is time for this community to take a hard look at trapping reform.

Katy Canetta – Program Director Wyoming Untrapped

Peter Moyer (August 25, 2014)

From Peter Moyer, August 25, 2014

Our wildlife cannot vote or mount campaigns or write checks, so they really need great and dedicated people like you!! The historical perspective is interesting. Furs used to be necessary for warmth in Northern climes. Beaver hides and other furs like ermine were decorative, but few looked at ecology or animal cruelty back in those days. Trappers were iconic and admired, and still are from our distant modern perspective. Even though there is no real need for warmth or decorative pelts from wild animals any more.

The cruelty to trapped animals is barbaric in modern times. Absolutely barbaric. The value of those animals in wild ecosystems is very, very important. Many of our most productive riparian wetlands–for so many critters and many humans as well–have been created by beavers. Predators trapped cruelly for their furs play a very important role as checks and balances in many ecosystems. And the “Collateral Damage” of trapping is very bad, such as wolverines.

Anyway, sorry to be so windy but it is a great cause, more power to you! Some people are mostly concerned with dogs, but it goes way beyond that.

K Brown (July 26, 2014)

Shared by Cdapress.com.

K. BROWN/Guest opinion 

I am a responsible Idaho hound hunter and I have great concerns about trapping in the state of Idaho. I believe that it is time to address the elephant in the room and I feel that we need to make some major adjustments to trapping before it is too late for both trappers and hound hunters.

Here are the facts:

* Trapping and dog hunting do not mix.

I purchase my hound tag every year just like the trapper does, but I cannot hunt year round for fear of having another dog lost to a snare. I, myself, have even been caught in a snare just looking for my dogs. This is how out of control trapping has become.

* No regulated limits to the number of snares, leg hold traps and conibear traps on the ground. Collateral damage to wildlife.

A typical snare runs around $2.25 per snare. Most trappers put out so many snares that they have to put ribbons on bushes to find them again. Every day, a variety of wildlife falls victim to the trapper’s collateral damage list. When I buy a deer tag, I fill that tag only once and I know that it is against the law to bag another deer. The trapper has a free pass to kill or maim unlimited amounts of deer, cougar, bobcats, elk, moose, rabbits, etc. as needed to obtain his target. These are only considered “untargeted incidentals” and remain very legal.

* Domestic dog owners.

Hundreds of people recreate with dogs in the state of Idaho. Most trappers trap where it is easy to get to their traps – along highways, roads or trails. This always puts domestic dogs at risk when one is recreating, walking or just letting the dog out to relieve himself.

Hundreds of dogs are killed every year that belong to domestic dog owners. We are all being held hostage by this loosely regulated sport that has absolutely no oversight or consequences for breaking what few laws they may or may not follow.

* No limits on number of animals caught except otter and beaver

The bobcats have suffered terribly due to a five-month trapping season that makes it legal to trap virtually everything when in fact the bobcat season is only two months long – another pass for the trapper. Now with wolf trapping, bears are being caught in November before they can even go into hibernation. Trapping to this degree is affecting everything.

* New residents and so called “bunny huggers” dominating Idaho

There are 1.6 million people in Idaho with only approximately 2,000 trapping licenses issued. How long do you think it will take for people to realize that they can not safely recreate with dogs because of trapping? How long will they tolerate the inhumane treatment of animals and suffering that all victims of the snare or trap must endure?

This is slowly turning into a state that is leaning toward ethics. Numbers have always taken precedence over history and heritage. I worry that the dog hunting will go out the door along with the trapping if we don’t find some balance for everyone.

* Trap damage

Bone damage, tissue damage, blood vessel damage, skin and nerve damage or in most all cases … death. Even if one of my dogs survived, it would never be able to hunt again.

My recommendations:

* Outlaw conibear traps set on dry land.

These traps kill instantly and have no business being set where humans interact with wildlife and nature. In most states, they can only be used under water. The average person can not even release a pet much less themselves without special hardware for one of these monsters.

* Outlaw snares.

Snares are unforgiving to all animals. They are not only cheap to buy, but are 100 percent effective and can be set over an unfathomable amount of area – catching almost anything that is moving, either in or out of season. Because of the unfair and indiscriminating amount of collateral death caused to wildlife while trying to catch targeted animals, they should never be legal due to this factor alone.

* Limit the amount of traps a person can set.

Change the 72-hour torture check to 24 hours every day. This would make a trapper think twice about laying out 80 to 100 traps and just letting them ride till the weekend (which is what most of them do because they work). Legally, he would have to think about the time involved in checking traps within a 24-hour time frame. Because there is no oversight, most of them get away with this anyway, but at least it would be illegal.

* Limit the number of animals to be caught.

This sport has turned into a killing free-for-all. There are limits on everything else we value with hunting. Why not for the trapper?

* Require trapper liability insurance.

The people who illegally snared and killed my $5,000 young hound didn’t appear to have any remorse. After the incident, it was business as usual with just a slap on the wrist. I was the one who suffered the emotional and financial loss from their negligence, but they were well within most of the trapping laws.

There has to be some accountability to protect the average person who recreates in our woods and wetlands. They should be able to freely use these public lands without fear of losing their dogs. The rules can’t always be overwhelmingly in favor of the trapper or it will come to an end. Trappers would be more mindful of where they trap if they were required to have trappers insurance.

* Raise the license fees to trap.

If Fish and Game can not afford to patrol and control trappers, maybe they should consider raising the fees to put some balance out there for the rest of us when it comes to recreating together. This would cut down unnecessary kills and keep the till full.

* Require only “live” traps.

This would really solve the problem. There could then be some control as to what should or shouldn’t be taken. I know this would be a hard pill for the trapper to swallow, but we need to find a way to level the playing field for the common man. Other states do this with much success and everyone is happy, not to mention this leaves a larger abundance of wildlife for others to pursue such as myself. Needless killing of fur bearers is never a good idea for wildlife populations or for anyone.

In Conclusion:

My thoughts are not new with regard to trapping in Idaho. I have watched what I dearly enjoy doing go down the drain in the St. Joe country. Trappers gobble up what little bit of country is left that supports the lion or bobcat populations. There is no such thing as working side by side with snares and conibear traps when you do what I do. The trapper has had it pretty good doing whatever he has wanted to do on our public lands for decades, but this isn’t going to last – not with the new mindset of the people who are moving into this state. People love their dogs and they are concerned about animal suffering, but there are still solutions that could happen to make everyone happy.

Earlier this year, a mother, her 12-year-old son and their large dog were looking for antler sheds near Kellogg. The dog was trapped and died in an unmarked conibear trap that neither of them could open. There was nothing the boy could do but watch his dog die. Turned out this trapper was found when he returned for the trap, but he only received a slap on the wrist for not marking the trap. He went on to use the conibear trap up Cougar Gulch near Cd’A where he also trapped and killed two more domestic dogs. Fish and Game could do absolutely nothing about these incidents because he was well within the law. This is nothing short of insufferable.

How long will it be before a 12-year-old boy loses his foot in one of these monster traps? How many more domestic dogs will be victim to a snare, leaving their grieving owners wondering about what their rights are on public lands? This has to change or the power of the people will bring it to an end – and I am afraid they will take down dog hunting while they are at it.

We have to make laws so everyone can enjoy these lands together. There needs to be compromise on everyone’s part. No one sport should be able to dominate and hold everyone else hostage while they willy nilly do whatever they want without facing consequences. We need some drastic steps and changes made with regard to trapping – and we need it done soon.

K. Brown is a resident of Plummer.

Jean Molde (July 18, 2014)

From the Reno Gazette-Journal

In the July 14 Reno Gazette-Journal, we learn that a young man accused of cruel acts on domestic dogs has been arrested and faces felony charges. We applaud. Yet, on the same front page of the paper, we are told that the Nevada Department of Wildlife commissioners are having difficulty making a decision regarding making a change in the regulation requiring how frequently a trapper must visit his/her traps. Is it somehow less cruel than the aforementioned crime the young man is accused of to cause an animal to languish in a trap for up to four days, in pain, frightened, thirsty and hungry, just because the activity is not in the public eye and the animal is wild?

Jean Molde, Reno

TrailSafe Nevada (July 15, 2014)

A post by TrailSafe Nevada

Mr. Les Smith (“Hunters, trappers key to management” – July 6 Letter to the Editor LVRJ – also July 9 Nevada Appeal) posits “people [who] would love to make wildlife management an environmental issue.” How is wildlife management not an environmental issue? He follows this statement with: “ If it becomes one, hunting and trapping will be gone, and so will the funding that comes with them.” This is the slippery slope mantra aired by sportsmen at Wildlife Commission meetings whenever trapping regulation is discussed. The sportsmen passionately defend trapping. They believe that if trapping is curtailed, even minimally, somehow hunting and then gun ownership will be next. They refer to a “secret agenda” we animal activists ourselves are unaware of. In reaction to this exaggerated fear, we see bills attempting to secure hunting and trapping “rights” for eternity – even attempting constitutional amendments. One activity – hunting – is well regulated in the interest of wildlife management. Hunters take mandatory education; buy tags; observe seasons and a host of regulations. Trapping is something else altogether. There are no bag limits; no limits upon number of traps set; no limits upon the agony a trapped animal suffers. If the people Mr. Smith defines as such a threat have not already brought the hunting and trapping communities to their knees, when and how will they do so? Is he saying a few grassroots animal activists can match the money and influence of the larger hunting groups? Trappers join coalitions with these hunting groups and enjoy great advantages thereby. These coalitions control wildlife policy in our state. Most animal advocates make a clear distinction between hunting and trapping. To object to the excesses of one is not a threat to the other.

Mauricio Handler (November 25, 2015)

November 2015

NO STUFFED WILDLIFE

Stuffed dead wildlife for sale decorate tourist and souvenir stores in downtown Jackson.

After a week at the Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival trying to figure out, together with 800 delegates from around the world, how we can be a voice for conservation and wildlife proliferation in a time of unprecedented animal extinction, I am revolted at the reality of the local mentality and the message it sends to all Jackson visitors from around the world, including China and other Asian countries.

How can we expect them to conserve, protect and cultivate a culture of wildlife welfare when we give them this front row seat to a horror show? As I said, all animals are for sale. Is this an oxymoron? Let’s wake up. Do not support businesses like these and make your voices heard. We are not above nature; we are part of it.

Taxidermy from the 20th century I understand — it was a different time. But to bring this to the forefront of today’s world and to have all for sale? Something is not right with this picture.

Many species are disappearing from the Wyoming landscape because trapping and furring are legal here.

We are talking dozens of animals in each store.

China is a huge problem for the endangered species of our planet. People there trade, consume and dissect anything and everything. But with Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks attracting waves of Chinese tourists, this issue in Jackson and other prohunting and pro-trapping locations in the U.S. is definitely is not helping the cause.

Make sure you watch “Racing Extinction” airing in 220-plus countries Dec. 2. This is the very best environmental film ever made. It is the beginning of a global movement. Let your voice be heard.

Wyoming Untrapped is single-handedly trying to address this issue in the area. Please join it and lend it your support when possible.

Mauricio Handler, filmmaker Durham, Maine

https://www.jhnewsandguide.com/opinion/letters/letter-to-the-editor-oct-21/article_2eda0b4c-fe5a-506d-a312-747d959e9e36.html

Leslie Patten (March 12, 2014)

Jackson Hole News and Guide, 3/12/14 Trapped In December

I spent a month exploring Anazasi ruins around Bluff, Utah. One morning I drove along an excellent dirt access road indicated in my guide book toward a popular hiking trail. Recent snows created muddy conditions, so I decided to walk the remaining few miles to the trailhead. I let my dog out, and we both walked on the road itself. My dog was about 15 feet ahead of me when he began yelping in pain. I rushed to his side and saw his foot was caught in a leghold trap meant for coyotes. The trap had been hidden under the dirt directly on the public road, ‘baited’ only with dog scat and scent — in other words, there was no indication to a human that a trap was there. Luckily, I was able to free my dog quickly, and he had no injuries. Although my experience took place in Utah, I live in Wyoming and know many people whose dogs have been caught in traps here. People recreating with children and dogs need to know that trapping is legal everywhere except in national parks. Coyotes can be trapped year round. Wolves can be trapped in 85 percent of Wyoming year round. Other wildlife such as bobcats have a long season in the winter months. It’s only a matter of time, as recreational use increases, before a child is trapped. Releasing a leghold trap is not intuitive. One has to practice before an incident occurs. Snares require a hiker to carry a good pair of wire cutters so your dog won’t choke to death. If you come across a conibear trap, then kiss your dog goodbye because you’ll never release him in time as it takes only seconds for the animal to die. Trapping is not only cruel and antiquated, but trappers are selling our wildlife overseas to China and Russia for coats. As fur prices escalate, more people are trapping, many of them inexperienced and unethical. Last year, trappers placed bobcat sets around the perimeter of Joshua Tree National Park in California, hoping for the $750 that a pelt can bring, robbing the American public visiting that park of the pleasure of seeing our native wildlife. Old, outdated laws and attitudes favor the trapper who pays a miniscule fee for his license. Nonconsumptive users of recreational lands are not only at risk but so is the tranquility of their outdoor experience. Leslie Patten Cody

Kirk Robinson (May 30, 2014)

Kirk Robinson wrote a beautiful essay about wildlife management.  Shared by Trap Free New Mexico.

I work for Western Wildlife Conservancy, a non-profit wildlife conservation organization that I founded several years ago in Salt Lake City. I am motivated by a concern for the future of the West, of our wildlands and wildlife, the health of our watersheds and a place where people (individuals and families, not the species) can flourish and stay in touch with wild nature. I want to know how we can best work together to ensure these things. This is particularly urgent given continued population growth, habitat fragmentation and degradation, and the reality of climate change – not to mention the majority of our Western politicians, who seem oblivious to these important matters.

One of my most cherished memories is working side by side with my grandfather on a ranch one summer when I was 16. We rode horses, rounded up calves, branded them, castrated them, and treated them for pink eye; I learned to drive a tractor and helped out with the irrigation and haying. There were no other kids on the ranch, so in the evenings I was left to myself for a couple of hours between dinner and bedtime. One evening after dinner I went out for a walk with my Winchester semi-automatic .22 rifle, on the lookout for something to shoot. In those days, it was a rite of passage for a boy to get a “varmint” rifle at about age 14.

While walking a path along the edge of an alfalfa field I saw a large bird with a whitish breast standing in the middle of the field about 100 yards away. A sitting duck, so to speak. Pointing my rifle in the direction of the bird and raising it slightly to allow for distance, I pulled the trigger. Instantly the bird fell over. Excitedly, I climbed over the fence and ran over to it. It was a beautiful barn owl, stone dead, its bright yellow eyes still open. I wondered what to do with it. Taxidermy wasn’t an option, but just leaving it seemed wasteful, so I plucked out a few of its feathers and proceeded to saw off its talons with a dull packet knife. After salvaging these trifles, I put my trophies in my shirt pocket and carried the dead bird over to the edge of the field and threw it into the sagebrush. Then I started walking back to the ranch house in the waning light, guided by the glow from a window a few hundred yards away. As I walked along, feeling some remorse for what I’d done, another owl, just like the one I’d killed, flew toward me and began to fly in circles just a few feet above my head. I thought it might attack me and I was scared, so I stopped. When I did, it lit on the nearest fence post, about six feet away, and stared straight at my face with its big yellow eyes. It was very spooky. I didn’t want to kill it too, so I tried shooting at the post below it instead, hoping to scare it off. But it wouldn’t leave. So I began walking again; and again the owl began circling my head on its silent wings. After a few seconds I stopped again and it stopped too, lighting on the nearest fence post and staring straight at my face. I shot at the post again. It didn’t move. This was repeated about a half dozen times, the owl following me nearly all the way back to the ranch house, each time looking me in the face with its big yellow eyes. I don’t know what became of my trophies, but the memory of that experience has stayed with me for 50 years. It was my Aldo Leopold moment.
The theme of this conference is “Integrating scientific findings into [cougar] management.” This is an interesting theme. It suggests that it isn’t obvious how scientific finds should be integrated into wildlife management. Why is this? When you think about it for just a moment, you see it is because science by itself doesn’t dictate wildlife management. Values play a role too.

Wildlife management programs involve values. There is no escaping it. Sometimes the values are of a purely practical nature, such as ways to simplify data collection or save money, or what not. Other times they involve killing animals and manipulating ecosystems to try to achieve some goal. The value judgments (or assumptions) reflected in the goal, and often in the methods for achieving it, are inexorably moral ones – even when the values at issue are not consciously entertained. They are institutionalized values.

This fact invites the question what values should prevail – what would be the morally best or right action in a given circumstance? Certainly it’s not always easy to know, but in practice the prevailing values tend to be the ones favored by the most politically influential interest groups, which are ranchers and hunters. Wildlife management agencies are largely captives of these interest groups. Consequently, wildlife management agencies are loath to forego the chance to provide hunting opportunities; and in general herbivores are favored over carnivores, with comparatively little concern for the welfare of animals or their roles in ecosystems.

In philosophy there is a grand distinction called the fact/value distinction. And there are fundamentally just two views about it. One view is that facts have nothing at all to do with values. The idea is that facts are objective and value neutral, while values are subjective – matters of arbitrary personal opinion. According to this view, different people have their own values, which might vary, and they project their values onto value neutral reality; whereas reality itself is value free.

Science tends to reinforce this view by teaching us to think of facts as objective, mind-independent states of affairs that make up the world, ideally susceptible of exhaustive description in terms of quantitative measures, such as mass and momentum, which can be represented in mathematical formulas. This idea is reinforced by the dominant economic paradigm which treats everything as a resource having only extrinsic value – a commodity to be used or treated however one chooses. This is reflected, for example, in the names of agencies, such as the “Utah Division of Wildlife Resources.”

The competing view about facts and values is that facts are not always value neutral, but are sometimes bearers of value, and that recognition of such value is important to making good moral choices. The term often used for this value is ‘intrinsic value’. It is value that things are believed to have independently of human valuing – a kind of value just as real as a physical object, but that isn’t captured by science and isn’t commensurable with economic value.

Wildlife management agencies, as public institutions, are largely beholden to political and money interests, so they often have to disregard questions of intrinsic value. Wildlife managers are often required to act as if facts are not bearers of value, even though some managers might take a different personal view, as I know many of them do. In that case, they must live with a certain amount of cognitive dissonance. Conservation activists, such as I and my colleagues, on the other hand, are not forced to ignore intrinsic values and so we tend to emphasize them in order to give them due recognition. And therefore, our views about how wildlife species ought to be managed, particularly predator species, tend to clash with official agency views.

Which view is correct? You are all familiar with Aldo Leopold’s account in Thinking like a Mountain, of an incident in his youth when he worked for the Forest Service. One day he shot an old she-wolf and arrived at her side just in time to see a “fierce green fire dying in her eyes.” 40 years later he formulated his famous “land ethic”: “A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise.” This famous passage is frequently quoted but rarely receives the kind of attention it deserves. Notice the words ‘right’, ‘wrong’, and ‘beauty’. These are value terms, whereas ‘integrity’ and ‘stability’ are scientific terms that apply to factual states of affairs. Leopold was certainly aware of this and deliberately meant to imply that facts can be bearers of value – value that he described as being of the “philosophic kind,” more commonly referred to as intrinsic value. He did not shy away from this conviction, which may have been planted in his mind decades earlier by the incident with the wolf.

Not everything is beautiful, but some things are. Not all beauty is merely “in the eye of the beholder.” And beauty can be more than “skin deep.” Wild animals are beautiful. Healthy ecosystems are beautiful. Wilderness is beautiful. People can be beautiful too. Beauty is a kind of intrinsic value and it deserves our respect. This was Leopold’s conviction; and it is my conviction too.

Wyoming Untrapped (Dec 12, 2013)

Jackson Hole News and Guide 12/4/2013 Reform trapping

On Nov. 22, two dogs were caught in snare and foothold traps while walking with their owner and caretaker along Fall Creek Road, a popular recreation area. The traps probably were aimed at fox or coyote, predators for which few trapping regulations apply in Wyoming. All too often, however, traps don’t discrimi­nate and other species often are caught. Sometimes they’re our pets. The Fall Creek incident was the second in little more than a year in that area. It was the fourth known incident in Jackson Hole during the same time period. Others undoubtedly have not been reported. Fortunately, these two dogs on Fall Creek were freed, but only after the owner and caretaker ran back to her vehicle and drove back to her house to retrieve bolt cutters. One dog was freed from the foothold trap after a ride to the veterinarian in Wilson.    In the Buffalo Valley last year a dog walking with its owner was caught in a foothold trap and required about $2,000 of veterinary care. Another dog was caught in a snare but uninjured the same day in the same place. These incidents raise the question of whether more popular recreation areas on public land should be off-limits to trapping. Trapping in Wyoming peaked in the mid-1880s, but persists today. The Wyoming Department of Game and Fish reported that approximately 1,800 permits to trap furbearing animals were issued in 2011. No permits are required to trap predators, such as coyote, fox and wolf. In 85 percent of the state, predator trapping is allowed at all times of the year. Trappers are not required to report trapping of “non-target” animals unless they’re seriously injured or killed, so no records are available to tell us how often it happens. Trappers also have no responsibility for any harm that may come to you or your dog if you happen to step into a trap. Trapping regulations today are at best antiquated. Trap check times are ridiculously long in some instances, resulting in days of suffering for trapped animals. For example, if placed on a Monday, body grip and conibear traps need not be checked for 13 days. What do you suppose would happen to your dog during that time? With the removal of the gray wolf from the federal Endangered Species List, anecdotal evidence suggests that trapping frequency and trap size have increased. And predator trappers are allowed to use any size and number of traps and place them almost anywhere on public lands. With the price of bobcat pelts rising, we can expect more trapping. It is time to take a hard look at the practice of trapping and how it’s regulated on our public lands. Roger Hayden Executive Director Wyoming Untrapped

Linnea Gardner (July 3, 2013)

Jackson Hole News and Guide   5/3/2013 Another Trap Incident

Beware everyone who recreates in the Munger Mountain/Fall Creek area.  On June 30th, in an effort to cool off, a friend, my dog and I went down to the large meadow, about 1.5 miles south of the bus turnaround on Fall Creek Road, to wade in the creek.  As we came out of the creek, about 10 feet from the embankment, we encountered a 6-inch-plus leg-hold trap staked in the ground and virtually invisible as it blended in so well with the dirt and growth. Fortunately for all of us, the trap had been sprung.  Unfortunately for the animal it had caught.  There was a chewed off paw still in the trap.  It looked like the trap had been abandoned and had been there for a while, possibly since last winter.  I could not find an identification tag or the stake. This area is heavily used for recreation in all seasons.  My friend and I were both wearing sandals for wading and could easily have stepped on the trap had it been open.  My dog got his muzzle right up to it before I even saw it.  Less than 20 yards away, two young boys were playing in the creek and running around the embankments.  I see people there daily, fishing and wandering the banks.  These people include families with children and neighbors letting their dogs out for a good run and to play in the creek. This is my public land, too, and my “backyard,” and I go there regularly and have for over a dozen years. My dog was snared a mile from this location in December, and now I’m coming across leg-hold traps 100 yards from the road.  I’m so angry. I don’t know how many other traps there might be out there.  Sprung or not.  I don’t’ want to find out the hard way.  I don’t want there to be a third time and have my dog maimed or killed, or get my foot caught in one of those.  I don’t want it to happen to anyone else. This is a safety issue for everyone.  There are some areas that need to be off-limits for trapping of any kind. Voice your concern:  Wyoming Game and Fish, Jackson 733-2321.  Bridger-Teton National Forest, Jackson District 739-5400. Linnea Gardner Wilson, WY

Ursula Neese (January 4, 2013)

Shared by Footloose Montana, published in the Livingston Enterprise. Editor.

The day was like many in Montana — a cold winter blue sky day. We were walking our dog last week in an area where we have walked for the past 17 years. Our dog was glad to be out in this familiar setting and was out to our side about 30 feet sniffing and looking for rodents, when all of a sudden she was bolting in the air frantically screeching, yelping and biting uncontrollably. We ran to help. It took a second to realize what it was: “My god, it’s two traps that were clamped down on her front leg above the paw and her back leg at her paw.” She was fiercely trying to bite them off. Blood was flowing. We were freaked, and tried to calm her. We tried to restrain her from hurting herself more. She finally went into shock and became docile. We were afraid to try and release the traps for fear of hurting her more. My friend started having severe chest pain and I had to take over restraining Solano. We both had our cell phones, so we called 911, our vet, and the land owner. We then tried to pull the traps from the ground where they were staked. No luck. Such a mixture of archaic tortures and telephones! Our vet arrived and the sheriff was not far behind. Our vet was able to release the traps. Solano was taken to our vet’s office, X-rayed, and found to have no broken bones, though she has several broken teeth from trying to bite off the steel traps. My friend continued to have chest pain. Both were lucky. Other pets or people might not be so lucky. A wild animal would definitely not be so lucky. The thought of how my dog reacted and was injured in this very short amount of time reminds us of the unthinkable process a wild animal might go through in the 24 to 48 hours before her killer arrives. Montana regulations are very much all about the trapper and not about the public or the animals that are being trapped. A trap can be set only 150 feet from a road, and the trap does not need to be marked in any way for a person to see it. In fact, most of the regs are all about the hunt. This treatment of animals is not a hunt at all — it is malicious torture of our wildlife and can lead to injury of people and their pets. I suggest that anyone thinking of joining the trapper group please take two traps into a field, stake them down, and when they are nicely frozen in, walk out and place both hands into the traps so they will snap into place. I’m sure no trapper would do this, but I hope you get the point. We must stop this trapping now, please write, call your legislators. So the second part to this horrific day: When Solano was caught in a wolf trap and DD and I were struggling for Solano’s life, a rush of adrenaline and calcium was heading for DD’s heart. What that means in the medical world is that she was having a heart attack caused by the anxiety of our dog’s life being threatened in an instant. We took her to the ER in Livingston, where her enzyme levels indicated that her heart was sustaining damage. She was taken then to Bozeman by ambulance, and into the cath lab. They determined that she had a Stress Cardiomiopathy a “mild heart attack” that is solely produced in a fight or flight situation. She is going to be fine. She does not have a diseased heart — her attacker was the wolf trap. Ursula Neese South of Livingston

John Ruther (May 21, 2008)

May 24, 2017 – Jackson Hole News and Guide

Manage Wolves for All

With wolves listed as a predatory species for a majority of the year during the spring, summer and autumn months just south and west of town, there will be many more dogs caught by traps as people get outside to engage in recreational activities.

We are encouraging citizens to keep their pets on a leash or very close by when recreating on public lands south and west of town. Wolf traps are larger than traps set for other species and will easily catch and injure or kill pets. The archaic trapping regulations in Wyoming allow trappers to place an unlimited number of traps of any size on public lands. Traps do not have to be set off of trails. Snares do not have to be checked for up to 13 days. The laws and regulations favor the very few individual trappers and give no protections to the hundreds of thousands of pet owners in this state. If your dog is caught or injured, the trapper holds no legal responsibility whatsoever.

Numerous studies have been published that indicate nonlethal measures are more effective at reducing livestock losses from predators than lethal measures. We eradicated wolves from this state once; it can easily happen again. The current management plan does not include any provisions for educating livestock producers on nonlethal techniques or prevention of depredation. It focuses only on how many wolves can be killed and where. Wyoming is once again “managing” our wolves and other predators to minimum numbers. One hundred wolves do not constitute a healthy population.

With tourism the No. 2 industry in the state, why aren’t we managing our wildlife to reflect current nationwide cultural values? Millions of tourists are visiting Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks every year, bringing much-needed income to the state. Will visitors return when the wolves they used to see every year are gone? How will the residents of this state who love wildlife feel when they can no longer catch a glimpse of a wolf on our public lands? A wolf license costs $19 while that same wolf alive can bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars that benefits the whole community. All people should have access to shared resources that are held in trust for the public.

There is also a significant volume of mounting evidence that shows predator populations are self-regulating. Wolves do not need to be hunted. Perhaps the most disgusting thing is that wolves will now be afforded no protection in a majority of the state, not even from animal cruelty laws. Are you aware that there are contests to see who can kill the most predators that are held statewide every year? Wolves will be killed as a part of this repulsive and completely unnecessary, outdated practice. They will be shot on sight, run over with snowmobiles (which currently happens to coyotes — just search for it on YouTube), beaten to death, poisoned by M-44 cyanide bombs, left to suffer in traps for up to three days, chased down and shot from aircraft and generally treated lower than dirt. This is unacceptable treatment of any animal, but especially so for an iconic keystone species like the wolf.

We are in the geologic era known as the Anthropocene in which species are going extinct at an alarming rate, much faster than ever before. Large mammals will be the first to go. And we are allowing some of the most vulnerable to purposely be killed? When are we going to move our wildlife management into the modern century? When are we going to listen to science and evidence instead of relying on anachronistic attitudes based on fear and ignorance?

Almost 70 years after Aldo Leopold wrote and taught about the importance of our moral responsibility to the natural world, it’s incredible we are still discussing the wanton killing of predators. The focus of wolf management has to change to co-existence if we are to leave a lasting legacy of complete, diverse ecosystems behind to our children.

Kristin Combs Program Director Wyoming Untrapped
Jackson, WY

https://wyominguntrapped.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Kristins-LTE-Wolf-Management-5.24.17-JHNG.docx

Shared by Footloose Montana.

Hello, my name is John Ruther and I would like to deliver a message, using the experience of my dog companion Logans’ death in a snare trap.

The first hint of a snare’s work is your animal will be jumping, acting as if he is getting into mischief off there in the woods. Then, as your attention wanders, the corner of your eye will catch the jumping turning bizzare, almost as if a buck deer, or bear, or mountain lion, or something, is throwing him backwards, violently, over and over. It will be quiet, all the while there will be only the struggle. As you walk cautiously towards that place there will be stillness. When you see your animal it will be alive, fighting with every ounce of life it has left to get air into its’ lungs. Its’ legs will be straight out, perpendicular from the body, the tail will be rigid, the eyes will be wide and bright and pleading, the mouth and tongue will be the wrong color, a precursor to death purple.You may think, as I did, that your animal friend has broken his neck. You might speak to your friend to try to comfort him in what suddenly seems to be his final moments, you will search his body for wounds, you will gently roll him to search his other side and to be prepared to give heart compressions. The realization of his life slipping away will compel you to say his name to him what seems to be a thousand times. In the end you will be staring into his eyes, they will be the eyes of your best friend, they will be shining and filled with terror, and then, as sure as we all will die, the brightness fades slowly, and that unique irreplaceable spirit is no longer there. And then, as you stroke your friends’ still warm body for the last time, you may find it, as I did, the hidden wire around his neck, the snare embedded in his neck and lying in the tall grass and tied to the bush. Then the absurd but necessary for your sanity attempts at mouth to mouth resuscitation and heart compressions, and finally the acknowledgement that it all is very wrong, but absolutely real. This must be trapping at its’ best, the physical killing of a dog and the spiritual killing of a man.

Ann Smith / WU Board of Directors (January 6, 2021)

January 6, 2021 – Jackson Hole News and Guide

Check traps every day

The snow has been gently falling. It seems peaceful on the landscape. But the winter season is the most dangerous time of the year for all Wyoming wildlife. In a state rated as one of the worst in the nation for lax trapping regulations and animal cruelty laws, wildlife are exposed to extreme winter conditions for up to three days in traps and seven to 13 days in snares that are littered across our public lands.

The brutality begins as trapped wildlife are unable to respond to their instincts to flee the jaws of a steel trap or snare, sometimes called a “steel necktie.” A leading bobcat researcher stated that “Leghold traps require a huge amount of skill (which many trappers don’t have) and can still be tricky even in the best of circumstances. They can still result in leg and paw fractures or loss of blood flow, resulting in the death of the foot/toes. The problems with footholds are particularly relevant in cold environments” when an animal can chew off its own paw. If you have seen wildlife missing front or hind paws, imagine why.

As we envision a future where inhumane traps and snares are unimaginable, how can we secure changes (short of a ban) for urgent issues while quickly striving for substantial reform? Twentyfour- hour trap checks may provide a palatable option for wildlife managers, resulting in earlier action, and one that we all can agree with. This step would reduce domestic and wild animals’ injuries and increase survival rates when animals are caught unintentionally.

A 24-hour rule in Wyoming makes sense. Even the Wyoming Game and Fish Department’s online Hunter Ed course recommends 24-hour trap checks. Wyoming should join the other 36 states that have already taken the progressive leap.

The past is not a place we want to live in. It’s time for decision-makers to acknowledge the public’s increasing power of voice for immediate solutions for trapping and snaring reform. The tide of public opinion has shifted and we aren’t going back.

Ann Smith/ Wyoming Untrapped Board Director
Jackson, WY

Rodger McDaniel (December 27, 2020)

December 27, 2020 – Wyoming Tribune Eagle

Trapping regulations need to protect pets from harm
The fuse has been lit on the most volatile issue of which most Wyoming people are unaware. If you are not a trapper or have not had your pet die a horrible death in a trap laid alongside a trail on public lands, you probably know nothing about the debate quietly being fought between trappers and those who think trapping should be regulated.
Full disclosure. I learned of the conflict from my wife, an animal rights advocate, involved with other Wyoming people encouraging the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission to enact trapping regulations.
I chose to write about the controversy for two purposes: to make people aware of it and, in the hope that those on both sides of the issue will make this a matter of greater public dialogue.
Trappers point out that their hobby or vocation is protected in the Wyoming Constitution. It is true that Article 1, Section 39 of the constitution mentions trapping. It also refers to hunting and fishing. And it subjects all three pursuits to regulation. Specifically, the provision says it is not intended to “diminish other private rights or alter the duty of the state to manage wildlife.”
Among those “other private rights” is access to public lands. Virtually unregulated, trapping significantly limits the ability of the public to fully enjoy public lands without the threat of injury or death to pets or children.
Game and Fish does not keep data about unintended injuries or deaths caused by trapping. However, a trapping-regulation advocacy group does. Wyoming Untrapped collects reports on the multiple incidents when those freely enjoying hikes or camping with a family pet on public lands have experienced tragedy.
Most are surprised to learn that traps are set close to trails in popular mountain venues. A Wyoming travel website invites people to enjoy trails in areas like Vedauwoo. “Mountain bikers, hikers and trail runners can progress tirelessly on trails among the pine and aspen trees with views of the Medicine Bow Mountains.” https://travelwyoming.com/…/hike-bike-climb-and-camp…
The Wyoming Untrapped website warns those using public lands. There is good reason to beware. Last month, a couple was hiking at Vedauwoo with two dogs. The dogs were near the trail when one, stopping to sniff what turned out to be bait, was seized by a hidden trap. Although the dog and its humans were traumatized, the dog limped away alive. The dog’s owners said, “We had no idea that traps were even something to worry about while exploring public lands.” https://wyominguntrapped.org/database/#def1487019603-2-54
Other pets have not been so fortunate. Mac, for example died near Pavillion. This beloved family dog was “caught in a POWER neck snare (an extremely lethal device) set for bobcats.”
A Casper nurse took her two dogs to an area they often visited. The dogs exercised by running on the sandstone outcroppings. Both dogs were killed by a hidden M-44 cyanide bomb.
These incidents all harmed pets. But, any of them could just as easily have taken the life of a small, curious child. Maybe your pet; perhaps your child.
Christy Stewart was with family, walking her dog up Wickiup Knoll Trail outside of Afton, same as she’d done almost every day for the past four years. Her dog, a 3-year-old Pyrenees named “Sage,” practically grew up on that run. Sage died, trapped on that trail.
“Out of sight for just minutes, the dog caught a scent of fresh meat used to bait a bobcat snare. It didn’t take long. Sage suffocated, hung in a trap just 20 feet off the trail.“
Afton game warden James Hobbs investigated the incident and reported the trap, baited using a cubby set, was legal.
Therein lies the problem. Not one of these tragedies was the result of any violation of law or regulation. A growing number of public lands users are asking the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission to solve that problem by enacting reasonable trapping regulations so they can safely use public lands without exposing their pets and children to deadly, hidden dangers.
– Rodger McDaniel
** Rodger McDaniel lives in Laramie and is the pastor at Highlands Presbyterian Church in Cheyenne. Email: rmc81448@gmail.com.

Wyoming Untrapped (September 9, 2020)

September 9, 2020 – Jackson Hole News & Guide

Trap reform being realized
The face of trapping in Wyoming is shifting. Wyoming Untrapped, joined by other advocates, filed a petition to the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission last January to address trapping reform this year. The commission responded by initiating a process to learn more about trapping. The Wyoming Game and Fish Department initiated a statewide survey, which revealed the need for change by a wide range of stakeholders. On Oct. 1, furbearer trapping season will open and tens of thousands of traps will be set on our landscapes, in addition to the thousands that are there year-round. Thousands of animals will be injured or killed in these traps or snares.
All corners of our state are now aware of the critical need to address the lack of safety on our public landscapes for our people, pets and wildlife.
Game and Fish scheduled five collaborative public meetings statewide to discuss trapping reform before presenting its recommendation to the commission. Two more are left: virtual meetings today in Laramie and Thursday in Lander.
Wyoming Untrapped has asserted in the past and continues to assert that the following trapping regulation changes are necessary: trap-free areas, a ban of all trigger-loaded power snares and Senneker snares, mandatory signage, trap setbacks off trails (300 feet), mandatory reporting of nontarget species and pets, mandatory reporting of all species trapped, mandatory trapper education, mandatory conservation stamp purchase, live traps used wherever possible, 24-hour trap checks, removal of all traps at end of season, a statewide trapping reform stakeholder task force and a review of furbearer trapping regulations every two years.
Our Wyoming voices matter more than ever.
L. Robertson Jackson
Wyoming Untrapped

Patty and Frank Ewing (August 31, 2020)

August 31, 2020 – Jackson Hole News & Guide

Set trap-fee areas
The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission, which meets in Jackson today, Sept. 2, has made progress in following up with public meetings after initiating an evaluation of trapping issues.
This letter focuses on the need to designate trap-free areas in the Cache Creek and Game Creek drainages. Beavers — which were once numerous along Cache Creek, even creating ponds within town limits (until stopped by Cache Creek being diverted underground through much of Jackson) — are gone where we live at the mouth of the canyon. The large, beautiful beaver ponds a short distance upstream have essentially dried up. These large beaver ponds with multiple beaver lodges on private property contiguous to our property are gone.
The ponds were large and deep, and in addition to creating wonderful protected wildlife habitat, the ponds were used by firefighting helicopters to scoop out huge buckets of water during the recent Horse Thief wildfire which threatened Jackson. Obviously, wetlands created by beavers also create an important green wet zone that is extremely beneficial in containing wildfires. A dry, hot summer such as we are currently experiencing has greatly increased the danger of wildfires. Because of the ease of access to the canyon, it is most certain that beavers have been trapped out. There is no other explanation for the dearth of beavers.
Because of their proximity to Jackson, the Cache Creek and Game Creek drainages in the Bridger-Teton National Forest are the most heavily used trails in Teton County. We have lived at the mouth of Cache Creek canyon for almost 60 years and have observed the transformation of the canyon rich with wildlife. The system of trails once used only by horseback riders, hunters and a few hikers has become heavily used by hundreds of daily mountain bikers, walkers and hikers, most with pets and a few brave horseback riders. Winter use by skiers, walkers, fat tire bikes and snowmobiles, often at night, is rising sharply.
We support reform efforts that Wyoming Untrapped is proposing, including: ban the use of power snares and Senneker snares and instead require live traps; require traps to be checked every 24 hours; have trap-free trail areas; require 300-foot trap setbacks; require reporting of species trapped to determine whether trapping is an effective wildlife management measure; require all traps to be removed at the end of the season; increase the cost of trapping licenses; require certification through a trappers education course; and require purchase of a conservation stamp, the same as anglers and hunters.
While only the Wyoming Legislature can make some of the needed changes, the Game and Fish Commission should take the lead.
Patty and Frank Ewing
Jack
Jackson Hole News&Guide

 

Peter Moyer (April 25, 2018)

April 25, 2018 – Jackson Hole News & Guide

Trapping is a True Blunderbuss Approach to Game Management

Bruce Thompson wrote an excellent letter to you on trapping, for your public input. Here are just a few points, from my own perspective (for what that is worth!):

. Trapping is a true blunderbuss approach to game management, in terms of non-target wildlife species including protected species, and domestic animals. By contrast, like most people I do not object to hunting with a bullet or arrow, or fishing where both target and non-target species can be released.

. I see almost no economic benefit to Wyoming from trapping in modern times, unlike hunting and fishing and wildlife viewing. And, there is a bit economic downside from torturing and killing wildlife by trapping in Wyoming–more so all the time, with social media and other media avenues.

. With down, pile and other insulation, and faux furs for decoration, there is no modern day need for trapped animal skins. And, much of the remaining trade is just with communist China and communist Russia.

. Much stricter control on trapping in Wyoming could be promoted in a very positive manner. Right now the trapping p.r. is almost all bad for Wyoming, and it will get worse. Barbaric, bottom line.

Sure, Jeremiah Johnson is still one of my all-time favorite movies, and Bridger/Colter/Glass are heroes to me from distant times. But that was long ago, and their genuine need for trapping is long gone. I hope that I am not insulting anyone still wearing beaver skin hats to fancy gatherings in New York or London.”

Peter Moyer: Wyoming attorney

Jackson, WY

Bruce S. Thompson (April 18, 2018)

April 18, 2018 – Jackson Hole News & Guide

Speak Out Against Trapping

Our Wyoming Game and Fish Department has embarked on a major research study to develop a new agencywide strategic plan. As part of this planning and development process this agency has created a wildlife forum for citizens to help “Forge the Future of Wyoming’s Wildlife.” I encourage all citizens to avail themselves of this rare opportunity for input.

I see Game and Fish as being in a somewhat schizophrenic position: inherently responsible to oversee the health, sustainability and appreciation of the state’s wildlife, which belongs to all stakeholders, while at the same time inherently beholden to the significant and vocal minority — hunters and anglers — that provides the bulk of the very income necessary for it to operate. This hazards an occasional rift between decisions based on sound management and those compelled by service to those “paying the bills.”

Don’t misunderstand. Many, many fine, dedicated individuals work for the agency, and much of the work is performed honestly, thoughtfully and with measurable benefit. But I sincerely believe that this trust is, at times, broken when it comes to two questionable and arguably archaic practices: lethal trapping and hunting purely for trophy. The following comments are in regard to trapping.

I suggest it is time for a full cost-benefit analysis of the practice in ways that includes all impacts: biology, ecology, aesthetics, safety, ethics, economy and, overall, the mores of a civilized and compassionate 21st-century society.

Further, I call for the creation of a statewide trapping advisory committee to lend a fully and proportionally representative citizen perspective to review all elements of science and management related to trapping.

  • There is a virtual absence of sportsmanship, fair chase and compassion in lethal trapping.
  • The overall presumption of trapping as “wildlife management” is rarely cost effective.
  • Lethal trapping as it exists today demonstrates little or no benefit to the functional value of a healthy ecosystem.
  • We don’t have reliable population counts of many of our state’s furbearers, but we allow unlimited quotas. Where’s the science?
  • Innumerable and unacceptable deaths and severe injuries occur to nontarget species, and even animals released alive often die from their injuries.
  • Our wildlife is a public treasure owned by all citizens and taxpayers. Trapping rarely serves any citizen other than the one setting the trap.
  • Our public lands should remain safe havens for all. All people, pets and wildlife should be assured safety, which means vast trap-free areas for all.
  • Trapping for fun, trophy, fur and feeding one’s ego is no longer deemed acceptable by our general population.
  • The pure cruelty of trapping causes injuries, exposure, dehydration and immense suffering. It is culturally and compassionately unworthy of us.
  • The general public is woefully uninformed about the brutal, archaic and poorly managed trapping taking place in our state.

Wyoming wildlife, large and small, need our voice. If you would like to comment on the future of our a wild Wyoming, and for trapping reform, I encourage all to comment at WildlifeForum.org/wildlife.

Bruce S. Thompson

Dubois

 

Wyoming Untrapped (February 7, 2018)

February 7, 2018 – Jackson Hole News & Guide

Wanted: Wildlife Watchers

No one needs to tell us that nongame species have long suffered as low priority in Wyoming’s wildlife management. However, our Wyoming Game and Fish Department is now providing an unprecedented opportunity to contribute public input to drive the future of Wyoming’s wildlife. This opportunity follows a Game and Fish programmatic evaluation by the Wildlife Management Institute as requested by the state of Wyoming to review 12 selected programs within Game and Fish. The result of this directive will be substantial new research to understand attitudes toward agency priorities and management issues of concern by the public, including all Wyoming residents. This process will guide Game and Fish in developing a new agency wide strategic plan.

Are we concerned? Of course.
Do we feel skeptical? Maybe.
Do we believe in the power of numbers? Better still.

Rarely does this invitation to speak out come along. Now it is up to the unheard and underrepresented public — you — to speak your mind, loud and strong, on behalf of the furbearing speechless. Only by triggering that notorious power of numbers will we succeed.

The actions outlined here comprise what might well be the most substantive path we can take to mobilize on behalf of Wyoming citizens. Game and Fish has launched its feedback initiative, “Forging the Future of Wyoming Wildlife,” for you to provide input in three ways: an online “Wildlife Forum,” “Stay Up to Date” email updates and 10 statewide public meetings.

Game and Fish manages both hunting and trapping, but it is the latter that has become most susceptible to the shifting tide of 21st-century wildlife management philosophy and public intolerance. Focus the energy of your words on trapping reform and wildlife watching, for the critical need to value and protect wildlife as vital contributors to the health of our public landscapes and for the intrinsic character and worth of all furbearing animals.

The Jackson public meeting is 4-7 p.m. Saturday in the Cook Auditorium at the National Museum of Wildlife Art.

Please comment. Show up. Stay informed.
The future of Wyoming wildlife is up to you!

L. Robertson
Wyoming Untrapped
Jackson, WY

Wyoming Untrapped (May 24, 2017)

May 2017 – Jackson Hole News & Guide

Manage Wolves for All

With wolves listed as a predatory species for a majority of the year during the spring, summer and autumn months just south and west of town, there will be many more dogs caught by traps as people get outside to engage in recreational activities.

We are encouraging citizens to keep their pets on a leash or very close by when recreating on public lands south and west of town. Wolf traps are larger than traps set for other species and will easily catch and injure or kill pets. The archaic trapping regulations in Wyoming allow trappers to place an unlimited number of traps of any size on public lands. Traps do not have to be set off of trails. Snares do not have to be checked for up to 13 days. The laws and regulations favor the very few individual trappers and give no protections to the hundreds of thousands of pet owners in this state. If your dog is caught or injured, the trapper holds no legal responsibility whatsoever.

Numerous studies have been published that indicate nonlethal measures are more effective at reducing livestock losses from predators than lethal measures. We eradicated wolves from this state once; it can easily happen again. The current management plan does not include any provisions for educating livestock producers on nonlethal techniques or prevention of depredation. It focuses only on how many wolves can be killed and where. Wyoming is once again “managing” our wolves and other predators to minimum numbers. One hundred wolves do not constitute a healthy population.

With tourism the No. 2 industry in the state, why aren’t we managing our wildlife to reflect current nationwide cultural values? Millions of tourists are visiting Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks every year, bringing much-needed income to the state. Will visitors return when the wolves they used to see every year are gone? How will the residents of this state who love wildlife feel when they can no longer catch a glimpse of a wolf on our public lands? A wolf license costs $19 while that same wolf alive can bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars that benefits the whole community. All people should have access to shared resources that are held in trust for the public.

There is also a significant volume of mounting evidence that shows predator populations are self-regulating. Wolves do not need to be hunted. Perhaps the most disgusting thing is that wolves will now be afforded no protection in a majority of the state, not even from animal cruelty laws. Are you aware that there are contests to see who can kill the most predators that are held statewide every year? Wolves will be killed as a part of this repulsive and completely unnecessary, outdated practice. They will be shot on sight, run over with snowmobiles (which currently happens to coyotes — just search for it on YouTube), beaten to death, poisoned by M-44 cyanide bombs, left to suffer in traps for up to three days, chased down and shot from aircraft and generally treated lower than dirt. This is unacceptable treatment of any animal, but especially so for an iconic keystone species like the wolf.

We are in the geologic era known as the Anthropocene in which species are going extinct at an alarming rate, much faster than ever before. Large mammals will be the first to go. And we are allowing some of the most vulnerable to purposely be killed? When are we going to move our wildlife management into the modern century? When are we going to listen to science and evidence instead of relying on anachronistic attitudes based on fear and ignorance?

Almost 70 years after Aldo Leopold wrote and taught about the importance of our moral responsibility to the natural world, it’s incredible we are still discussing the wanton killing of predators. The focus of wolf management has to change to co-existence if we are to leave a lasting legacy of complete, diverse ecosystems behind to our children.

Kristin Combs
Program Director
Wyoming Untrapped
Jackson, WY

Wyoming Untrapped (April 7, 2016)

April  2016 – From Pinedale Roundup

Put an End to Senseless Killings

Wyoming Untrapped (WU), a wildlife advocacy group in the state, learned about an annual hunting contest in Sublette County that has been kept mostly under wraps until local citizens wrote letters to the editor and contacted WU. The coyote-killing contest consists of killing as many coyotes as possible for fun and prize money, and was partially funded and supported by the Sublette County Predator Management Board.

These senseless predator killing contests, which occur across the state, are often called coyote-calling contests, varmint hunts or predator hunts. We believe these events are not hunting; they are a blood sport.

Our WU mission is dedicated to creating a safe and humane environment for our people, pets and wildlife, and to promote an overall ethic of compassionate conservation for wildlife and other natural resources. Our highest priority is to address our state’s archaic and indiscriminate trapping regulations as well as wildlife management, which allows the cruel and inhumane senseless killing of wildlife in the form of predator-killing contests for money and prizes, such as the “mangiest mutt” award or the “biggest dog” award. These “management tools” are not based on a sound science foundation, and are in urgent need of reform.

WU is fighting for freedom in wildness each and every day. Although there is a deep-rooted resistance to change in Wyoming and our challenges are steep, we have made significant progress. For the first time in our state’s history, WU has brought the reality of our trapping and wildlife management to the forefront of the public eye and ignited the dialog surrounding the need to bring trapping reform and wildlife management into the 21st century. Change is coming to Wyoming.

To voice your opinion to end these predator-killing contests, contact your county commissioners or the local predator control board.

To report trapping incidents or predator killing contests, please call Wyoming Untrapped at 307-201-2422 or email info@wyominguntrapped.org.

L. Robertson
Wyoming Untrapped

http://www.pinedaleroundup.com/v2_news_articles.php?heading=0&story_id=4545&page=76

Dr. Mark Elbroch (February 10, 2016)

February 2016

WYOMING’S LIONS ESCAPE TRAPPING

O PI NI O N
Wyoming’s lions escape trapping plan

I
n January a bill was introduced in the Wyoming Legislature that, if it had passed, would have allowed any person with a valid hunting license to kill a mountain lion using a trap or snare. As a Wyoming resident and biologist, I’m thrilled to tell you that our Legislature voted yesterday in favor of science and to protect the balance of nature on which our state so deeply depends.

HB12 failed to pass the House on Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2016, at 2:23 p.m. This bill was not based on valid research, and the potential negative consequences for mountain lions, other wildlife, Wyoming citizens and the Wyoming Game and Fish Department would have been far-reaching.

Ostensibly, this bill was introduced to provide “additional tools” to reverse recent mule deer population declines, a valuable game species for Wyoming residents. In reality, the connection between mountain lions and mule deer population declines is tenuous at best. The Wyoming Game and Fish Department has said that mule deer declines are largely the result of other factors, including habitat loss and disruption to migration corridors. It is also well accepted among wildlife biologists that deer dynamics are driven primarily by weather patterns and resulting forage availability, not predators. In fact, a recent intensive, long-term study from the Idaho Department of Fish and Game emphasized that removing mountain lions and coyotes did not provide any long-term benefit to deer populations. The researchers reported: “In conclusion, benefits of predator removal appear to be marginal and short term in southeastern Idaho and likely will not appreciably change long-term dynamics of mule deer populations in the intermountain west.”

Like mule deer, mountain lions are also experiencing signifi cant population declines in some areas. Research conducted by Panthera’s Teton Cougar Project in Teton County, Wyoming, shows that lion numbers north of Jackson have declined by half in eight years. Mountain lions in Wyoming are hunted with all legal firearms, archery equipment and trailing hounds, and these methods have proven effective in reducing mountain lion populations across the West. Introducing trapping — an imprecise method of hunting — could have crippled mountain lion populations further, as well as rapidly and unexpectedly influenced other wildlife populations.

The nature of trapping is indiscriminate. Trapping consists of snares and leghold traps, including steel jaws, which often cause serious injury to animals — breaking legs, ripping skin or completely severing limbs, via the trap or through self-mutilation. Traps deliver painful, slow deaths to wildlife and domestic animals unlucky enough to be caught. In Wyoming it is currently illegal to kill a female mountain lion with kittens or the kittens themselves. However, a trapper cannot dictate what animal is caught, resulting in the potential maiming or killing of female mountain lions, their kittens or federally listed wolves, wolverines, Canada lynx or grizzly bears. Traps may also injure people should they stumble into one. Importantly, voting down HB12 maintained protection for the reproductive capital of our mountain lion populations: female mountain lions with kittens and the kittens themselves. Trapping is not only imprecise in its implementation, it is also nearly impossible to track and monitor. This bill would have completely undermined mountain lion management currently conducted by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, introducing chaos to a tracking system that may not be ideal but works. When Wyoming’s House and Senate representatives introduce legislation that threatens their own Wyoming Game and Fish Department’s ability to protect our state’s immense and singular biodiversity, something is clearly wrong.

But Rep. Sam Krone eloquently opposed the bill for sportsmen against indiscriminate trapping, followed by Rep. Charles Pelkey, who emphasized the potential consequences of increased trapping on domestic animals and people. In the end the bill did not gain the required two-thirds majority to move forward.

Every year visitors flock to Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks, investing millions of dollars in Wyoming communities in the hope of glimpsing charismatic apex predators like the mountain lion. In voting down HB12, Wyoming voted for sustainable, scientific decision-making for our state and every creature with which we share this precarious and wonderful balance that we call home. In voting against mountain lion trapping, Wyoming chose evidence-based science over old mythology perpetuating fear and persecution of this amazing animal. It made me proud to live in Wyoming.

Yet the possibility remains that this bill will be reintroduced to the Senate this week. To ensure Wyoming’s mountain lion trapping legislation stops in its tracks, continue to contact members of the Wyoming legislature this week.

If the bill is halted, New Mexico and Texas will be the only states in our country to allow the trapping of mountain lions. Dr. Mark Elbroch is lead scientist of Panthera’s Puma Program.

GUEST SHOT

Dr. Mark Elbroch

http://jhnewsandguide.wy.newsmemory.com/publink.php?shareid=1238ecf30

Wyoming Untrapped (August 12, 2015)

August 12, 2015

RUN WILD, FREE, AND UNTRAPPED

Dear Editor,

The recent ad for the Old Bill’s Fun Run, showing two cute little fox kits, is one of the most powerful we have seen.  We are reminded how proud we are to live in a community that gives with such tremendous passion and generosity for its people and its extraordinary wildlife.

We adore our foxes!  Unfortunately, many people in Teton County and throughout the state do not know that these little red foxes are designated “predatory animals” in Wyoming.  This means that every single day of the year, in unlimited numbers, they can be shot-on-sight or trapped in legholds for 72 hours, or up to 13 days in snares and conibears, with no concern for the suffering or pain, fear, thirst and hunger, but only for their fur or for fun.  Yes, this is how Wyoming treats our wildlife due to antiquated trapping regulations that need reform.

Wyoming Untrapped, dedicated to create a safe and humane environment for people, pets and wildlife, is working to change these archaic rules through education and trapping regulation reform.  Public awareness is already making a difference, one person at a time.

My family is grateful for the opportunity to support Old Bill’s Fun Run, our community non-profits, and the wildlife that live in our remaining wild areas.  Please help support Wyoming Untrapped and other wildlife-oriented non-profits through Old Bill’s, ensuring that you will have a direct positive impact on wildlife conservation.

Run wild, free and UNtrapped at Old Bill’s Fun Run everyone!

Peter Moyer (August 5, 2015)

From  Jackson Hole News and Guide, August 5, 2015

Cecil the Lion

Well-deserved global outrage has resulted from the recent killing of “Cecil the Lion” in Zimbabwe by a Minnesota dentist, for his $50,000 fee.  The lion was lured outside the safety of a national park, using bait.  He was then wounded by the dentist with an arrow (at night, spot lighted), tracked, shot and killed by the dentist 40 hours later.  The lion was skinned for the trophy room, with the carcass discarded.

All for money and ego, not need.

There are definite parallels to the modern day wild animal fur trade.  There is no real “need” nowadays:  fleece, Gore-Tex and other modern day materials are warmer, lighter, cheaper and abundant.  Pine martens, bobcats, foxes, otters, beavers, etc. are not esteemed as table fare. Faux fur is decorative enough.  There is no significant benefit to our economy–unlike hunting and fishing–and many of our wild animal furs are shipped to Russia and Communist China.

And trapping is brutal, whether for recreation or for profit.  How many of us humans would like to suffocate in a snare, or try to chew off a trapped limb?!

The Cecil the Lion incident revealed the great depth of compassion for wildlife felt by many of us humans, on a global scale. When the public is aware, people care.

Trapping results in the brutal treatment of our treasured and diminishing wildlife resources. In the American West trapping often occurs on forested and riparian lands owned by the people of the United States.  We are responsible, and we can do better.

Peter F. Moyer

Wyoming Untrapped (July 15, 2015)

From  Jackson Hole News and Guide, July 15, 2015

CONTACT THE COMMISSIONERS

The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission on Friday rejected the efforts to address the adverse effects of trapping on the safety of people, pets and wildlife in Teton County by such means as trail setbacks, signage and the closure of a single heavily traveled trail on the outskirts of Jackson, Cache Creek.

The changes to Chapter 4 Trapping Regulations proposed by WGFD were supported by Wyoming Untrapped (WU), the Teton County Commission, Bridger Teton National Forest, and many Jackson residents for whom Representative Ruth Ann Petroff spoke.  An additional 5700 positive public comments were submitted, including 600 from Wyoming residents.  They were overwhelmingly in favor of the new regulations for Teton County.

Commissioner Little, when making the motion to remove the closure of Cache Creek from the draft commented that she believed agreeing to WU’s proposal was the beginning of the slippery slope intended to disenfranchise the rights and heritage of Wyoming’s trappers. Efforts by conservation and advocacy organizations do not pre-empt the slippery slope. Sustainable funding is the main threat to game agencies and hunters today.  Even Governor Mead has acknowledged that a solution to long-term funding must be found. The slippery slope is the reduction occurring among the hunting and trapping community due to cultural change. Finding a way to accommodate ALL users whether hunting or non-hunting will be the answer to collaborative management and sustainability.

Even though WU was hugely successful in bringing extensive support to the table and also offered to take financial responsibility for trail use data collection, signage and trap-release education, the Commission decided that the ‘need’ for reform had not been established. However, numerical substantiation of damage and injury to non-target animals, including dogs, is impossible to establish because of the very limited requirement to report.

“We understand that change happens slowly in Wyoming.  Trapping reform is a reasonable expectation by the public, especially when traditional practices and social use of trails coincide.  It just makes sense.  WU is the first organization in the state’s history that has addressed trapping reform, and we have raised public awareness at a fast pace.  However, our governing Game and Fish Commission is not ready to address the need to modernize our current archaic trapping regulations.  Continued awareness and collaboration will eventually change that.  Our modern public demands it.  And it’s the time in history for change.”

Please let your Commissioners know that you also support trapping reform.

Wyoming Untrapped

Jake Nichols - Planet JH (May 27, 2015)

From  PlanetJH.com

THE MENACE OF MODERN DAY TRAPPERS

It’s hard to believe the practice of trapping is making a resurgence in Teton County solely on economic realities.  Fur prices skyrocketed during the recession, though they’ve tailed off recently.  Eye-popping price-per-pelt figures have spurred many a Davy Crocket-wannabe to invest in a half-dozen 330 conibears and head for the hills.

In Wyoming’s more rural counties, where 4H is more popular than junior cotillion classes, trapping could understandably provide a means to put dinner on the table one cape at a time.  But in ritzy Teton County, where any derelict can walk into a restaurant for breakfast and be the sous chef by that evening’s dinner, there are easier ways to skin a cat making a buck.

That leads me to the neo-woodsman movement as the primary factor driving the uptick in trapping activity in Teton County.  One scan of Facebook and it’s easy to find several tree-hugging hipsters who’ve suddenly discovered their inner-man(woman) by growing vegetable in the backyard and hunting their own protein.  An extension of the Paleo Peacenik crusade probably involves Silicon Valley warriors who’ve traded in their iPhones for Bowie knives.

Wyoming Untrapped has been working feverishly to get trapping banned in the Cache Creek drainage and other popular recreation areas where rusty jaws are more likely to clamp down on a Golden Retriever than a read fox.  Lisa Robertson launched WU after incidents in Red Top Meadows and elsewhere highlighted the dangers of traps placed too close to dog walking trails.

Running a trap line close to the trail in Cache Creek is just plain lazy.  Real mountain men hump it to get to their traps and they check them responsibly.  Too many trendy trappers are looking for the path of no resistance.  Robertson is right.  No trapping should be allowed anywhere near trails in popular areas like Cache Creek. This is not the 1800s.

And WU and its ilk shouldn’t stop there.  State trapping laws are updated every three years.  This summer marks Game & Fish discussions about possible revisions (July 8-10 in Cody).  One thing that desperately needs to change is how often traps need to be checked.  In Wyoming, an animal can spend three days in a leg-hold trap waiting for a mercy killing.  Other type traps and snares require 13 days between required checks.  That’s simply too long to allow an animal to suffer.

Jake Nichols

Wyoming Untrapped (May 25, 2015)

From Jackson Hole News and Guide, May 25,2015

UNTRAP SUPPORT

To the editor:

Wyoming Untrapped (WU) is reaching out to the public with an URGENT request.  As you may be aware, furbearer and predator trapping on public lands have uniquely impacted Teton County.  Five dogs belonging to area residents have been injured in legholds, snares, and conibear traps on US Forest Service lands in recent years.  At present, regulations allow for traps to be set directly on hiking trails.  No reporting of such incidents is required. Neither of those who engage in trapping activities nor the agencies that regulate them are required to report such incidents, so the problem is surely much larger than five dogs — indeed, we recently learned of two more previously unreported incidents.  WU was founded in response to these incidents and we are making strides toward safer public lands for both residents and visitors alike.  Now, we need our community’s help.

WU is not an organization focused on banning trapping.  Instead, we advocate for ways to improve trapping regulations to mitigate the impacts that the practice has on other people, their pets, and their shared public lands.  At present, we are advocating for the WGFD and the WGF Commission to implement trapping regulations that would prohibit furbearer traps from being set in the Cache Creek drainage in the Bridger-Teton National Forest and on Snow King Mountain, and would prohibit furbearer traps from being set within 300 feet of some of our community’s busiest trails.  Interests from elsewhere in the state are pushing back against regulations that would affect Teton County, so it is imperative that the local community voice its support for this small, reasonable change that could mitigate some of the unnecessary risk currently imposed on anyone who ventures out onto our public lands with their pet.

Specifically, we ask that you:

  • Submit written public comment to the WGFD and WGF Commission supporting furbearer-trapping setbacks in Teton County and a closure of the Cache Creek drainage and Snow King Mountain to furbearer trapping.  The public comment period closes May 29 at 5 p.m.  To see the list of trails recommended for setbacks, and to take-action: www.wyominguntrapped.org/take-action/.
  • Please attend WGFD’s public meeting Thursday, May 28, Antler Inn, 6 p.m., to represent our community interests.

    We hope that you will help us in representing Teton County and the public’s reasonable expectation for safety on our public lands, and our vested interest in trapping regulation reform.

Bert Fortner (May 13, 2015)

From Jackson Hole News and Guide, May13,2015

The public lands in Wyoming are fantastic. We have BLM land, school sections and national forest all for the public to use freely for just about any outdoor activity you can imagine. But are they safe?

There is one activity on public lands that jeopardizes the safety of public use for most of us: trapping. I absolutely am not against trapping, and predator control in Wyoming is a necessity. But on public lands there should not be traps that endanger the rest of us who enjoy using them. There are deadly snares and severe steel traps set everywhere and even right along paths and roadways. If you are out hiking, camping or doing whatever activity you enjoy and have your pets and small children with you, beware! There have been many cases of pets maimed or killed by these traps.

There is an alternative for the trappers, so they still have rights on the public lands: live traps. You can be very successful using live traps, and if the wrong animal (like your pet) gets caught it can be turned loose with no harm done.

There are thousands of acres of private land to trap on with snares and steel traps, and landowners will jump at the chance to have someone help with predator control. So let’s make it safe for everyone to use public lands.

After all, they are called “public lands” not “trapper lands.” To look at your rights and voice your opinion, go to the website WyomingUntrapped.org and go to “Take Action.”

Bert Fortner, Gillette

Samantha Rowe (May 11, 2015)

From Cody Enterprise, May 11, 2015

Public lands are for the benefit for everyone: outdoor enthusiasts, horseback riders, hikers, hunters/trappers and fishermen, parents and children taking adventures and anyone else.

However, when one has to avoid public land, because their dog may be caught and killed by a deadly snare, then it infringes on the rightful use of others.

At this time the Wyoming law allows all types of trapping on all public lands. This includes deadly snares and powerful steel traps. There have been several incidences of pets being caught in these devices.

I have taken my dog to the vet after freeing it from a trap. If a pet or small child gets caught in a snare it could kill them.

I am not against trapping; it is the trapper’s right. But on public lands I feel they should have to use live traps. If your pet gets caught in it, it will not be harmed, and there are no dangers to children. They are still getting to trap effectively without a risk to anyone or anything else.

Colorado’s laws specify live traps on public land and it works.

(s) Samantha Lowe

Gillette

Peter Moyer (January 9, 2015)

There are many locals and visitors who treasure Wyoming’s great wildlife species on our extensive public lands: pine martens, beavers, ermine, badgers, otters, bobcats, mink, red squirrels, etc.

By contrast, there are not many people who need to trap and kill these esteemed wildlife resources outside of carefully defined areas. Nor is there a significant benefit to our economy–trapping produces very little local revenue, visitor income, retail trade, outfitting work, licensing income, table fare, or conservation support. Unlike hunting and fishing activities, which are and should be widely supported throughout Wyoming.

Very broad trapping setbacks from hiking areas, and other area trapping restrictions on our public lands, simply make sense. It is not just concern for dogs and other “non-target species” killed or maimed in traps, where trapping is far more indiscriminate than hunting aimed at specific target species.

Absent broad setbacks and area restrictions, wildlife resources should not be compromised in our magnificent public surroundings just so a very limited group of people can trap and kill. It is nice to have the critters around, and nice to have ecological balance. It is public land, where there should be fair and proper management balance considering the nature and relative importance of different uses.

/s/

Peter F. Moyer

Wyoming Untrapped (December 31, 2014)

TRAPPING REFORM – Jackson Hole News and Guide

Imagine you and a friend are out on a bluebird winter day, walking your dog on a Forest Service trail near Jackson. Your well-behaved dog is wandering along the trail, wagging her tail as she follows each scent she finds. You get caught up in your conversation and your attention wavers from your dog for just a few moments. Suddenly, your dog yelps from just a few feet off the trail — she’s been caught in a trap. If you’re lucky, it is a leg-hold trap that your dog will suffer from, but hopefully survive. If you’re unlucky, your dog’s neck has just been snapped by a quick-kill conibear or slowly squeezed by a snare. Either way, the trap was completely legal and the person who set it is not liable in any way.

Gruesome? Yes. Possible? Absolutely. A scenario not unlike the above became reality for one family in Casper only weeks ago. It has happened here, too, and could happen again at any time. Should this be the reality of recreating in Jackson Hole?

As compassionate people we don’t want to imagine a dog being trapped, don’t want to think about trapping and don’t want to see images of trapped pets and wildlife — but as community, we must not look away. Trapping regulations are antiquated, and the trapping status quo endures because it remains off the radar of nonconsumptive public land and wildlife users.

Trapping season is in full swing, and traps of all varieties can be found almost anywhere on public land — even on your favorite hiking trails. Thousands of furbearing animals including bobcats, American martens, weasels and many others are trapped without limit. Nontarget species regularly caught in traps include not only pets but also threatened species like Canada lynx. Dog owners, hikers, wildlife watchers, photographers and the rest of the nontrapping public deserve a reasonable expectation of safety while recreating on public lands and deserve to be considered in wildlife management decisions.

We need to put trapping reform on the radar. Wyoming Untrapped is working on establishing trapping setbacks along trails in Teton County through its “Traps and Trails Campaign.” Setbacks are a step forward, and you can help affect change — visit WyomingUntrapped. org for information on taking action. It is time for this community to take a hard look at trapping reform.

Katy Canetta – Program Director Wyoming Untrapped

Peter Moyer (August 25, 2014)

From Peter Moyer, August 25, 2014

Our wildlife cannot vote or mount campaigns or write checks, so they really need great and dedicated people like you!! The historical perspective is interesting. Furs used to be necessary for warmth in Northern climes. Beaver hides and other furs like ermine were decorative, but few looked at ecology or animal cruelty back in those days. Trappers were iconic and admired, and still are from our distant modern perspective. Even though there is no real need for warmth or decorative pelts from wild animals any more.

The cruelty to trapped animals is barbaric in modern times. Absolutely barbaric. The value of those animals in wild ecosystems is very, very important. Many of our most productive riparian wetlands–for so many critters and many humans as well–have been created by beavers. Predators trapped cruelly for their furs play a very important role as checks and balances in many ecosystems. And the “Collateral Damage” of trapping is very bad, such as wolverines.

Anyway, sorry to be so windy but it is a great cause, more power to you! Some people are mostly concerned with dogs, but it goes way beyond that.

K Brown (July 26, 2014)

Shared by Cdapress.com.

K. BROWN/Guest opinion 

I am a responsible Idaho hound hunter and I have great concerns about trapping in the state of Idaho. I believe that it is time to address the elephant in the room and I feel that we need to make some major adjustments to trapping before it is too late for both trappers and hound hunters.

Here are the facts:

* Trapping and dog hunting do not mix.

I purchase my hound tag every year just like the trapper does, but I cannot hunt year round for fear of having another dog lost to a snare. I, myself, have even been caught in a snare just looking for my dogs. This is how out of control trapping has become.

* No regulated limits to the number of snares, leg hold traps and conibear traps on the ground. Collateral damage to wildlife.

A typical snare runs around $2.25 per snare. Most trappers put out so many snares that they have to put ribbons on bushes to find them again. Every day, a variety of wildlife falls victim to the trapper’s collateral damage list. When I buy a deer tag, I fill that tag only once and I know that it is against the law to bag another deer. The trapper has a free pass to kill or maim unlimited amounts of deer, cougar, bobcats, elk, moose, rabbits, etc. as needed to obtain his target. These are only considered “untargeted incidentals” and remain very legal.

* Domestic dog owners.

Hundreds of people recreate with dogs in the state of Idaho. Most trappers trap where it is easy to get to their traps – along highways, roads or trails. This always puts domestic dogs at risk when one is recreating, walking or just letting the dog out to relieve himself.

Hundreds of dogs are killed every year that belong to domestic dog owners. We are all being held hostage by this loosely regulated sport that has absolutely no oversight or consequences for breaking what few laws they may or may not follow.

* No limits on number of animals caught except otter and beaver

The bobcats have suffered terribly due to a five-month trapping season that makes it legal to trap virtually everything when in fact the bobcat season is only two months long – another pass for the trapper. Now with wolf trapping, bears are being caught in November before they can even go into hibernation. Trapping to this degree is affecting everything.

* New residents and so called “bunny huggers” dominating Idaho

There are 1.6 million people in Idaho with only approximately 2,000 trapping licenses issued. How long do you think it will take for people to realize that they can not safely recreate with dogs because of trapping? How long will they tolerate the inhumane treatment of animals and suffering that all victims of the snare or trap must endure?

This is slowly turning into a state that is leaning toward ethics. Numbers have always taken precedence over history and heritage. I worry that the dog hunting will go out the door along with the trapping if we don’t find some balance for everyone.

* Trap damage

Bone damage, tissue damage, blood vessel damage, skin and nerve damage or in most all cases … death. Even if one of my dogs survived, it would never be able to hunt again.

My recommendations:

* Outlaw conibear traps set on dry land.

These traps kill instantly and have no business being set where humans interact with wildlife and nature. In most states, they can only be used under water. The average person can not even release a pet much less themselves without special hardware for one of these monsters.

* Outlaw snares.

Snares are unforgiving to all animals. They are not only cheap to buy, but are 100 percent effective and can be set over an unfathomable amount of area – catching almost anything that is moving, either in or out of season. Because of the unfair and indiscriminating amount of collateral death caused to wildlife while trying to catch targeted animals, they should never be legal due to this factor alone.

* Limit the amount of traps a person can set.

Change the 72-hour torture check to 24 hours every day. This would make a trapper think twice about laying out 80 to 100 traps and just letting them ride till the weekend (which is what most of them do because they work). Legally, he would have to think about the time involved in checking traps within a 24-hour time frame. Because there is no oversight, most of them get away with this anyway, but at least it would be illegal.

* Limit the number of animals to be caught.

This sport has turned into a killing free-for-all. There are limits on everything else we value with hunting. Why not for the trapper?

* Require trapper liability insurance.

The people who illegally snared and killed my $5,000 young hound didn’t appear to have any remorse. After the incident, it was business as usual with just a slap on the wrist. I was the one who suffered the emotional and financial loss from their negligence, but they were well within most of the trapping laws.

There has to be some accountability to protect the average person who recreates in our woods and wetlands. They should be able to freely use these public lands without fear of losing their dogs. The rules can’t always be overwhelmingly in favor of the trapper or it will come to an end. Trappers would be more mindful of where they trap if they were required to have trappers insurance.

* Raise the license fees to trap.

If Fish and Game can not afford to patrol and control trappers, maybe they should consider raising the fees to put some balance out there for the rest of us when it comes to recreating together. This would cut down unnecessary kills and keep the till full.

* Require only “live” traps.

This would really solve the problem. There could then be some control as to what should or shouldn’t be taken. I know this would be a hard pill for the trapper to swallow, but we need to find a way to level the playing field for the common man. Other states do this with much success and everyone is happy, not to mention this leaves a larger abundance of wildlife for others to pursue such as myself. Needless killing of fur bearers is never a good idea for wildlife populations or for anyone.

In Conclusion:

My thoughts are not new with regard to trapping in Idaho. I have watched what I dearly enjoy doing go down the drain in the St. Joe country. Trappers gobble up what little bit of country is left that supports the lion or bobcat populations. There is no such thing as working side by side with snares and conibear traps when you do what I do. The trapper has had it pretty good doing whatever he has wanted to do on our public lands for decades, but this isn’t going to last – not with the new mindset of the people who are moving into this state. People love their dogs and they are concerned about animal suffering, but there are still solutions that could happen to make everyone happy.

Earlier this year, a mother, her 12-year-old son and their large dog were looking for antler sheds near Kellogg. The dog was trapped and died in an unmarked conibear trap that neither of them could open. There was nothing the boy could do but watch his dog die. Turned out this trapper was found when he returned for the trap, but he only received a slap on the wrist for not marking the trap. He went on to use the conibear trap up Cougar Gulch near Cd’A where he also trapped and killed two more domestic dogs. Fish and Game could do absolutely nothing about these incidents because he was well within the law. This is nothing short of insufferable.

How long will it be before a 12-year-old boy loses his foot in one of these monster traps? How many more domestic dogs will be victim to a snare, leaving their grieving owners wondering about what their rights are on public lands? This has to change or the power of the people will bring it to an end – and I am afraid they will take down dog hunting while they are at it.

We have to make laws so everyone can enjoy these lands together. There needs to be compromise on everyone’s part. No one sport should be able to dominate and hold everyone else hostage while they willy nilly do whatever they want without facing consequences. We need some drastic steps and changes made with regard to trapping – and we need it done soon.

K. Brown is a resident of Plummer.

Jean Molde (July 18, 2014)

From the Reno Gazette-Journal

In the July 14 Reno Gazette-Journal, we learn that a young man accused of cruel acts on domestic dogs has been arrested and faces felony charges. We applaud. Yet, on the same front page of the paper, we are told that the Nevada Department of Wildlife commissioners are having difficulty making a decision regarding making a change in the regulation requiring how frequently a trapper must visit his/her traps. Is it somehow less cruel than the aforementioned crime the young man is accused of to cause an animal to languish in a trap for up to four days, in pain, frightened, thirsty and hungry, just because the activity is not in the public eye and the animal is wild?

Jean Molde, Reno

TrailSafe Nevada (July 15, 2014)

A post by TrailSafe Nevada

Mr. Les Smith (“Hunters, trappers key to management” – July 6 Letter to the Editor LVRJ – also July 9 Nevada Appeal) posits “people [who] would love to make wildlife management an environmental issue.” How is wildlife management not an environmental issue? He follows this statement with: “ If it becomes one, hunting and trapping will be gone, and so will the funding that comes with them.” This is the slippery slope mantra aired by sportsmen at Wildlife Commission meetings whenever trapping regulation is discussed. The sportsmen passionately defend trapping. They believe that if trapping is curtailed, even minimally, somehow hunting and then gun ownership will be next. They refer to a “secret agenda” we animal activists ourselves are unaware of. In reaction to this exaggerated fear, we see bills attempting to secure hunting and trapping “rights” for eternity – even attempting constitutional amendments. One activity – hunting – is well regulated in the interest of wildlife management. Hunters take mandatory education; buy tags; observe seasons and a host of regulations. Trapping is something else altogether. There are no bag limits; no limits upon number of traps set; no limits upon the agony a trapped animal suffers. If the people Mr. Smith defines as such a threat have not already brought the hunting and trapping communities to their knees, when and how will they do so? Is he saying a few grassroots animal activists can match the money and influence of the larger hunting groups? Trappers join coalitions with these hunting groups and enjoy great advantages thereby. These coalitions control wildlife policy in our state. Most animal advocates make a clear distinction between hunting and trapping. To object to the excesses of one is not a threat to the other.

Mauricio Handler (November 25, 2015)

November 2015

NO STUFFED WILDLIFE

Stuffed dead wildlife for sale decorate tourist and souvenir stores in downtown Jackson.

After a week at the Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival trying to figure out, together with 800 delegates from around the world, how we can be a voice for conservation and wildlife proliferation in a time of unprecedented animal extinction, I am revolted at the reality of the local mentality and the message it sends to all Jackson visitors from around the world, including China and other Asian countries.

How can we expect them to conserve, protect and cultivate a culture of wildlife welfare when we give them this front row seat to a horror show? As I said, all animals are for sale. Is this an oxymoron? Let’s wake up. Do not support businesses like these and make your voices heard. We are not above nature; we are part of it.

Taxidermy from the 20th century I understand — it was a different time. But to bring this to the forefront of today’s world and to have all for sale? Something is not right with this picture.

Many species are disappearing from the Wyoming landscape because trapping and furring are legal here.

We are talking dozens of animals in each store.

China is a huge problem for the endangered species of our planet. People there trade, consume and dissect anything and everything. But with Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks attracting waves of Chinese tourists, this issue in Jackson and other prohunting and pro-trapping locations in the U.S. is definitely is not helping the cause.

Make sure you watch “Racing Extinction” airing in 220-plus countries Dec. 2. This is the very best environmental film ever made. It is the beginning of a global movement. Let your voice be heard.

Wyoming Untrapped is single-handedly trying to address this issue in the area. Please join it and lend it your support when possible.

Mauricio Handler, filmmaker Durham, Maine

https://www.jhnewsandguide.com/opinion/letters/letter-to-the-editor-oct-21/article_2eda0b4c-fe5a-506d-a312-747d959e9e36.html

Leslie Patten (March 12, 2014)

Jackson Hole News and Guide, 3/12/14 Trapped In December

I spent a month exploring Anazasi ruins around Bluff, Utah. One morning I drove along an excellent dirt access road indicated in my guide book toward a popular hiking trail. Recent snows created muddy conditions, so I decided to walk the remaining few miles to the trailhead. I let my dog out, and we both walked on the road itself. My dog was about 15 feet ahead of me when he began yelping in pain. I rushed to his side and saw his foot was caught in a leghold trap meant for coyotes. The trap had been hidden under the dirt directly on the public road, ‘baited’ only with dog scat and scent — in other words, there was no indication to a human that a trap was there. Luckily, I was able to free my dog quickly, and he had no injuries. Although my experience took place in Utah, I live in Wyoming and know many people whose dogs have been caught in traps here. People recreating with children and dogs need to know that trapping is legal everywhere except in national parks. Coyotes can be trapped year round. Wolves can be trapped in 85 percent of Wyoming year round. Other wildlife such as bobcats have a long season in the winter months. It’s only a matter of time, as recreational use increases, before a child is trapped. Releasing a leghold trap is not intuitive. One has to practice before an incident occurs. Snares require a hiker to carry a good pair of wire cutters so your dog won’t choke to death. If you come across a conibear trap, then kiss your dog goodbye because you’ll never release him in time as it takes only seconds for the animal to die. Trapping is not only cruel and antiquated, but trappers are selling our wildlife overseas to China and Russia for coats. As fur prices escalate, more people are trapping, many of them inexperienced and unethical. Last year, trappers placed bobcat sets around the perimeter of Joshua Tree National Park in California, hoping for the $750 that a pelt can bring, robbing the American public visiting that park of the pleasure of seeing our native wildlife. Old, outdated laws and attitudes favor the trapper who pays a miniscule fee for his license. Nonconsumptive users of recreational lands are not only at risk but so is the tranquility of their outdoor experience. Leslie Patten Cody

Kirk Robinson (May 30, 2014)

Kirk Robinson wrote a beautiful essay about wildlife management.  Shared by Trap Free New Mexico.

I work for Western Wildlife Conservancy, a non-profit wildlife conservation organization that I founded several years ago in Salt Lake City. I am motivated by a concern for the future of the West, of our wildlands and wildlife, the health of our watersheds and a place where people (individuals and families, not the species) can flourish and stay in touch with wild nature. I want to know how we can best work together to ensure these things. This is particularly urgent given continued population growth, habitat fragmentation and degradation, and the reality of climate change – not to mention the majority of our Western politicians, who seem oblivious to these important matters.

One of my most cherished memories is working side by side with my grandfather on a ranch one summer when I was 16. We rode horses, rounded up calves, branded them, castrated them, and treated them for pink eye; I learned to drive a tractor and helped out with the irrigation and haying. There were no other kids on the ranch, so in the evenings I was left to myself for a couple of hours between dinner and bedtime. One evening after dinner I went out for a walk with my Winchester semi-automatic .22 rifle, on the lookout for something to shoot. In those days, it was a rite of passage for a boy to get a “varmint” rifle at about age 14.

While walking a path along the edge of an alfalfa field I saw a large bird with a whitish breast standing in the middle of the field about 100 yards away. A sitting duck, so to speak. Pointing my rifle in the direction of the bird and raising it slightly to allow for distance, I pulled the trigger. Instantly the bird fell over. Excitedly, I climbed over the fence and ran over to it. It was a beautiful barn owl, stone dead, its bright yellow eyes still open. I wondered what to do with it. Taxidermy wasn’t an option, but just leaving it seemed wasteful, so I plucked out a few of its feathers and proceeded to saw off its talons with a dull packet knife. After salvaging these trifles, I put my trophies in my shirt pocket and carried the dead bird over to the edge of the field and threw it into the sagebrush. Then I started walking back to the ranch house in the waning light, guided by the glow from a window a few hundred yards away. As I walked along, feeling some remorse for what I’d done, another owl, just like the one I’d killed, flew toward me and began to fly in circles just a few feet above my head. I thought it might attack me and I was scared, so I stopped. When I did, it lit on the nearest fence post, about six feet away, and stared straight at my face with its big yellow eyes. It was very spooky. I didn’t want to kill it too, so I tried shooting at the post below it instead, hoping to scare it off. But it wouldn’t leave. So I began walking again; and again the owl began circling my head on its silent wings. After a few seconds I stopped again and it stopped too, lighting on the nearest fence post and staring straight at my face. I shot at the post again. It didn’t move. This was repeated about a half dozen times, the owl following me nearly all the way back to the ranch house, each time looking me in the face with its big yellow eyes. I don’t know what became of my trophies, but the memory of that experience has stayed with me for 50 years. It was my Aldo Leopold moment.
The theme of this conference is “Integrating scientific findings into [cougar] management.” This is an interesting theme. It suggests that it isn’t obvious how scientific finds should be integrated into wildlife management. Why is this? When you think about it for just a moment, you see it is because science by itself doesn’t dictate wildlife management. Values play a role too.

Wildlife management programs involve values. There is no escaping it. Sometimes the values are of a purely practical nature, such as ways to simplify data collection or save money, or what not. Other times they involve killing animals and manipulating ecosystems to try to achieve some goal. The value judgments (or assumptions) reflected in the goal, and often in the methods for achieving it, are inexorably moral ones – even when the values at issue are not consciously entertained. They are institutionalized values.

This fact invites the question what values should prevail – what would be the morally best or right action in a given circumstance? Certainly it’s not always easy to know, but in practice the prevailing values tend to be the ones favored by the most politically influential interest groups, which are ranchers and hunters. Wildlife management agencies are largely captives of these interest groups. Consequently, wildlife management agencies are loath to forego the chance to provide hunting opportunities; and in general herbivores are favored over carnivores, with comparatively little concern for the welfare of animals or their roles in ecosystems.

In philosophy there is a grand distinction called the fact/value distinction. And there are fundamentally just two views about it. One view is that facts have nothing at all to do with values. The idea is that facts are objective and value neutral, while values are subjective – matters of arbitrary personal opinion. According to this view, different people have their own values, which might vary, and they project their values onto value neutral reality; whereas reality itself is value free.

Science tends to reinforce this view by teaching us to think of facts as objective, mind-independent states of affairs that make up the world, ideally susceptible of exhaustive description in terms of quantitative measures, such as mass and momentum, which can be represented in mathematical formulas. This idea is reinforced by the dominant economic paradigm which treats everything as a resource having only extrinsic value – a commodity to be used or treated however one chooses. This is reflected, for example, in the names of agencies, such as the “Utah Division of Wildlife Resources.”

The competing view about facts and values is that facts are not always value neutral, but are sometimes bearers of value, and that recognition of such value is important to making good moral choices. The term often used for this value is ‘intrinsic value’. It is value that things are believed to have independently of human valuing – a kind of value just as real as a physical object, but that isn’t captured by science and isn’t commensurable with economic value.

Wildlife management agencies, as public institutions, are largely beholden to political and money interests, so they often have to disregard questions of intrinsic value. Wildlife managers are often required to act as if facts are not bearers of value, even though some managers might take a different personal view, as I know many of them do. In that case, they must live with a certain amount of cognitive dissonance. Conservation activists, such as I and my colleagues, on the other hand, are not forced to ignore intrinsic values and so we tend to emphasize them in order to give them due recognition. And therefore, our views about how wildlife species ought to be managed, particularly predator species, tend to clash with official agency views.

Which view is correct? You are all familiar with Aldo Leopold’s account in Thinking like a Mountain, of an incident in his youth when he worked for the Forest Service. One day he shot an old she-wolf and arrived at her side just in time to see a “fierce green fire dying in her eyes.” 40 years later he formulated his famous “land ethic”: “A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise.” This famous passage is frequently quoted but rarely receives the kind of attention it deserves. Notice the words ‘right’, ‘wrong’, and ‘beauty’. These are value terms, whereas ‘integrity’ and ‘stability’ are scientific terms that apply to factual states of affairs. Leopold was certainly aware of this and deliberately meant to imply that facts can be bearers of value – value that he described as being of the “philosophic kind,” more commonly referred to as intrinsic value. He did not shy away from this conviction, which may have been planted in his mind decades earlier by the incident with the wolf.

Not everything is beautiful, but some things are. Not all beauty is merely “in the eye of the beholder.” And beauty can be more than “skin deep.” Wild animals are beautiful. Healthy ecosystems are beautiful. Wilderness is beautiful. People can be beautiful too. Beauty is a kind of intrinsic value and it deserves our respect. This was Leopold’s conviction; and it is my conviction too.

Wyoming Untrapped (Dec 12, 2013)

Jackson Hole News and Guide 12/4/2013 Reform trapping

On Nov. 22, two dogs were caught in snare and foothold traps while walking with their owner and caretaker along Fall Creek Road, a popular recreation area. The traps probably were aimed at fox or coyote, predators for which few trapping regulations apply in Wyoming. All too often, however, traps don’t discrimi­nate and other species often are caught. Sometimes they’re our pets. The Fall Creek incident was the second in little more than a year in that area. It was the fourth known incident in Jackson Hole during the same time period. Others undoubtedly have not been reported. Fortunately, these two dogs on Fall Creek were freed, but only after the owner and caretaker ran back to her vehicle and drove back to her house to retrieve bolt cutters. One dog was freed from the foothold trap after a ride to the veterinarian in Wilson.    In the Buffalo Valley last year a dog walking with its owner was caught in a foothold trap and required about $2,000 of veterinary care. Another dog was caught in a snare but uninjured the same day in the same place. These incidents raise the question of whether more popular recreation areas on public land should be off-limits to trapping. Trapping in Wyoming peaked in the mid-1880s, but persists today. The Wyoming Department of Game and Fish reported that approximately 1,800 permits to trap furbearing animals were issued in 2011. No permits are required to trap predators, such as coyote, fox and wolf. In 85 percent of the state, predator trapping is allowed at all times of the year. Trappers are not required to report trapping of “non-target” animals unless they’re seriously injured or killed, so no records are available to tell us how often it happens. Trappers also have no responsibility for any harm that may come to you or your dog if you happen to step into a trap. Trapping regulations today are at best antiquated. Trap check times are ridiculously long in some instances, resulting in days of suffering for trapped animals. For example, if placed on a Monday, body grip and conibear traps need not be checked for 13 days. What do you suppose would happen to your dog during that time? With the removal of the gray wolf from the federal Endangered Species List, anecdotal evidence suggests that trapping frequency and trap size have increased. And predator trappers are allowed to use any size and number of traps and place them almost anywhere on public lands. With the price of bobcat pelts rising, we can expect more trapping. It is time to take a hard look at the practice of trapping and how it’s regulated on our public lands. Roger Hayden Executive Director Wyoming Untrapped

Linnea Gardner (July 3, 2013)

Jackson Hole News and Guide   5/3/2013 Another Trap Incident

Beware everyone who recreates in the Munger Mountain/Fall Creek area.  On June 30th, in an effort to cool off, a friend, my dog and I went down to the large meadow, about 1.5 miles south of the bus turnaround on Fall Creek Road, to wade in the creek.  As we came out of the creek, about 10 feet from the embankment, we encountered a 6-inch-plus leg-hold trap staked in the ground and virtually invisible as it blended in so well with the dirt and growth. Fortunately for all of us, the trap had been sprung.  Unfortunately for the animal it had caught.  There was a chewed off paw still in the trap.  It looked like the trap had been abandoned and had been there for a while, possibly since last winter.  I could not find an identification tag or the stake. This area is heavily used for recreation in all seasons.  My friend and I were both wearing sandals for wading and could easily have stepped on the trap had it been open.  My dog got his muzzle right up to it before I even saw it.  Less than 20 yards away, two young boys were playing in the creek and running around the embankments.  I see people there daily, fishing and wandering the banks.  These people include families with children and neighbors letting their dogs out for a good run and to play in the creek. This is my public land, too, and my “backyard,” and I go there regularly and have for over a dozen years. My dog was snared a mile from this location in December, and now I’m coming across leg-hold traps 100 yards from the road.  I’m so angry. I don’t know how many other traps there might be out there.  Sprung or not.  I don’t’ want to find out the hard way.  I don’t want there to be a third time and have my dog maimed or killed, or get my foot caught in one of those.  I don’t want it to happen to anyone else. This is a safety issue for everyone.  There are some areas that need to be off-limits for trapping of any kind. Voice your concern:  Wyoming Game and Fish, Jackson 733-2321.  Bridger-Teton National Forest, Jackson District 739-5400. Linnea Gardner Wilson, WY

Ursula Neese (January 4, 2013)

Shared by Footloose Montana, published in the Livingston Enterprise. Editor.

The day was like many in Montana — a cold winter blue sky day. We were walking our dog last week in an area where we have walked for the past 17 years. Our dog was glad to be out in this familiar setting and was out to our side about 30 feet sniffing and looking for rodents, when all of a sudden she was bolting in the air frantically screeching, yelping and biting uncontrollably. We ran to help. It took a second to realize what it was: “My god, it’s two traps that were clamped down on her front leg above the paw and her back leg at her paw.” She was fiercely trying to bite them off. Blood was flowing. We were freaked, and tried to calm her. We tried to restrain her from hurting herself more. She finally went into shock and became docile. We were afraid to try and release the traps for fear of hurting her more. My friend started having severe chest pain and I had to take over restraining Solano. We both had our cell phones, so we called 911, our vet, and the land owner. We then tried to pull the traps from the ground where they were staked. No luck. Such a mixture of archaic tortures and telephones! Our vet arrived and the sheriff was not far behind. Our vet was able to release the traps. Solano was taken to our vet’s office, X-rayed, and found to have no broken bones, though she has several broken teeth from trying to bite off the steel traps. My friend continued to have chest pain. Both were lucky. Other pets or people might not be so lucky. A wild animal would definitely not be so lucky. The thought of how my dog reacted and was injured in this very short amount of time reminds us of the unthinkable process a wild animal might go through in the 24 to 48 hours before her killer arrives. Montana regulations are very much all about the trapper and not about the public or the animals that are being trapped. A trap can be set only 150 feet from a road, and the trap does not need to be marked in any way for a person to see it. In fact, most of the regs are all about the hunt. This treatment of animals is not a hunt at all — it is malicious torture of our wildlife and can lead to injury of people and their pets. I suggest that anyone thinking of joining the trapper group please take two traps into a field, stake them down, and when they are nicely frozen in, walk out and place both hands into the traps so they will snap into place. I’m sure no trapper would do this, but I hope you get the point. We must stop this trapping now, please write, call your legislators. So the second part to this horrific day: When Solano was caught in a wolf trap and DD and I were struggling for Solano’s life, a rush of adrenaline and calcium was heading for DD’s heart. What that means in the medical world is that she was having a heart attack caused by the anxiety of our dog’s life being threatened in an instant. We took her to the ER in Livingston, where her enzyme levels indicated that her heart was sustaining damage. She was taken then to Bozeman by ambulance, and into the cath lab. They determined that she had a Stress Cardiomiopathy a “mild heart attack” that is solely produced in a fight or flight situation. She is going to be fine. She does not have a diseased heart — her attacker was the wolf trap. Ursula Neese South of Livingston

John Ruther (May 21, 2008)

May 24, 2017 – Jackson Hole News and Guide

Manage Wolves for All

With wolves listed as a predatory species for a majority of the year during the spring, summer and autumn months just south and west of town, there will be many more dogs caught by traps as people get outside to engage in recreational activities.

We are encouraging citizens to keep their pets on a leash or very close by when recreating on public lands south and west of town. Wolf traps are larger than traps set for other species and will easily catch and injure or kill pets. The archaic trapping regulations in Wyoming allow trappers to place an unlimited number of traps of any size on public lands. Traps do not have to be set off of trails. Snares do not have to be checked for up to 13 days. The laws and regulations favor the very few individual trappers and give no protections to the hundreds of thousands of pet owners in this state. If your dog is caught or injured, the trapper holds no legal responsibility whatsoever.

Numerous studies have been published that indicate nonlethal measures are more effective at reducing livestock losses from predators than lethal measures. We eradicated wolves from this state once; it can easily happen again. The current management plan does not include any provisions for educating livestock producers on nonlethal techniques or prevention of depredation. It focuses only on how many wolves can be killed and where. Wyoming is once again “managing” our wolves and other predators to minimum numbers. One hundred wolves do not constitute a healthy population.

With tourism the No. 2 industry in the state, why aren’t we managing our wildlife to reflect current nationwide cultural values? Millions of tourists are visiting Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks every year, bringing much-needed income to the state. Will visitors return when the wolves they used to see every year are gone? How will the residents of this state who love wildlife feel when they can no longer catch a glimpse of a wolf on our public lands? A wolf license costs $19 while that same wolf alive can bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars that benefits the whole community. All people should have access to shared resources that are held in trust for the public.

There is also a significant volume of mounting evidence that shows predator populations are self-regulating. Wolves do not need to be hunted. Perhaps the most disgusting thing is that wolves will now be afforded no protection in a majority of the state, not even from animal cruelty laws. Are you aware that there are contests to see who can kill the most predators that are held statewide every year? Wolves will be killed as a part of this repulsive and completely unnecessary, outdated practice. They will be shot on sight, run over with snowmobiles (which currently happens to coyotes — just search for it on YouTube), beaten to death, poisoned by M-44 cyanide bombs, left to suffer in traps for up to three days, chased down and shot from aircraft and generally treated lower than dirt. This is unacceptable treatment of any animal, but especially so for an iconic keystone species like the wolf.

We are in the geologic era known as the Anthropocene in which species are going extinct at an alarming rate, much faster than ever before. Large mammals will be the first to go. And we are allowing some of the most vulnerable to purposely be killed? When are we going to move our wildlife management into the modern century? When are we going to listen to science and evidence instead of relying on anachronistic attitudes based on fear and ignorance?

Almost 70 years after Aldo Leopold wrote and taught about the importance of our moral responsibility to the natural world, it’s incredible we are still discussing the wanton killing of predators. The focus of wolf management has to change to co-existence if we are to leave a lasting legacy of complete, diverse ecosystems behind to our children.

Kristin Combs Program Director Wyoming Untrapped
Jackson, WY

https://wyominguntrapped.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Kristins-LTE-Wolf-Management-5.24.17-JHNG.docx

Shared by Footloose Montana.

Hello, my name is John Ruther and I would like to deliver a message, using the experience of my dog companion Logans’ death in a snare trap.

The first hint of a snare’s work is your animal will be jumping, acting as if he is getting into mischief off there in the woods. Then, as your attention wanders, the corner of your eye will catch the jumping turning bizzare, almost as if a buck deer, or bear, or mountain lion, or something, is throwing him backwards, violently, over and over. It will be quiet, all the while there will be only the struggle. As you walk cautiously towards that place there will be stillness. When you see your animal it will be alive, fighting with every ounce of life it has left to get air into its’ lungs. Its’ legs will be straight out, perpendicular from the body, the tail will be rigid, the eyes will be wide and bright and pleading, the mouth and tongue will be the wrong color, a precursor to death purple.You may think, as I did, that your animal friend has broken his neck. You might speak to your friend to try to comfort him in what suddenly seems to be his final moments, you will search his body for wounds, you will gently roll him to search his other side and to be prepared to give heart compressions. The realization of his life slipping away will compel you to say his name to him what seems to be a thousand times. In the end you will be staring into his eyes, they will be the eyes of your best friend, they will be shining and filled with terror, and then, as sure as we all will die, the brightness fades slowly, and that unique irreplaceable spirit is no longer there. And then, as you stroke your friends’ still warm body for the last time, you may find it, as I did, the hidden wire around his neck, the snare embedded in his neck and lying in the tall grass and tied to the bush. Then the absurd but necessary for your sanity attempts at mouth to mouth resuscitation and heart compressions, and finally the acknowledgement that it all is very wrong, but absolutely real. This must be trapping at its’ best, the physical killing of a dog and the spiritual killing of a man.

Rodger McDaniel (December 27, 2020)

December 27, 2020 – Wyoming Tribune Eagle

Trapping regulations need to protect pets from harm
The fuse has been lit on the most volatile issue of which most Wyoming people are unaware. If you are not a trapper or have not had your pet die a horrible death in a trap laid alongside a trail on public lands, you probably know nothing about the debate quietly being fought between trappers and those who think trapping should be regulated.
Full disclosure. I learned of the conflict from my wife, an animal rights advocate, involved with other Wyoming people encouraging the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission to enact trapping regulations.
I chose to write about the controversy for two purposes: to make people aware of it and, in the hope that those on both sides of the issue will make this a matter of greater public dialogue.
Trappers point out that their hobby or vocation is protected in the Wyoming Constitution. It is true that Article 1, Section 39 of the constitution mentions trapping. It also refers to hunting and fishing. And it subjects all three pursuits to regulation. Specifically, the provision says it is not intended to “diminish other private rights or alter the duty of the state to manage wildlife.”
Among those “other private rights” is access to public lands. Virtually unregulated, trapping significantly limits the ability of the public to fully enjoy public lands without the threat of injury or death to pets or children.
Game and Fish does not keep data about unintended injuries or deaths caused by trapping. However, a trapping-regulation advocacy group does. Wyoming Untrapped collects reports on the multiple incidents when those freely enjoying hikes or camping with a family pet on public lands have experienced tragedy.
Most are surprised to learn that traps are set close to trails in popular mountain venues. A Wyoming travel website invites people to enjoy trails in areas like Vedauwoo. “Mountain bikers, hikers and trail runners can progress tirelessly on trails among the pine and aspen trees with views of the Medicine Bow Mountains.” https://travelwyoming.com/…/hike-bike-climb-and-camp…
The Wyoming Untrapped website warns those using public lands. There is good reason to beware. Last month, a couple was hiking at Vedauwoo with two dogs. The dogs were near the trail when one, stopping to sniff what turned out to be bait, was seized by a hidden trap. Although the dog and its humans were traumatized, the dog limped away alive. The dog’s owners said, “We had no idea that traps were even something to worry about while exploring public lands.” https://wyominguntrapped.org/database/#def1487019603-2-54
Other pets have not been so fortunate. Mac, for example died near Pavillion. This beloved family dog was “caught in a POWER neck snare (an extremely lethal device) set for bobcats.”
A Casper nurse took her two dogs to an area they often visited. The dogs exercised by running on the sandstone outcroppings. Both dogs were killed by a hidden M-44 cyanide bomb.
These incidents all harmed pets. But, any of them could just as easily have taken the life of a small, curious child. Maybe your pet; perhaps your child.
Christy Stewart was with family, walking her dog up Wickiup Knoll Trail outside of Afton, same as she’d done almost every day for the past four years. Her dog, a 3-year-old Pyrenees named “Sage,” practically grew up on that run. Sage died, trapped on that trail.
“Out of sight for just minutes, the dog caught a scent of fresh meat used to bait a bobcat snare. It didn’t take long. Sage suffocated, hung in a trap just 20 feet off the trail.“
Afton game warden James Hobbs investigated the incident and reported the trap, baited using a cubby set, was legal.
Therein lies the problem. Not one of these tragedies was the result of any violation of law or regulation. A growing number of public lands users are asking the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission to solve that problem by enacting reasonable trapping regulations so they can safely use public lands without exposing their pets and children to deadly, hidden dangers.
– Rodger McDaniel
** Rodger McDaniel lives in Laramie and is the pastor at Highlands Presbyterian Church in Cheyenne. Email: rmc81448@gmail.com.

Rodger McDaniel (December 27, 2020)

December 27, 2020 – Wyoming Tribune Eagle

Trapping regulations need to protect pets from harm
The fuse has been lit on the most volatile issue of which most Wyoming people are unaware. If you are not a trapper or have not had your pet die a horrible death in a trap laid alongside a trail on public lands, you probably know nothing about the debate quietly being fought between trappers and those who think trapping should be regulated.
Full disclosure. I learned of the conflict from my wife, an animal rights advocate, involved with other Wyoming people encouraging the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission to enact trapping regulations.
I chose to write about the controversy for two purposes: to make people aware of it and, in the hope that those on both sides of the issue will make this a matter of greater public dialogue.
Trappers point out that their hobby or vocation is protected in the Wyoming Constitution. It is true that Article 1, Section 39 of the constitution mentions trapping. It also refers to hunting and fishing. And it subjects all three pursuits to regulation. Specifically, the provision says it is not intended to “diminish other private rights or alter the duty of the state to manage wildlife.”
Among those “other private rights” is access to public lands. Virtually unregulated, trapping significantly limits the ability of the public to fully enjoy public lands without the threat of injury or death to pets or children.
Game and Fish does not keep data about unintended injuries or deaths caused by trapping. However, a trapping-regulation advocacy group does. Wyoming Untrapped collects reports on the multiple incidents when those freely enjoying hikes or camping with a family pet on public lands have experienced tragedy.
Most are surprised to learn that traps are set close to trails in popular mountain venues. A Wyoming travel website invites people to enjoy trails in areas like Vedauwoo. “Mountain bikers, hikers and trail runners can progress tirelessly on trails among the pine and aspen trees with views of the Medicine Bow Mountains.” https://travelwyoming.com/…/hike-bike-climb-and-camp…
The Wyoming Untrapped website warns those using public lands. There is good reason to beware. Last month, a couple was hiking at Vedauwoo with two dogs. The dogs were near the trail when one, stopping to sniff what turned out to be bait, was seized by a hidden trap. Although the dog and its humans were traumatized, the dog limped away alive. The dog’s owners said, “We had no idea that traps were even something to worry about while exploring public lands.” https://wyominguntrapped.org/database/#def1487019603-2-54
Other pets have not been so fortunate. Mac, for example died near Pavillion. This beloved family dog was “caught in a POWER neck snare (an extremely lethal device) set for bobcats.”
A Casper nurse took her two dogs to an area they often visited. The dogs exercised by running on the sandstone outcroppings. Both dogs were killed by a hidden M-44 cyanide bomb.
These incidents all harmed pets. But, any of them could just as easily have taken the life of a small, curious child. Maybe your pet; perhaps your child.
Christy Stewart was with family, walking her dog up Wickiup Knoll Trail outside of Afton, same as she’d done almost every day for the past four years. Her dog, a 3-year-old Pyrenees named “Sage,” practically grew up on that run. Sage died, trapped on that trail.
“Out of sight for just minutes, the dog caught a scent of fresh meat used to bait a bobcat snare. It didn’t take long. Sage suffocated, hung in a trap just 20 feet off the trail.“
Afton game warden James Hobbs investigated the incident and reported the trap, baited using a cubby set, was legal.
Therein lies the problem. Not one of these tragedies was the result of any violation of law or regulation. A growing number of public lands users are asking the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission to solve that problem by enacting reasonable trapping regulations so they can safely use public lands without exposing their pets and children to deadly, hidden dangers.
– Rodger McDaniel
** Rodger McDaniel lives in Laramie and is the pastor at Highlands Presbyterian Church in Cheyenne. Email: rmc81448@gmail.com.

Wyoming Untrapped (September 9, 2020)

September 9, 2020 – Jackson Hole News & Guide

Trap reform being realized
The face of trapping in Wyoming is shifting. Wyoming Untrapped, joined by other advocates, filed a petition to the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission last January to address trapping reform this year. The commission responded by initiating a process to learn more about trapping. The Wyoming Game and Fish Department initiated a statewide survey, which revealed the need for change by a wide range of stakeholders. On Oct. 1, furbearer trapping season will open and tens of thousands of traps will be set on our landscapes, in addition to the thousands that are there year-round. Thousands of animals will be injured or killed in these traps or snares.
All corners of our state are now aware of the critical need to address the lack of safety on our public landscapes for our people, pets and wildlife.
Game and Fish scheduled five collaborative public meetings statewide to discuss trapping reform before presenting its recommendation to the commission. Two more are left: virtual meetings today in Laramie and Thursday in Lander.
Wyoming Untrapped has asserted in the past and continues to assert that the following trapping regulation changes are necessary: trap-free areas, a ban of all trigger-loaded power snares and Senneker snares, mandatory signage, trap setbacks off trails (300 feet), mandatory reporting of nontarget species and pets, mandatory reporting of all species trapped, mandatory trapper education, mandatory conservation stamp purchase, live traps used wherever possible, 24-hour trap checks, removal of all traps at end of season, a statewide trapping reform stakeholder task force and a review of furbearer trapping regulations every two years.
Our Wyoming voices matter more than ever.
L. Robertson Jackson
Wyoming Untrapped

Patty and Frank Ewing (August 31, 2020)

August 31, 2020 – Jackson Hole News & Guide

Set trap-fee areas
The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission, which meets in Jackson today, Sept. 2, has made progress in following up with public meetings after initiating an evaluation of trapping issues.
This letter focuses on the need to designate trap-free areas in the Cache Creek and Game Creek drainages. Beavers — which were once numerous along Cache Creek, even creating ponds within town limits (until stopped by Cache Creek being diverted underground through much of Jackson) — are gone where we live at the mouth of the canyon. The large, beautiful beaver ponds a short distance upstream have essentially dried up. These large beaver ponds with multiple beaver lodges on private property contiguous to our property are gone.
The ponds were large and deep, and in addition to creating wonderful protected wildlife habitat, the ponds were used by firefighting helicopters to scoop out huge buckets of water during the recent Horse Thief wildfire which threatened Jackson. Obviously, wetlands created by beavers also create an important green wet zone that is extremely beneficial in containing wildfires. A dry, hot summer such as we are currently experiencing has greatly increased the danger of wildfires. Because of the ease of access to the canyon, it is most certain that beavers have been trapped out. There is no other explanation for the dearth of beavers.
Because of their proximity to Jackson, the Cache Creek and Game Creek drainages in the Bridger-Teton National Forest are the most heavily used trails in Teton County. We have lived at the mouth of Cache Creek canyon for almost 60 years and have observed the transformation of the canyon rich with wildlife. The system of trails once used only by horseback riders, hunters and a few hikers has become heavily used by hundreds of daily mountain bikers, walkers and hikers, most with pets and a few brave horseback riders. Winter use by skiers, walkers, fat tire bikes and snowmobiles, often at night, is rising sharply.
We support reform efforts that Wyoming Untrapped is proposing, including: ban the use of power snares and Senneker snares and instead require live traps; require traps to be checked every 24 hours; have trap-free trail areas; require 300-foot trap setbacks; require reporting of species trapped to determine whether trapping is an effective wildlife management measure; require all traps to be removed at the end of the season; increase the cost of trapping licenses; require certification through a trappers education course; and require purchase of a conservation stamp, the same as anglers and hunters.
While only the Wyoming Legislature can make some of the needed changes, the Game and Fish Commission should take the lead.
Patty and Frank Ewing
Jack
Jackson Hole News&Guide

 

Peter Moyer (April 25, 2018)

April 25, 2018 – Jackson Hole News & Guide

Trapping is a True Blunderbuss Approach to Game Management

Bruce Thompson wrote an excellent letter to you on trapping, for your public input. Here are just a few points, from my own perspective (for what that is worth!):

. Trapping is a true blunderbuss approach to game management, in terms of non-target wildlife species including protected species, and domestic animals. By contrast, like most people I do not object to hunting with a bullet or arrow, or fishing where both target and non-target species can be released.

. I see almost no economic benefit to Wyoming from trapping in modern times, unlike hunting and fishing and wildlife viewing. And, there is a bit economic downside from torturing and killing wildlife by trapping in Wyoming–more so all the time, with social media and other media avenues.

. With down, pile and other insulation, and faux furs for decoration, there is no modern day need for trapped animal skins. And, much of the remaining trade is just with communist China and communist Russia.

. Much stricter control on trapping in Wyoming could be promoted in a very positive manner. Right now the trapping p.r. is almost all bad for Wyoming, and it will get worse. Barbaric, bottom line.

Sure, Jeremiah Johnson is still one of my all-time favorite movies, and Bridger/Colter/Glass are heroes to me from distant times. But that was long ago, and their genuine need for trapping is long gone. I hope that I am not insulting anyone still wearing beaver skin hats to fancy gatherings in New York or London.”

Peter Moyer: Wyoming attorney

Jackson, WY

Bruce S. Thompson (April 18, 2018)

April 18, 2018 – Jackson Hole News & Guide

Speak Out Against Trapping

Our Wyoming Game and Fish Department has embarked on a major research study to develop a new agencywide strategic plan. As part of this planning and development process this agency has created a wildlife forum for citizens to help “Forge the Future of Wyoming’s Wildlife.” I encourage all citizens to avail themselves of this rare opportunity for input.

I see Game and Fish as being in a somewhat schizophrenic position: inherently responsible to oversee the health, sustainability and appreciation of the state’s wildlife, which belongs to all stakeholders, while at the same time inherently beholden to the significant and vocal minority — hunters and anglers — that provides the bulk of the very income necessary for it to operate. This hazards an occasional rift between decisions based on sound management and those compelled by service to those “paying the bills.”

Don’t misunderstand. Many, many fine, dedicated individuals work for the agency, and much of the work is performed honestly, thoughtfully and with measurable benefit. But I sincerely believe that this trust is, at times, broken when it comes to two questionable and arguably archaic practices: lethal trapping and hunting purely for trophy. The following comments are in regard to trapping.

I suggest it is time for a full cost-benefit analysis of the practice in ways that includes all impacts: biology, ecology, aesthetics, safety, ethics, economy and, overall, the mores of a civilized and compassionate 21st-century society.

Further, I call for the creation of a statewide trapping advisory committee to lend a fully and proportionally representative citizen perspective to review all elements of science and management related to trapping.

  • There is a virtual absence of sportsmanship, fair chase and compassion in lethal trapping.
  • The overall presumption of trapping as “wildlife management” is rarely cost effective.
  • Lethal trapping as it exists today demonstrates little or no benefit to the functional value of a healthy ecosystem.
  • We don’t have reliable population counts of many of our state’s furbearers, but we allow unlimited quotas. Where’s the science?
  • Innumerable and unacceptable deaths and severe injuries occur to nontarget species, and even animals released alive often die from their injuries.
  • Our wildlife is a public treasure owned by all citizens and taxpayers. Trapping rarely serves any citizen other than the one setting the trap.
  • Our public lands should remain safe havens for all. All people, pets and wildlife should be assured safety, which means vast trap-free areas for all.
  • Trapping for fun, trophy, fur and feeding one’s ego is no longer deemed acceptable by our general population.
  • The pure cruelty of trapping causes injuries, exposure, dehydration and immense suffering. It is culturally and compassionately unworthy of us.
  • The general public is woefully uninformed about the brutal, archaic and poorly managed trapping taking place in our state.

Wyoming wildlife, large and small, need our voice. If you would like to comment on the future of our a wild Wyoming, and for trapping reform, I encourage all to comment at WildlifeForum.org/wildlife.

Bruce S. Thompson

Dubois

 

Wyoming Untrapped (February 7, 2018)

February 7, 2018 – Jackson Hole News & Guide

Wanted: Wildlife Watchers

No one needs to tell us that nongame species have long suffered as low priority in Wyoming’s wildlife management. However, our Wyoming Game and Fish Department is now providing an unprecedented opportunity to contribute public input to drive the future of Wyoming’s wildlife. This opportunity follows a Game and Fish programmatic evaluation by the Wildlife Management Institute as requested by the state of Wyoming to review 12 selected programs within Game and Fish. The result of this directive will be substantial new research to understand attitudes toward agency priorities and management issues of concern by the public, including all Wyoming residents. This process will guide Game and Fish in developing a new agency wide strategic plan.

Are we concerned? Of course.
Do we feel skeptical? Maybe.
Do we believe in the power of numbers? Better still.

Rarely does this invitation to speak out come along. Now it is up to the unheard and underrepresented public — you — to speak your mind, loud and strong, on behalf of the furbearing speechless. Only by triggering that notorious power of numbers will we succeed.

The actions outlined here comprise what might well be the most substantive path we can take to mobilize on behalf of Wyoming citizens. Game and Fish has launched its feedback initiative, “Forging the Future of Wyoming Wildlife,” for you to provide input in three ways: an online “Wildlife Forum,” “Stay Up to Date” email updates and 10 statewide public meetings.

Game and Fish manages both hunting and trapping, but it is the latter that has become most susceptible to the shifting tide of 21st-century wildlife management philosophy and public intolerance. Focus the energy of your words on trapping reform and wildlife watching, for the critical need to value and protect wildlife as vital contributors to the health of our public landscapes and for the intrinsic character and worth of all furbearing animals.

The Jackson public meeting is 4-7 p.m. Saturday in the Cook Auditorium at the National Museum of Wildlife Art.

Please comment. Show up. Stay informed.
The future of Wyoming wildlife is up to you!

L. Robertson
Wyoming Untrapped
Jackson, WY

Wyoming Untrapped (May 24, 2017)

May 2017 – Jackson Hole News & Guide

Manage Wolves for All

With wolves listed as a predatory species for a majority of the year during the spring, summer and autumn months just south and west of town, there will be many more dogs caught by traps as people get outside to engage in recreational activities.

We are encouraging citizens to keep their pets on a leash or very close by when recreating on public lands south and west of town. Wolf traps are larger than traps set for other species and will easily catch and injure or kill pets. The archaic trapping regulations in Wyoming allow trappers to place an unlimited number of traps of any size on public lands. Traps do not have to be set off of trails. Snares do not have to be checked for up to 13 days. The laws and regulations favor the very few individual trappers and give no protections to the hundreds of thousands of pet owners in this state. If your dog is caught or injured, the trapper holds no legal responsibility whatsoever.

Numerous studies have been published that indicate nonlethal measures are more effective at reducing livestock losses from predators than lethal measures. We eradicated wolves from this state once; it can easily happen again. The current management plan does not include any provisions for educating livestock producers on nonlethal techniques or prevention of depredation. It focuses only on how many wolves can be killed and where. Wyoming is once again “managing” our wolves and other predators to minimum numbers. One hundred wolves do not constitute a healthy population.

With tourism the No. 2 industry in the state, why aren’t we managing our wildlife to reflect current nationwide cultural values? Millions of tourists are visiting Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks every year, bringing much-needed income to the state. Will visitors return when the wolves they used to see every year are gone? How will the residents of this state who love wildlife feel when they can no longer catch a glimpse of a wolf on our public lands? A wolf license costs $19 while that same wolf alive can bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars that benefits the whole community. All people should have access to shared resources that are held in trust for the public.

There is also a significant volume of mounting evidence that shows predator populations are self-regulating. Wolves do not need to be hunted. Perhaps the most disgusting thing is that wolves will now be afforded no protection in a majority of the state, not even from animal cruelty laws. Are you aware that there are contests to see who can kill the most predators that are held statewide every year? Wolves will be killed as a part of this repulsive and completely unnecessary, outdated practice. They will be shot on sight, run over with snowmobiles (which currently happens to coyotes — just search for it on YouTube), beaten to death, poisoned by M-44 cyanide bombs, left to suffer in traps for up to three days, chased down and shot from aircraft and generally treated lower than dirt. This is unacceptable treatment of any animal, but especially so for an iconic keystone species like the wolf.

We are in the geologic era known as the Anthropocene in which species are going extinct at an alarming rate, much faster than ever before. Large mammals will be the first to go. And we are allowing some of the most vulnerable to purposely be killed? When are we going to move our wildlife management into the modern century? When are we going to listen to science and evidence instead of relying on anachronistic attitudes based on fear and ignorance?

Almost 70 years after Aldo Leopold wrote and taught about the importance of our moral responsibility to the natural world, it’s incredible we are still discussing the wanton killing of predators. The focus of wolf management has to change to co-existence if we are to leave a lasting legacy of complete, diverse ecosystems behind to our children.

Kristin Combs
Program Director
Wyoming Untrapped
Jackson, WY

Wyoming Untrapped (April 7, 2016)

April  2016 – From Pinedale Roundup

Put an End to Senseless Killings

Wyoming Untrapped (WU), a wildlife advocacy group in the state, learned about an annual hunting contest in Sublette County that has been kept mostly under wraps until local citizens wrote letters to the editor and contacted WU. The coyote-killing contest consists of killing as many coyotes as possible for fun and prize money, and was partially funded and supported by the Sublette County Predator Management Board.

These senseless predator killing contests, which occur across the state, are often called coyote-calling contests, varmint hunts or predator hunts. We believe these events are not hunting; they are a blood sport.

Our WU mission is dedicated to creating a safe and humane environment for our people, pets and wildlife, and to promote an overall ethic of compassionate conservation for wildlife and other natural resources. Our highest priority is to address our state’s archaic and indiscriminate trapping regulations as well as wildlife management, which allows the cruel and inhumane senseless killing of wildlife in the form of predator-killing contests for money and prizes, such as the “mangiest mutt” award or the “biggest dog” award. These “management tools” are not based on a sound science foundation, and are in urgent need of reform.

WU is fighting for freedom in wildness each and every day. Although there is a deep-rooted resistance to change in Wyoming and our challenges are steep, we have made significant progress. For the first time in our state’s history, WU has brought the reality of our trapping and wildlife management to the forefront of the public eye and ignited the dialog surrounding the need to bring trapping reform and wildlife management into the 21st century. Change is coming to Wyoming.

To voice your opinion to end these predator-killing contests, contact your county commissioners or the local predator control board.

To report trapping incidents or predator killing contests, please call Wyoming Untrapped at 307-201-2422 or email info@wyominguntrapped.org.

L. Robertson
Wyoming Untrapped

http://www.pinedaleroundup.com/v2_news_articles.php?heading=0&story_id=4545&page=76

Dr. Mark Elbroch (February 10, 2016)

February 2016

WYOMING’S LIONS ESCAPE TRAPPING

O PI NI O N
Wyoming’s lions escape trapping plan

I
n January a bill was introduced in the Wyoming Legislature that, if it had passed, would have allowed any person with a valid hunting license to kill a mountain lion using a trap or snare. As a Wyoming resident and biologist, I’m thrilled to tell you that our Legislature voted yesterday in favor of science and to protect the balance of nature on which our state so deeply depends.

HB12 failed to pass the House on Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2016, at 2:23 p.m. This bill was not based on valid research, and the potential negative consequences for mountain lions, other wildlife, Wyoming citizens and the Wyoming Game and Fish Department would have been far-reaching.

Ostensibly, this bill was introduced to provide “additional tools” to reverse recent mule deer population declines, a valuable game species for Wyoming residents. In reality, the connection between mountain lions and mule deer population declines is tenuous at best. The Wyoming Game and Fish Department has said that mule deer declines are largely the result of other factors, including habitat loss and disruption to migration corridors. It is also well accepted among wildlife biologists that deer dynamics are driven primarily by weather patterns and resulting forage availability, not predators. In fact, a recent intensive, long-term study from the Idaho Department of Fish and Game emphasized that removing mountain lions and coyotes did not provide any long-term benefit to deer populations. The researchers reported: “In conclusion, benefits of predator removal appear to be marginal and short term in southeastern Idaho and likely will not appreciably change long-term dynamics of mule deer populations in the intermountain west.”

Like mule deer, mountain lions are also experiencing signifi cant population declines in some areas. Research conducted by Panthera’s Teton Cougar Project in Teton County, Wyoming, shows that lion numbers north of Jackson have declined by half in eight years. Mountain lions in Wyoming are hunted with all legal firearms, archery equipment and trailing hounds, and these methods have proven effective in reducing mountain lion populations across the West. Introducing trapping — an imprecise method of hunting — could have crippled mountain lion populations further, as well as rapidly and unexpectedly influenced other wildlife populations.

The nature of trapping is indiscriminate. Trapping consists of snares and leghold traps, including steel jaws, which often cause serious injury to animals — breaking legs, ripping skin or completely severing limbs, via the trap or through self-mutilation. Traps deliver painful, slow deaths to wildlife and domestic animals unlucky enough to be caught. In Wyoming it is currently illegal to kill a female mountain lion with kittens or the kittens themselves. However, a trapper cannot dictate what animal is caught, resulting in the potential maiming or killing of female mountain lions, their kittens or federally listed wolves, wolverines, Canada lynx or grizzly bears. Traps may also injure people should they stumble into one. Importantly, voting down HB12 maintained protection for the reproductive capital of our mountain lion populations: female mountain lions with kittens and the kittens themselves. Trapping is not only imprecise in its implementation, it is also nearly impossible to track and monitor. This bill would have completely undermined mountain lion management currently conducted by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, introducing chaos to a tracking system that may not be ideal but works. When Wyoming’s House and Senate representatives introduce legislation that threatens their own Wyoming Game and Fish Department’s ability to protect our state’s immense and singular biodiversity, something is clearly wrong.

But Rep. Sam Krone eloquently opposed the bill for sportsmen against indiscriminate trapping, followed by Rep. Charles Pelkey, who emphasized the potential consequences of increased trapping on domestic animals and people. In the end the bill did not gain the required two-thirds majority to move forward.

Every year visitors flock to Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks, investing millions of dollars in Wyoming communities in the hope of glimpsing charismatic apex predators like the mountain lion. In voting down HB12, Wyoming voted for sustainable, scientific decision-making for our state and every creature with which we share this precarious and wonderful balance that we call home. In voting against mountain lion trapping, Wyoming chose evidence-based science over old mythology perpetuating fear and persecution of this amazing animal. It made me proud to live in Wyoming.

Yet the possibility remains that this bill will be reintroduced to the Senate this week. To ensure Wyoming’s mountain lion trapping legislation stops in its tracks, continue to contact members of the Wyoming legislature this week.

If the bill is halted, New Mexico and Texas will be the only states in our country to allow the trapping of mountain lions. Dr. Mark Elbroch is lead scientist of Panthera’s Puma Program.

GUEST SHOT

Dr. Mark Elbroch

http://jhnewsandguide.wy.newsmemory.com/publink.php?shareid=1238ecf30

Wyoming Untrapped (August 12, 2015)

August 12, 2015

RUN WILD, FREE, AND UNTRAPPED

Dear Editor,

The recent ad for the Old Bill’s Fun Run, showing two cute little fox kits, is one of the most powerful we have seen.  We are reminded how proud we are to live in a community that gives with such tremendous passion and generosity for its people and its extraordinary wildlife.

We adore our foxes!  Unfortunately, many people in Teton County and throughout the state do not know that these little red foxes are designated “predatory animals” in Wyoming.  This means that every single day of the year, in unlimited numbers, they can be shot-on-sight or trapped in legholds for 72 hours, or up to 13 days in snares and conibears, with no concern for the suffering or pain, fear, thirst and hunger, but only for their fur or for fun.  Yes, this is how Wyoming treats our wildlife due to antiquated trapping regulations that need reform.

Wyoming Untrapped, dedicated to create a safe and humane environment for people, pets and wildlife, is working to change these archaic rules through education and trapping regulation reform.  Public awareness is already making a difference, one person at a time.

My family is grateful for the opportunity to support Old Bill’s Fun Run, our community non-profits, and the wildlife that live in our remaining wild areas.  Please help support Wyoming Untrapped and other wildlife-oriented non-profits through Old Bill’s, ensuring that you will have a direct positive impact on wildlife conservation.

Run wild, free and UNtrapped at Old Bill’s Fun Run everyone!

Peter Moyer (August 5, 2015)

From  Jackson Hole News and Guide, August 5, 2015

Cecil the Lion

Well-deserved global outrage has resulted from the recent killing of “Cecil the Lion” in Zimbabwe by a Minnesota dentist, for his $50,000 fee.  The lion was lured outside the safety of a national park, using bait.  He was then wounded by the dentist with an arrow (at night, spot lighted), tracked, shot and killed by the dentist 40 hours later.  The lion was skinned for the trophy room, with the carcass discarded.

All for money and ego, not need.

There are definite parallels to the modern day wild animal fur trade.  There is no real “need” nowadays:  fleece, Gore-Tex and other modern day materials are warmer, lighter, cheaper and abundant.  Pine martens, bobcats, foxes, otters, beavers, etc. are not esteemed as table fare. Faux fur is decorative enough.  There is no significant benefit to our economy–unlike hunting and fishing–and many of our wild animal furs are shipped to Russia and Communist China.

And trapping is brutal, whether for recreation or for profit.  How many of us humans would like to suffocate in a snare, or try to chew off a trapped limb?!

The Cecil the Lion incident revealed the great depth of compassion for wildlife felt by many of us humans, on a global scale. When the public is aware, people care.

Trapping results in the brutal treatment of our treasured and diminishing wildlife resources. In the American West trapping often occurs on forested and riparian lands owned by the people of the United States.  We are responsible, and we can do better.

Peter F. Moyer

Wyoming Untrapped (July 15, 2015)

From  Jackson Hole News and Guide, July 15, 2015

CONTACT THE COMMISSIONERS

The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission on Friday rejected the efforts to address the adverse effects of trapping on the safety of people, pets and wildlife in Teton County by such means as trail setbacks, signage and the closure of a single heavily traveled trail on the outskirts of Jackson, Cache Creek.

The changes to Chapter 4 Trapping Regulations proposed by WGFD were supported by Wyoming Untrapped (WU), the Teton County Commission, Bridger Teton National Forest, and many Jackson residents for whom Representative Ruth Ann Petroff spoke.  An additional 5700 positive public comments were submitted, including 600 from Wyoming residents.  They were overwhelmingly in favor of the new regulations for Teton County.

Commissioner Little, when making the motion to remove the closure of Cache Creek from the draft commented that she believed agreeing to WU’s proposal was the beginning of the slippery slope intended to disenfranchise the rights and heritage of Wyoming’s trappers. Efforts by conservation and advocacy organizations do not pre-empt the slippery slope. Sustainable funding is the main threat to game agencies and hunters today.  Even Governor Mead has acknowledged that a solution to long-term funding must be found. The slippery slope is the reduction occurring among the hunting and trapping community due to cultural change. Finding a way to accommodate ALL users whether hunting or non-hunting will be the answer to collaborative management and sustainability.

Even though WU was hugely successful in bringing extensive support to the table and also offered to take financial responsibility for trail use data collection, signage and trap-release education, the Commission decided that the ‘need’ for reform had not been established. However, numerical substantiation of damage and injury to non-target animals, including dogs, is impossible to establish because of the very limited requirement to report.

“We understand that change happens slowly in Wyoming.  Trapping reform is a reasonable expectation by the public, especially when traditional practices and social use of trails coincide.  It just makes sense.  WU is the first organization in the state’s history that has addressed trapping reform, and we have raised public awareness at a fast pace.  However, our governing Game and Fish Commission is not ready to address the need to modernize our current archaic trapping regulations.  Continued awareness and collaboration will eventually change that.  Our modern public demands it.  And it’s the time in history for change.”

Please let your Commissioners know that you also support trapping reform.

Wyoming Untrapped

Jake Nichols - Planet JH (May 27, 2015)

From  PlanetJH.com

THE MENACE OF MODERN DAY TRAPPERS

It’s hard to believe the practice of trapping is making a resurgence in Teton County solely on economic realities.  Fur prices skyrocketed during the recession, though they’ve tailed off recently.  Eye-popping price-per-pelt figures have spurred many a Davy Crocket-wannabe to invest in a half-dozen 330 conibears and head for the hills.

In Wyoming’s more rural counties, where 4H is more popular than junior cotillion classes, trapping could understandably provide a means to put dinner on the table one cape at a time.  But in ritzy Teton County, where any derelict can walk into a restaurant for breakfast and be the sous chef by that evening’s dinner, there are easier ways to skin a cat making a buck.

That leads me to the neo-woodsman movement as the primary factor driving the uptick in trapping activity in Teton County.  One scan of Facebook and it’s easy to find several tree-hugging hipsters who’ve suddenly discovered their inner-man(woman) by growing vegetable in the backyard and hunting their own protein.  An extension of the Paleo Peacenik crusade probably involves Silicon Valley warriors who’ve traded in their iPhones for Bowie knives.

Wyoming Untrapped has been working feverishly to get trapping banned in the Cache Creek drainage and other popular recreation areas where rusty jaws are more likely to clamp down on a Golden Retriever than a read fox.  Lisa Robertson launched WU after incidents in Red Top Meadows and elsewhere highlighted the dangers of traps placed too close to dog walking trails.

Running a trap line close to the trail in Cache Creek is just plain lazy.  Real mountain men hump it to get to their traps and they check them responsibly.  Too many trendy trappers are looking for the path of no resistance.  Robertson is right.  No trapping should be allowed anywhere near trails in popular areas like Cache Creek. This is not the 1800s.

And WU and its ilk shouldn’t stop there.  State trapping laws are updated every three years.  This summer marks Game & Fish discussions about possible revisions (July 8-10 in Cody).  One thing that desperately needs to change is how often traps need to be checked.  In Wyoming, an animal can spend three days in a leg-hold trap waiting for a mercy killing.  Other type traps and snares require 13 days between required checks.  That’s simply too long to allow an animal to suffer.

Jake Nichols

Wyoming Untrapped (May 25, 2015)

From Jackson Hole News and Guide, May 25,2015

UNTRAP SUPPORT

To the editor:

Wyoming Untrapped (WU) is reaching out to the public with an URGENT request.  As you may be aware, furbearer and predator trapping on public lands have uniquely impacted Teton County.  Five dogs belonging to area residents have been injured in legholds, snares, and conibear traps on US Forest Service lands in recent years.  At present, regulations allow for traps to be set directly on hiking trails.  No reporting of such incidents is required. Neither of those who engage in trapping activities nor the agencies that regulate them are required to report such incidents, so the problem is surely much larger than five dogs — indeed, we recently learned of two more previously unreported incidents.  WU was founded in response to these incidents and we are making strides toward safer public lands for both residents and visitors alike.  Now, we need our community’s help.

WU is not an organization focused on banning trapping.  Instead, we advocate for ways to improve trapping regulations to mitigate the impacts that the practice has on other people, their pets, and their shared public lands.  At present, we are advocating for the WGFD and the WGF Commission to implement trapping regulations that would prohibit furbearer traps from being set in the Cache Creek drainage in the Bridger-Teton National Forest and on Snow King Mountain, and would prohibit furbearer traps from being set within 300 feet of some of our community’s busiest trails.  Interests from elsewhere in the state are pushing back against regulations that would affect Teton County, so it is imperative that the local community voice its support for this small, reasonable change that could mitigate some of the unnecessary risk currently imposed on anyone who ventures out onto our public lands with their pet.

Specifically, we ask that you:

  • Submit written public comment to the WGFD and WGF Commission supporting furbearer-trapping setbacks in Teton County and a closure of the Cache Creek drainage and Snow King Mountain to furbearer trapping.  The public comment period closes May 29 at 5 p.m.  To see the list of trails recommended for setbacks, and to take-action: www.wyominguntrapped.org/take-action/.
  • Please attend WGFD’s public meeting Thursday, May 28, Antler Inn, 6 p.m., to represent our community interests.

    We hope that you will help us in representing Teton County and the public’s reasonable expectation for safety on our public lands, and our vested interest in trapping regulation reform.

Bert Fortner (May 13, 2015)

From Jackson Hole News and Guide, May13,2015

The public lands in Wyoming are fantastic. We have BLM land, school sections and national forest all for the public to use freely for just about any outdoor activity you can imagine. But are they safe?

There is one activity on public lands that jeopardizes the safety of public use for most of us: trapping. I absolutely am not against trapping, and predator control in Wyoming is a necessity. But on public lands there should not be traps that endanger the rest of us who enjoy using them. There are deadly snares and severe steel traps set everywhere and even right along paths and roadways. If you are out hiking, camping or doing whatever activity you enjoy and have your pets and small children with you, beware! There have been many cases of pets maimed or killed by these traps.

There is an alternative for the trappers, so they still have rights on the public lands: live traps. You can be very successful using live traps, and if the wrong animal (like your pet) gets caught it can be turned loose with no harm done.

There are thousands of acres of private land to trap on with snares and steel traps, and landowners will jump at the chance to have someone help with predator control. So let’s make it safe for everyone to use public lands.

After all, they are called “public lands” not “trapper lands.” To look at your rights and voice your opinion, go to the website WyomingUntrapped.org and go to “Take Action.”

Bert Fortner, Gillette

Samantha Rowe (May 11, 2015)

From Cody Enterprise, May 11, 2015

Public lands are for the benefit for everyone: outdoor enthusiasts, horseback riders, hikers, hunters/trappers and fishermen, parents and children taking adventures and anyone else.

However, when one has to avoid public land, because their dog may be caught and killed by a deadly snare, then it infringes on the rightful use of others.

At this time the Wyoming law allows all types of trapping on all public lands. This includes deadly snares and powerful steel traps. There have been several incidences of pets being caught in these devices.

I have taken my dog to the vet after freeing it from a trap. If a pet or small child gets caught in a snare it could kill them.

I am not against trapping; it is the trapper’s right. But on public lands I feel they should have to use live traps. If your pet gets caught in it, it will not be harmed, and there are no dangers to children. They are still getting to trap effectively without a risk to anyone or anything else.

Colorado’s laws specify live traps on public land and it works.

(s) Samantha Lowe

Gillette

Peter Moyer (January 9, 2015)

There are many locals and visitors who treasure Wyoming’s great wildlife species on our extensive public lands: pine martens, beavers, ermine, badgers, otters, bobcats, mink, red squirrels, etc.

By contrast, there are not many people who need to trap and kill these esteemed wildlife resources outside of carefully defined areas. Nor is there a significant benefit to our economy–trapping produces very little local revenue, visitor income, retail trade, outfitting work, licensing income, table fare, or conservation support. Unlike hunting and fishing activities, which are and should be widely supported throughout Wyoming.

Very broad trapping setbacks from hiking areas, and other area trapping restrictions on our public lands, simply make sense. It is not just concern for dogs and other “non-target species” killed or maimed in traps, where trapping is far more indiscriminate than hunting aimed at specific target species.

Absent broad setbacks and area restrictions, wildlife resources should not be compromised in our magnificent public surroundings just so a very limited group of people can trap and kill. It is nice to have the critters around, and nice to have ecological balance. It is public land, where there should be fair and proper management balance considering the nature and relative importance of different uses.

/s/

Peter F. Moyer

Wyoming Untrapped (December 31, 2014)

TRAPPING REFORM – Jackson Hole News and Guide

Imagine you and a friend are out on a bluebird winter day, walking your dog on a Forest Service trail near Jackson. Your well-behaved dog is wandering along the trail, wagging her tail as she follows each scent she finds. You get caught up in your conversation and your attention wavers from your dog for just a few moments. Suddenly, your dog yelps from just a few feet off the trail — she’s been caught in a trap. If you’re lucky, it is a leg-hold trap that your dog will suffer from, but hopefully survive. If you’re unlucky, your dog’s neck has just been snapped by a quick-kill conibear or slowly squeezed by a snare. Either way, the trap was completely legal and the person who set it is not liable in any way.

Gruesome? Yes. Possible? Absolutely. A scenario not unlike the above became reality for one family in Casper only weeks ago. It has happened here, too, and could happen again at any time. Should this be the reality of recreating in Jackson Hole?

As compassionate people we don’t want to imagine a dog being trapped, don’t want to think about trapping and don’t want to see images of trapped pets and wildlife — but as community, we must not look away. Trapping regulations are antiquated, and the trapping status quo endures because it remains off the radar of nonconsumptive public land and wildlife users.

Trapping season is in full swing, and traps of all varieties can be found almost anywhere on public land — even on your favorite hiking trails. Thousands of furbearing animals including bobcats, American martens, weasels and many others are trapped without limit. Nontarget species regularly caught in traps include not only pets but also threatened species like Canada lynx. Dog owners, hikers, wildlife watchers, photographers and the rest of the nontrapping public deserve a reasonable expectation of safety while recreating on public lands and deserve to be considered in wildlife management decisions.

We need to put trapping reform on the radar. Wyoming Untrapped is working on establishing trapping setbacks along trails in Teton County through its “Traps and Trails Campaign.” Setbacks are a step forward, and you can help affect change — visit WyomingUntrapped. org for information on taking action. It is time for this community to take a hard look at trapping reform.

Katy Canetta – Program Director Wyoming Untrapped

Peter Moyer (August 25, 2014)

From Peter Moyer, August 25, 2014

Our wildlife cannot vote or mount campaigns or write checks, so they really need great and dedicated people like you!! The historical perspective is interesting. Furs used to be necessary for warmth in Northern climes. Beaver hides and other furs like ermine were decorative, but few looked at ecology or animal cruelty back in those days. Trappers were iconic and admired, and still are from our distant modern perspective. Even though there is no real need for warmth or decorative pelts from wild animals any more.

The cruelty to trapped animals is barbaric in modern times. Absolutely barbaric. The value of those animals in wild ecosystems is very, very important. Many of our most productive riparian wetlands–for so many critters and many humans as well–have been created by beavers. Predators trapped cruelly for their furs play a very important role as checks and balances in many ecosystems. And the “Collateral Damage” of trapping is very bad, such as wolverines.

Anyway, sorry to be so windy but it is a great cause, more power to you! Some people are mostly concerned with dogs, but it goes way beyond that.

K Brown (July 26, 2014)

Shared by Cdapress.com.

K. BROWN/Guest opinion 

I am a responsible Idaho hound hunter and I have great concerns about trapping in the state of Idaho. I believe that it is time to address the elephant in the room and I feel that we need to make some major adjustments to trapping before it is too late for both trappers and hound hunters.

Here are the facts:

* Trapping and dog hunting do not mix.

I purchase my hound tag every year just like the trapper does, but I cannot hunt year round for fear of having another dog lost to a snare. I, myself, have even been caught in a snare just looking for my dogs. This is how out of control trapping has become.

* No regulated limits to the number of snares, leg hold traps and conibear traps on the ground. Collateral damage to wildlife.

A typical snare runs around $2.25 per snare. Most trappers put out so many snares that they have to put ribbons on bushes to find them again. Every day, a variety of wildlife falls victim to the trapper’s collateral damage list. When I buy a deer tag, I fill that tag only once and I know that it is against the law to bag another deer. The trapper has a free pass to kill or maim unlimited amounts of deer, cougar, bobcats, elk, moose, rabbits, etc. as needed to obtain his target. These are only considered “untargeted incidentals” and remain very legal.

* Domestic dog owners.

Hundreds of people recreate with dogs in the state of Idaho. Most trappers trap where it is easy to get to their traps – along highways, roads or trails. This always puts domestic dogs at risk when one is recreating, walking or just letting the dog out to relieve himself.

Hundreds of dogs are killed every year that belong to domestic dog owners. We are all being held hostage by this loosely regulated sport that has absolutely no oversight or consequences for breaking what few laws they may or may not follow.

* No limits on number of animals caught except otter and beaver

The bobcats have suffered terribly due to a five-month trapping season that makes it legal to trap virtually everything when in fact the bobcat season is only two months long – another pass for the trapper. Now with wolf trapping, bears are being caught in November before they can even go into hibernation. Trapping to this degree is affecting everything.

* New residents and so called “bunny huggers” dominating Idaho

There are 1.6 million people in Idaho with only approximately 2,000 trapping licenses issued. How long do you think it will take for people to realize that they can not safely recreate with dogs because of trapping? How long will they tolerate the inhumane treatment of animals and suffering that all victims of the snare or trap must endure?

This is slowly turning into a state that is leaning toward ethics. Numbers have always taken precedence over history and heritage. I worry that the dog hunting will go out the door along with the trapping if we don’t find some balance for everyone.

* Trap damage

Bone damage, tissue damage, blood vessel damage, skin and nerve damage or in most all cases … death. Even if one of my dogs survived, it would never be able to hunt again.

My recommendations:

* Outlaw conibear traps set on dry land.

These traps kill instantly and have no business being set where humans interact with wildlife and nature. In most states, they can only be used under water. The average person can not even release a pet much less themselves without special hardware for one of these monsters.

* Outlaw snares.

Snares are unforgiving to all animals. They are not only cheap to buy, but are 100 percent effective and can be set over an unfathomable amount of area – catching almost anything that is moving, either in or out of season. Because of the unfair and indiscriminating amount of collateral death caused to wildlife while trying to catch targeted animals, they should never be legal due to this factor alone.

* Limit the amount of traps a person can set.

Change the 72-hour torture check to 24 hours every day. This would make a trapper think twice about laying out 80 to 100 traps and just letting them ride till the weekend (which is what most of them do because they work). Legally, he would have to think about the time involved in checking traps within a 24-hour time frame. Because there is no oversight, most of them get away with this anyway, but at least it would be illegal.

* Limit the number of animals to be caught.

This sport has turned into a killing free-for-all. There are limits on everything else we value with hunting. Why not for the trapper?

* Require trapper liability insurance.

The people who illegally snared and killed my $5,000 young hound didn’t appear to have any remorse. After the incident, it was business as usual with just a slap on the wrist. I was the one who suffered the emotional and financial loss from their negligence, but they were well within most of the trapping laws.

There has to be some accountability to protect the average person who recreates in our woods and wetlands. They should be able to freely use these public lands without fear of losing their dogs. The rules can’t always be overwhelmingly in favor of the trapper or it will come to an end. Trappers would be more mindful of where they trap if they were required to have trappers insurance.

* Raise the license fees to trap.

If Fish and Game can not afford to patrol and control trappers, maybe they should consider raising the fees to put some balance out there for the rest of us when it comes to recreating together. This would cut down unnecessary kills and keep the till full.

* Require only “live” traps.

This would really solve the problem. There could then be some control as to what should or shouldn’t be taken. I know this would be a hard pill for the trapper to swallow, but we need to find a way to level the playing field for the common man. Other states do this with much success and everyone is happy, not to mention this leaves a larger abundance of wildlife for others to pursue such as myself. Needless killing of fur bearers is never a good idea for wildlife populations or for anyone.

In Conclusion:

My thoughts are not new with regard to trapping in Idaho. I have watched what I dearly enjoy doing go down the drain in the St. Joe country. Trappers gobble up what little bit of country is left that supports the lion or bobcat populations. There is no such thing as working side by side with snares and conibear traps when you do what I do. The trapper has had it pretty good doing whatever he has wanted to do on our public lands for decades, but this isn’t going to last – not with the new mindset of the people who are moving into this state. People love their dogs and they are concerned about animal suffering, but there are still solutions that could happen to make everyone happy.

Earlier this year, a mother, her 12-year-old son and their large dog were looking for antler sheds near Kellogg. The dog was trapped and died in an unmarked conibear trap that neither of them could open. There was nothing the boy could do but watch his dog die. Turned out this trapper was found when he returned for the trap, but he only received a slap on the wrist for not marking the trap. He went on to use the conibear trap up Cougar Gulch near Cd’A where he also trapped and killed two more domestic dogs. Fish and Game could do absolutely nothing about these incidents because he was well within the law. This is nothing short of insufferable.

How long will it be before a 12-year-old boy loses his foot in one of these monster traps? How many more domestic dogs will be victim to a snare, leaving their grieving owners wondering about what their rights are on public lands? This has to change or the power of the people will bring it to an end – and I am afraid they will take down dog hunting while they are at it.

We have to make laws so everyone can enjoy these lands together. There needs to be compromise on everyone’s part. No one sport should be able to dominate and hold everyone else hostage while they willy nilly do whatever they want without facing consequences. We need some drastic steps and changes made with regard to trapping – and we need it done soon.

K. Brown is a resident of Plummer.

Jean Molde (July 18, 2014)

From the Reno Gazette-Journal

In the July 14 Reno Gazette-Journal, we learn that a young man accused of cruel acts on domestic dogs has been arrested and faces felony charges. We applaud. Yet, on the same front page of the paper, we are told that the Nevada Department of Wildlife commissioners are having difficulty making a decision regarding making a change in the regulation requiring how frequently a trapper must visit his/her traps. Is it somehow less cruel than the aforementioned crime the young man is accused of to cause an animal to languish in a trap for up to four days, in pain, frightened, thirsty and hungry, just because the activity is not in the public eye and the animal is wild?

Jean Molde, Reno

TrailSafe Nevada (July 15, 2014)

A post by TrailSafe Nevada

Mr. Les Smith (“Hunters, trappers key to management” – July 6 Letter to the Editor LVRJ – also July 9 Nevada Appeal) posits “people [who] would love to make wildlife management an environmental issue.” How is wildlife management not an environmental issue? He follows this statement with: “ If it becomes one, hunting and trapping will be gone, and so will the funding that comes with them.” This is the slippery slope mantra aired by sportsmen at Wildlife Commission meetings whenever trapping regulation is discussed. The sportsmen passionately defend trapping. They believe that if trapping is curtailed, even minimally, somehow hunting and then gun ownership will be next. They refer to a “secret agenda” we animal activists ourselves are unaware of. In reaction to this exaggerated fear, we see bills attempting to secure hunting and trapping “rights” for eternity – even attempting constitutional amendments. One activity – hunting – is well regulated in the interest of wildlife management. Hunters take mandatory education; buy tags; observe seasons and a host of regulations. Trapping is something else altogether. There are no bag limits; no limits upon number of traps set; no limits upon the agony a trapped animal suffers. If the people Mr. Smith defines as such a threat have not already brought the hunting and trapping communities to their knees, when and how will they do so? Is he saying a few grassroots animal activists can match the money and influence of the larger hunting groups? Trappers join coalitions with these hunting groups and enjoy great advantages thereby. These coalitions control wildlife policy in our state. Most animal advocates make a clear distinction between hunting and trapping. To object to the excesses of one is not a threat to the other.

Mauricio Handler (November 25, 2015)

November 2015

NO STUFFED WILDLIFE

Stuffed dead wildlife for sale decorate tourist and souvenir stores in downtown Jackson.

After a week at the Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival trying to figure out, together with 800 delegates from around the world, how we can be a voice for conservation and wildlife proliferation in a time of unprecedented animal extinction, I am revolted at the reality of the local mentality and the message it sends to all Jackson visitors from around the world, including China and other Asian countries.

How can we expect them to conserve, protect and cultivate a culture of wildlife welfare when we give them this front row seat to a horror show? As I said, all animals are for sale. Is this an oxymoron? Let’s wake up. Do not support businesses like these and make your voices heard. We are not above nature; we are part of it.

Taxidermy from the 20th century I understand — it was a different time. But to bring this to the forefront of today’s world and to have all for sale? Something is not right with this picture.

Many species are disappearing from the Wyoming landscape because trapping and furring are legal here.

We are talking dozens of animals in each store.

China is a huge problem for the endangered species of our planet. People there trade, consume and dissect anything and everything. But with Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks attracting waves of Chinese tourists, this issue in Jackson and other prohunting and pro-trapping locations in the U.S. is definitely is not helping the cause.

Make sure you watch “Racing Extinction” airing in 220-plus countries Dec. 2. This is the very best environmental film ever made. It is the beginning of a global movement. Let your voice be heard.

Wyoming Untrapped is single-handedly trying to address this issue in the area. Please join it and lend it your support when possible.

Mauricio Handler, filmmaker Durham, Maine

http://jhnewsandguide.wy.newsmemory.com/publink.php…

Leslie Patten (March 12, 2014)

Jackson Hole News and Guide, 3/12/14 Trapped In December

I spent a month exploring Anazasi ruins around Bluff, Utah. One morning I drove along an excellent dirt access road indicated in my guide book toward a popular hiking trail. Recent snows created muddy conditions, so I decided to walk the remaining few miles to the trailhead. I let my dog out, and we both walked on the road itself. My dog was about 15 feet ahead of me when he began yelping in pain. I rushed to his side and saw his foot was caught in a leghold trap meant for coyotes. The trap had been hidden under the dirt directly on the public road, ‘baited’ only with dog scat and scent — in other words, there was no indication to a human that a trap was there. Luckily, I was able to free my dog quickly, and he had no injuries. Although my experience took place in Utah, I live in Wyoming and know many people whose dogs have been caught in traps here. People recreating with children and dogs need to know that trapping is legal everywhere except in national parks. Coyotes can be trapped year round. Wolves can be trapped in 85 percent of Wyoming year round. Other wildlife such as bobcats have a long season in the winter months. It’s only a matter of time, as recreational use increases, before a child is trapped. Releasing a leghold trap is not intuitive. One has to practice before an incident occurs. Snares require a hiker to carry a good pair of wire cutters so your dog won’t choke to death. If you come across a conibear trap, then kiss your dog goodbye because you’ll never release him in time as it takes only seconds for the animal to die. Trapping is not only cruel and antiquated, but trappers are selling our wildlife overseas to China and Russia for coats. As fur prices escalate, more people are trapping, many of them inexperienced and unethical. Last year, trappers placed bobcat sets around the perimeter of Joshua Tree National Park in California, hoping for the $750 that a pelt can bring, robbing the American public visiting that park of the pleasure of seeing our native wildlife. Old, outdated laws and attitudes favor the trapper who pays a miniscule fee for his license. Nonconsumptive users of recreational lands are not only at risk but so is the tranquility of their outdoor experience. Leslie Patten Cody

Kirk Robinson (May 30, 2014)

Kirk Robinson wrote a beautiful essay about wildlife management.  Shared by Trap Free New Mexico.

I work for Western Wildlife Conservancy, a non-profit wildlife conservation organization that I founded several years ago in Salt Lake City. I am motivated by a concern for the future of the West, of our wildlands and wildlife, the health of our watersheds and a place where people (individuals and families, not the species) can flourish and stay in touch with wild nature. I want to know how we can best work together to ensure these things. This is particularly urgent given continued population growth, habitat fragmentation and degradation, and the reality of climate change – not to mention the majority of our Western politicians, who seem oblivious to these important matters.

One of my most cherished memories is working side by side with my grandfather on a ranch one summer when I was 16. We rode horses, rounded up calves, branded them, castrated them, and treated them for pink eye; I learned to drive a tractor and helped out with the irrigation and haying. There were no other kids on the ranch, so in the evenings I was left to myself for a couple of hours between dinner and bedtime. One evening after dinner I went out for a walk with my Winchester semi-automatic .22 rifle, on the lookout for something to shoot. In those days, it was a rite of passage for a boy to get a “varmint” rifle at about age 14.

While walking a path along the edge of an alfalfa field I saw a large bird with a whitish breast standing in the middle of the field about 100 yards away. A sitting duck, so to speak. Pointing my rifle in the direction of the bird and raising it slightly to allow for distance, I pulled the trigger. Instantly the bird fell over. Excitedly, I climbed over the fence and ran over to it. It was a beautiful barn owl, stone dead, its bright yellow eyes still open. I wondered what to do with it. Taxidermy wasn’t an option, but just leaving it seemed wasteful, so I plucked out a few of its feathers and proceeded to saw off its talons with a dull packet knife. After salvaging these trifles, I put my trophies in my shirt pocket and carried the dead bird over to the edge of the field and threw it into the sagebrush. Then I started walking back to the ranch house in the waning light, guided by the glow from a window a few hundred yards away. As I walked along, feeling some remorse for what I’d done, another owl, just like the one I’d killed, flew toward me and began to fly in circles just a few feet above my head. I thought it might attack me and I was scared, so I stopped. When I did, it lit on the nearest fence post, about six feet away, and stared straight at my face with its big yellow eyes. It was very spooky. I didn’t want to kill it too, so I tried shooting at the post below it instead, hoping to scare it off. But it wouldn’t leave. So I began walking again; and again the owl began circling my head on its silent wings. After a few seconds I stopped again and it stopped too, lighting on the nearest fence post and staring straight at my face. I shot at the post again. It didn’t move. This was repeated about a half dozen times, the owl following me nearly all the way back to the ranch house, each time looking me in the face with its big yellow eyes. I don’t know what became of my trophies, but the memory of that experience has stayed with me for 50 years. It was my Aldo Leopold moment.
The theme of this conference is “Integrating scientific findings into [cougar] management.” This is an interesting theme. It suggests that it isn’t obvious how scientific finds should be integrated into wildlife management. Why is this? When you think about it for just a moment, you see it is because science by itself doesn’t dictate wildlife management. Values play a role too.

Wildlife management programs involve values. There is no escaping it. Sometimes the values are of a purely practical nature, such as ways to simplify data collection or save money, or what not. Other times they involve killing animals and manipulating ecosystems to try to achieve some goal. The value judgments (or assumptions) reflected in the goal, and often in the methods for achieving it, are inexorably moral ones – even when the values at issue are not consciously entertained. They are institutionalized values.

This fact invites the question what values should prevail – what would be the morally best or right action in a given circumstance? Certainly it’s not always easy to know, but in practice the prevailing values tend to be the ones favored by the most politically influential interest groups, which are ranchers and hunters. Wildlife management agencies are largely captives of these interest groups. Consequently, wildlife management agencies are loath to forego the chance to provide hunting opportunities; and in general herbivores are favored over carnivores, with comparatively little concern for the welfare of animals or their roles in ecosystems.

In philosophy there is a grand distinction called the fact/value distinction. And there are fundamentally just two views about it. One view is that facts have nothing at all to do with values. The idea is that facts are objective and value neutral, while values are subjective – matters of arbitrary personal opinion. According to this view, different people have their own values, which might vary, and they project their values onto value neutral reality; whereas reality itself is value free.

Science tends to reinforce this view by teaching us to think of facts as objective, mind-independent states of affairs that make up the world, ideally susceptible of exhaustive description in terms of quantitative measures, such as mass and momentum, which can be represented in mathematical formulas. This idea is reinforced by the dominant economic paradigm which treats everything as a resource having only extrinsic value – a commodity to be used or treated however one chooses. This is reflected, for example, in the names of agencies, such as the “Utah Division of Wildlife Resources.”

The competing view about facts and values is that facts are not always value neutral, but are sometimes bearers of value, and that recognition of such value is important to making good moral choices. The term often used for this value is ‘intrinsic value’. It is value that things are believed to have independently of human valuing – a kind of value just as real as a physical object, but that isn’t captured by science and isn’t commensurable with economic value.

Wildlife management agencies, as public institutions, are largely beholden to political and money interests, so they often have to disregard questions of intrinsic value. Wildlife managers are often required to act as if facts are not bearers of value, even though some managers might take a different personal view, as I know many of them do. In that case, they must live with a certain amount of cognitive dissonance. Conservation activists, such as I and my colleagues, on the other hand, are not forced to ignore intrinsic values and so we tend to emphasize them in order to give them due recognition. And therefore, our views about how wildlife species ought to be managed, particularly predator species, tend to clash with official agency views.

Which view is correct? You are all familiar with Aldo Leopold’s account in Thinking like a Mountain, of an incident in his youth when he worked for the Forest Service. One day he shot an old she-wolf and arrived at her side just in time to see a “fierce green fire dying in her eyes.” 40 years later he formulated his famous “land ethic”: “A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise.” This famous passage is frequently quoted but rarely receives the kind of attention it deserves. Notice the words ‘right’, ‘wrong’, and ‘beauty’. These are value terms, whereas ‘integrity’ and ‘stability’ are scientific terms that apply to factual states of affairs. Leopold was certainly aware of this and deliberately meant to imply that facts can be bearers of value – value that he described as being of the “philosophic kind,” more commonly referred to as intrinsic value. He did not shy away from this conviction, which may have been planted in his mind decades earlier by the incident with the wolf.

Not everything is beautiful, but some things are. Not all beauty is merely “in the eye of the beholder.” And beauty can be more than “skin deep.” Wild animals are beautiful. Healthy ecosystems are beautiful. Wilderness is beautiful. People can be beautiful too. Beauty is a kind of intrinsic value and it deserves our respect. This was Leopold’s conviction; and it is my conviction too.

Wyoming Untrapped (Dec 12, 2013)

Jackson Hole News and Guide 12/4/2013 Reform trapping

On Nov. 22, two dogs were caught in snare and foothold traps while walking with their owner and caretaker along Fall Creek Road, a popular recreation area. The traps probably were aimed at fox or coyote, predators for which few trapping regulations apply in Wyoming. All too often, however, traps don’t discrimi­nate and other species often are caught. Sometimes they’re our pets. The Fall Creek incident was the second in little more than a year in that area. It was the fourth known incident in Jackson Hole during the same time period. Others undoubtedly have not been reported. Fortunately, these two dogs on Fall Creek were freed, but only after the owner and caretaker ran back to her vehicle and drove back to her house to retrieve bolt cutters. One dog was freed from the foothold trap after a ride to the veterinarian in Wilson.    In the Buffalo Valley last year a dog walking with its owner was caught in a foothold trap and required about $2,000 of veterinary care. Another dog was caught in a snare but uninjured the same day in the same place. These incidents raise the question of whether more popular recreation areas on public land should be off-limits to trapping. Trapping in Wyoming peaked in the mid-1880s, but persists today. The Wyoming Department of Game and Fish reported that approximately 1,800 permits to trap furbearing animals were issued in 2011. No permits are required to trap predators, such as coyote, fox and wolf. In 85 percent of the state, predator trapping is allowed at all times of the year. Trappers are not required to report trapping of “non-target” animals unless they’re seriously injured or killed, so no records are available to tell us how often it happens. Trappers also have no responsibility for any harm that may come to you or your dog if you happen to step into a trap. Trapping regulations today are at best antiquated. Trap check times are ridiculously long in some instances, resulting in days of suffering for trapped animals. For example, if placed on a Monday, body grip and conibear traps need not be checked for 13 days. What do you suppose would happen to your dog during that time? With the removal of the gray wolf from the federal Endangered Species List, anecdotal evidence suggests that trapping frequency and trap size have increased. And predator trappers are allowed to use any size and number of traps and place them almost anywhere on public lands. With the price of bobcat pelts rising, we can expect more trapping. It is time to take a hard look at the practice of trapping and how it’s regulated on our public lands. Roger Hayden Executive Director Wyoming Untrapped

Linnea Gardner (July 3, 2013)

Jackson Hole News and Guide   5/3/2013 Another Trap Incident

Beware everyone who recreates in the Munger Mountain/Fall Creek area.  On June 30th, in an effort to cool off, a friend, my dog and I went down to the large meadow, about 1.5 miles south of the bus turnaround on Fall Creek Road, to wade in the creek.  As we came out of the creek, about 10 feet from the embankment, we encountered a 6-inch-plus leg-hold trap staked in the ground and virtually invisible as it blended in so well with the dirt and growth. Fortunately for all of us, the trap had been sprung.  Unfortunately for the animal it had caught.  There was a chewed off paw still in the trap.  It looked like the trap had been abandoned and had been there for a while, possibly since last winter.  I could not find an identification tag or the stake. This area is heavily used for recreation in all seasons.  My friend and I were both wearing sandals for wading and could easily have stepped on the trap had it been open.  My dog got his muzzle right up to it before I even saw it.  Less than 20 yards away, two young boys were playing in the creek and running around the embankments.  I see people there daily, fishing and wandering the banks.  These people include families with children and neighbors letting their dogs out for a good run and to play in the creek. This is my public land, too, and my “backyard,” and I go there regularly and have for over a dozen years. My dog was snared a mile from this location in December, and now I’m coming across leg-hold traps 100 yards from the road.  I’m so angry. I don’t know how many other traps there might be out there.  Sprung or not.  I don’t’ want to find out the hard way.  I don’t want there to be a third time and have my dog maimed or killed, or get my foot caught in one of those.  I don’t want it to happen to anyone else. This is a safety issue for everyone.  There are some areas that need to be off-limits for trapping of any kind. Voice your concern:  Wyoming Game and Fish, Jackson 733-2321.  Bridger-Teton National Forest, Jackson District 739-5400. Linnea Gardner Wilson, WY

Ursula Neese (January 4, 2013)

Shared by Footloose Montana, published in the Livingston Enterprise. Editor.

The day was like many in Montana — a cold winter blue sky day. We were walking our dog last week in an area where we have walked for the past 17 years. Our dog was glad to be out in this familiar setting and was out to our side about 30 feet sniffing and looking for rodents, when all of a sudden she was bolting in the air frantically screeching, yelping and biting uncontrollably. We ran to help. It took a second to realize what it was: “My god, it’s two traps that were clamped down on her front leg above the paw and her back leg at her paw.” She was fiercely trying to bite them off. Blood was flowing. We were freaked, and tried to calm her. We tried to restrain her from hurting herself more. She finally went into shock and became docile. We were afraid to try and release the traps for fear of hurting her more. My friend started having severe chest pain and I had to take over restraining Solano. We both had our cell phones, so we called 911, our vet, and the land owner. We then tried to pull the traps from the ground where they were staked. No luck. Such a mixture of archaic tortures and telephones! Our vet arrived and the sheriff was not far behind. Our vet was able to release the traps. Solano was taken to our vet’s office, X-rayed, and found to have no broken bones, though she has several broken teeth from trying to bite off the steel traps. My friend continued to have chest pain. Both were lucky. Other pets or people might not be so lucky. A wild animal would definitely not be so lucky. The thought of how my dog reacted and was injured in this very short amount of time reminds us of the unthinkable process a wild animal might go through in the 24 to 48 hours before her killer arrives. Montana regulations are very much all about the trapper and not about the public or the animals that are being trapped. A trap can be set only 150 feet from a road, and the trap does not need to be marked in any way for a person to see it. In fact, most of the regs are all about the hunt. This treatment of animals is not a hunt at all — it is malicious torture of our wildlife and can lead to injury of people and their pets. I suggest that anyone thinking of joining the trapper group please take two traps into a field, stake them down, and when they are nicely frozen in, walk out and place both hands into the traps so they will snap into place. I’m sure no trapper would do this, but I hope you get the point. We must stop this trapping now, please write, call your legislators. So the second part to this horrific day: When Solano was caught in a wolf trap and DD and I were struggling for Solano’s life, a rush of adrenaline and calcium was heading for DD’s heart. What that means in the medical world is that she was having a heart attack caused by the anxiety of our dog’s life being threatened in an instant. We took her to the ER in Livingston, where her enzyme levels indicated that her heart was sustaining damage. She was taken then to Bozeman by ambulance, and into the cath lab. They determined that she had a Stress Cardiomiopathy a “mild heart attack” that is solely produced in a fight or flight situation. She is going to be fine. She does not have a diseased heart — her attacker was the wolf trap. Ursula Neese South of Livingston

John Ruther (May 21, 2008)

May 24, 2017 – Jackson Hole News and Guide

Manage Wolves for All

With wolves listed as a predatory species for a majority of the year during the spring, summer and autumn months just south and west of town, there will be many more dogs caught by traps as people get outside to engage in recreational activities.

We are encouraging citizens to keep their pets on a leash or very close by when recreating on public lands south and west of town. Wolf traps are larger than traps set for other species and will easily catch and injure or kill pets. The archaic trapping regulations in Wyoming allow trappers to place an unlimited number of traps of any size on public lands. Traps do not have to be set off of trails. Snares do not have to be checked for up to 13 days. The laws and regulations favor the very few individual trappers and give no protections to the hundreds of thousands of pet owners in this state. If your dog is caught or injured, the trapper holds no legal responsibility whatsoever.

Numerous studies have been published that indicate nonlethal measures are more effective at reducing livestock losses from predators than lethal measures. We eradicated wolves from this state once; it can easily happen again. The current management plan does not include any provisions for educating livestock producers on nonlethal techniques or prevention of depredation. It focuses only on how many wolves can be killed and where. Wyoming is once again “managing” our wolves and other predators to minimum numbers. One hundred wolves do not constitute a healthy population.

With tourism the No. 2 industry in the state, why aren’t we managing our wildlife to reflect current nationwide cultural values? Millions of tourists are visiting Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks every year, bringing much-needed income to the state. Will visitors return when the wolves they used to see every year are gone? How will the residents of this state who love wildlife feel when they can no longer catch a glimpse of a wolf on our public lands? A wolf license costs $19 while that same wolf alive can bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars that benefits the whole community. All people should have access to shared resources that are held in trust for the public.

There is also a significant volume of mounting evidence that shows predator populations are self-regulating. Wolves do not need to be hunted. Perhaps the most disgusting thing is that wolves will now be afforded no protection in a majority of the state, not even from animal cruelty laws. Are you aware that there are contests to see who can kill the most predators that are held statewide every year? Wolves will be killed as a part of this repulsive and completely unnecessary, outdated practice. They will be shot on sight, run over with snowmobiles (which currently happens to coyotes — just search for it on YouTube), beaten to death, poisoned by M-44 cyanide bombs, left to suffer in traps for up to three days, chased down and shot from aircraft and generally treated lower than dirt. This is unacceptable treatment of any animal, but especially so for an iconic keystone species like the wolf.

We are in the geologic era known as the Anthropocene in which species are going extinct at an alarming rate, much faster than ever before. Large mammals will be the first to go. And we are allowing some of the most vulnerable to purposely be killed? When are we going to move our wildlife management into the modern century? When are we going to listen to science and evidence instead of relying on anachronistic attitudes based on fear and ignorance?

Almost 70 years after Aldo Leopold wrote and taught about the importance of our moral responsibility to the natural world, it’s incredible we are still discussing the wanton killing of predators. The focus of wolf management has to change to co-existence if we are to leave a lasting legacy of complete, diverse ecosystems behind to our children.

Kristin Combs Program Director Wyoming Untrapped
Jackson, WY

https://wyominguntrapped.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Kristins-LTE-Wolf-Management-5.24.17-JHNG.docx

Shared by Footloose Montana.

Hello, my name is John Ruther and I would like to deliver a message, using the experience of my dog companion Logans’ death in a snare trap.

The first hint of a snare’s work is your animal will be jumping, acting as if he is getting into mischief off there in the woods. Then, as your attention wanders, the corner of your eye will catch the jumping turning bizzare, almost as if a buck deer, or bear, or mountain lion, or something, is throwing him backwards, violently, over and over. It will be quiet, all the while there will be only the struggle. As you walk cautiously towards that place there will be stillness. When you see your animal it will be alive, fighting with every ounce of life it has left to get air into its’ lungs. Its’ legs will be straight out, perpendicular from the body, the tail will be rigid, the eyes will be wide and bright and pleading, the mouth and tongue will be the wrong color, a precursor to death purple.You may think, as I did, that your animal friend has broken his neck. You might speak to your friend to try to comfort him in what suddenly seems to be his final moments, you will search his body for wounds, you will gently roll him to search his other side and to be prepared to give heart compressions. The realization of his life slipping away will compel you to say his name to him what seems to be a thousand times. In the end you will be staring into his eyes, they will be the eyes of your best friend, they will be shining and filled with terror, and then, as sure as we all will die, the brightness fades slowly, and that unique irreplaceable spirit is no longer there. And then, as you stroke your friends’ still warm body for the last time, you may find it, as I did, the hidden wire around his neck, the snare embedded in his neck and lying in the tall grass and tied to the bush. Then the absurd but necessary for your sanity attempts at mouth to mouth resuscitation and heart compressions, and finally the acknowledgement that it all is very wrong, but absolutely real. This must be trapping at its’ best, the physical killing of a dog and the spiritual killing of a man.

Rodger McDaniel (December 27, 2020)

December 27, 2020 – Wyoming Tribune Eagle

Trapping regulations need to protect pets from harm
The fuse has been lit on the most volatile issue of which most Wyoming people are unaware. If you are not a trapper or have not had your pet die a horrible death in a trap laid alongside a trail on public lands, you probably know nothing about the debate quietly being fought between trappers and those who think trapping should be regulated.
Full disclosure. I learned of the conflict from my wife, an animal rights advocate, involved with other Wyoming people encouraging the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission to enact trapping regulations.
I chose to write about the controversy for two purposes: to make people aware of it and, in the hope that those on both sides of the issue will make this a matter of greater public dialogue.
Trappers point out that their hobby or vocation is protected in the Wyoming Constitution. It is true that Article 1, Section 39 of the constitution mentions trapping. It also refers to hunting and fishing. And it subjects all three pursuits to regulation. Specifically, the provision says it is not intended to “diminish other private rights or alter the duty of the state to manage wildlife.”
Among those “other private rights” is access to public lands. Virtually unregulated, trapping significantly limits the ability of the public to fully enjoy public lands without the threat of injury or death to pets or children.
Game and Fish does not keep data about unintended injuries or deaths caused by trapping. However, a trapping-regulation advocacy group does. Wyoming Untrapped collects reports on the multiple incidents when those freely enjoying hikes or camping with a family pet on public lands have experienced tragedy.
Most are surprised to learn that traps are set close to trails in popular mountain venues. A Wyoming travel website invites people to enjoy trails in areas like Vedauwoo. “Mountain bikers, hikers and trail runners can progress tirelessly on trails among the pine and aspen trees with views of the Medicine Bow Mountains.” https://travelwyoming.com/…/hike-bike-climb-and-camp…
The Wyoming Untrapped website warns those using public lands. There is good reason to beware. Last month, a couple was hiking at Vedauwoo with two dogs. The dogs were near the trail when one, stopping to sniff what turned out to be bait, was seized by a hidden trap. Although the dog and its humans were traumatized, the dog limped away alive. The dog’s owners said, “We had no idea that traps were even something to worry about while exploring public lands.” https://wyominguntrapped.org/database/#def1487019603-2-54
Other pets have not been so fortunate. Mac, for example died near Pavillion. This beloved family dog was “caught in a POWER neck snare (an extremely lethal device) set for bobcats.”
A Casper nurse took her two dogs to an area they often visited. The dogs exercised by running on the sandstone outcroppings. Both dogs were killed by a hidden M-44 cyanide bomb.
These incidents all harmed pets. But, any of them could just as easily have taken the life of a small, curious child. Maybe your pet; perhaps your child.
Christy Stewart was with family, walking her dog up Wickiup Knoll Trail outside of Afton, same as she’d done almost every day for the past four years. Her dog, a 3-year-old Pyrenees named “Sage,” practically grew up on that run. Sage died, trapped on that trail.
“Out of sight for just minutes, the dog caught a scent of fresh meat used to bait a bobcat snare. It didn’t take long. Sage suffocated, hung in a trap just 20 feet off the trail.“
Afton game warden James Hobbs investigated the incident and reported the trap, baited using a cubby set, was legal.
Therein lies the problem. Not one of these tragedies was the result of any violation of law or regulation. A growing number of public lands users are asking the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission to solve that problem by enacting reasonable trapping regulations so they can safely use public lands without exposing their pets and children to deadly, hidden dangers.
– Rodger McDaniel
** Rodger McDaniel lives in Laramie and is the pastor at Highlands Presbyterian Church in Cheyenne. Email: rmc81448@gmail.com.

Rodger McDaniel (December 27, 2020)

December 27, 2020 – Wyoming Tribune Eagle

Trapping regulations need to protect pets from harm
The fuse has been lit on the most volatile issue of which most Wyoming people are unaware. If you are not a trapper or have not had your pet die a horrible death in a trap laid alongside a trail on public lands, you probably know nothing about the debate quietly being fought between trappers and those who think trapping should be regulated.
Full disclosure. I learned of the conflict from my wife, an animal rights advocate, involved with other Wyoming people encouraging the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission to enact trapping regulations.
I chose to write about the controversy for two purposes: to make people aware of it and, in the hope that those on both sides of the issue will make this a matter of greater public dialogue.
Trappers point out that their hobby or vocation is protected in the Wyoming Constitution. It is true that Article 1, Section 39 of the constitution mentions trapping. It also refers to hunting and fishing. And it subjects all three pursuits to regulation. Specifically, the provision says it is not intended to “diminish other private rights or alter the duty of the state to manage wildlife.”
Among those “other private rights” is access to public lands. Virtually unregulated, trapping significantly limits the ability of the public to fully enjoy public lands without the threat of injury or death to pets or children.
Game and Fish does not keep data about unintended injuries or deaths caused by trapping. However, a trapping-regulation advocacy group does. Wyoming Untrapped collects reports on the multiple incidents when those freely enjoying hikes or camping with a family pet on public lands have experienced tragedy.
Most are surprised to learn that traps are set close to trails in popular mountain venues. A Wyoming travel website invites people to enjoy trails in areas like Vedauwoo. “Mountain bikers, hikers and trail runners can progress tirelessly on trails among the pine and aspen trees with views of the Medicine Bow Mountains.” https://travelwyoming.com/…/hike-bike-climb-and-camp…
The Wyoming Untrapped website warns those using public lands. There is good reason to beware. Last month, a couple was hiking at Vedauwoo with two dogs. The dogs were near the trail when one, stopping to sniff what turned out to be bait, was seized by a hidden trap. Although the dog and its humans were traumatized, the dog limped away alive. The dog’s owners said, “We had no idea that traps were even something to worry about while exploring public lands.” https://wyominguntrapped.org/database/#def1487019603-2-54
Other pets have not been so fortunate. Mac, for example died near Pavillion. This beloved family dog was “caught in a POWER neck snare (an extremely lethal device) set for bobcats.”
A Casper nurse took her two dogs to an area they often visited. The dogs exercised by running on the sandstone outcroppings. Both dogs were killed by a hidden M-44 cyanide bomb.
These incidents all harmed pets. But, any of them could just as easily have taken the life of a small, curious child. Maybe your pet; perhaps your child.
Christy Stewart was with family, walking her dog up Wickiup Knoll Trail outside of Afton, same as she’d done almost every day for the past four years. Her dog, a 3-year-old Pyrenees named “Sage,” practically grew up on that run. Sage died, trapped on that trail.
“Out of sight for just minutes, the dog caught a scent of fresh meat used to bait a bobcat snare. It didn’t take long. Sage suffocated, hung in a trap just 20 feet off the trail.“
Afton game warden James Hobbs investigated the incident and reported the trap, baited using a cubby set, was legal.
Therein lies the problem. Not one of these tragedies was the result of any violation of law or regulation. A growing number of public lands users are asking the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission to solve that problem by enacting reasonable trapping regulations so they can safely use public lands without exposing their pets and children to deadly, hidden dangers.
– Rodger McDaniel
** Rodger McDaniel lives in Laramie and is the pastor at Highlands Presbyterian Church in Cheyenne. Email: rmc81448@gmail.com.

Wyoming Untrapped (September 9, 2020)

September 9, 2020 – Jackson Hole News & Guide

Trap reform being realized
The face of trapping in Wyoming is shifting. Wyoming Untrapped, joined by other advocates, filed a petition to the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission last January to address trapping reform this year. The commission responded by initiating a process to learn more about trapping. The Wyoming Game and Fish Department initiated a statewide survey, which revealed the need for change by a wide range of stakeholders. On Oct. 1, furbearer trapping season will open and tens of thousands of traps will be set on our landscapes, in addition to the thousands that are there year-round. Thousands of animals will be injured or killed in these traps or snares.
All corners of our state are now aware of the critical need to address the lack of safety on our public landscapes for our people, pets and wildlife.
Game and Fish scheduled five collaborative public meetings statewide to discuss trapping reform before presenting its recommendation to the commission. Two more are left: virtual meetings today in Laramie and Thursday in Lander.
Wyoming Untrapped has asserted in the past and continues to assert that the following trapping regulation changes are necessary: trap-free areas, a ban of all trigger-loaded power snares and Senneker snares, mandatory signage, trap setbacks off trails (300 feet), mandatory reporting of nontarget species and pets, mandatory reporting of all species trapped, mandatory trapper education, mandatory conservation stamp purchase, live traps used wherever possible, 24-hour trap checks, removal of all traps at end of season, a statewide trapping reform stakeholder task force and a review of furbearer trapping regulations every two years.
Our Wyoming voices matter more than ever.
L. Robertson Jackson
Wyoming Untrapped

Patty and Frank Ewing (August 31, 2020)

August 31, 2020 – Jackson Hole News & Guide

Set trap-fee areas
The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission, which meets in Jackson today, Sept. 2, has made progress in following up with public meetings after initiating an evaluation of trapping issues.
This letter focuses on the need to designate trap-free areas in the Cache Creek and Game Creek drainages. Beavers — which were once numerous along Cache Creek, even creating ponds within town limits (until stopped by Cache Creek being diverted underground through much of Jackson) — are gone where we live at the mouth of the canyon. The large, beautiful beaver ponds a short distance upstream have essentially dried up. These large beaver ponds with multiple beaver lodges on private property contiguous to our property are gone.
The ponds were large and deep, and in addition to creating wonderful protected wildlife habitat, the ponds were used by firefighting helicopters to scoop out huge buckets of water during the recent Horse Thief wildfire which threatened Jackson. Obviously, wetlands created by beavers also create an important green wet zone that is extremely beneficial in containing wildfires. A dry, hot summer such as we are currently experiencing has greatly increased the danger of wildfires. Because of the ease of access to the canyon, it is most certain that beavers have been trapped out. There is no other explanation for the dearth of beavers.
Because of their proximity to Jackson, the Cache Creek and Game Creek drainages in the Bridger-Teton National Forest are the most heavily used trails in Teton County. We have lived at the mouth of Cache Creek canyon for almost 60 years and have observed the transformation of the canyon rich with wildlife. The system of trails once used only by horseback riders, hunters and a few hikers has become heavily used by hundreds of daily mountain bikers, walkers and hikers, most with pets and a few brave horseback riders. Winter use by skiers, walkers, fat tire bikes and snowmobiles, often at night, is rising sharply.
We support reform efforts that Wyoming Untrapped is proposing, including: ban the use of power snares and Senneker snares and instead require live traps; require traps to be checked every 24 hours; have trap-free trail areas; require 300-foot trap setbacks; require reporting of species trapped to determine whether trapping is an effective wildlife management measure; require all traps to be removed at the end of the season; increase the cost of trapping licenses; require certification through a trappers education course; and require purchase of a conservation stamp, the same as anglers and hunters.
While only the Wyoming Legislature can make some of the needed changes, the Game and Fish Commission should take the lead.
Patty and Frank Ewing
Jack
Jackson Hole News&Guide

 

Peter Moyer (April 25, 2018)

April 25, 2018 – Jackson Hole News & Guide

Trapping is a True Blunderbuss Approach to Game Management

Bruce Thompson wrote an excellent letter to you on trapping, for your public input. Here are just a few points, from my own perspective (for what that is worth!):

. Trapping is a true blunderbuss approach to game management, in terms of non-target wildlife species including protected species, and domestic animals. By contrast, like most people I do not object to hunting with a bullet or arrow, or fishing where both target and non-target species can be released.

. I see almost no economic benefit to Wyoming from trapping in modern times, unlike hunting and fishing and wildlife viewing. And, there is a bit economic downside from torturing and killing wildlife by trapping in Wyoming–more so all the time, with social media and other media avenues.

. With down, pile and other insulation, and faux furs for decoration, there is no modern day need for trapped animal skins. And, much of the remaining trade is just with communist China and communist Russia.

. Much stricter control on trapping in Wyoming could be promoted in a very positive manner. Right now the trapping p.r. is almost all bad for Wyoming, and it will get worse. Barbaric, bottom line.

Sure, Jeremiah Johnson is still one of my all-time favorite movies, and Bridger/Colter/Glass are heroes to me from distant times. But that was long ago, and their genuine need for trapping is long gone. I hope that I am not insulting anyone still wearing beaver skin hats to fancy gatherings in New York or London.”

Peter Moyer: Wyoming attorney

Jackson, WY

Bruce S. Thompson (April 18, 2018)

April 18, 2018 – Jackson Hole News & Guide

Speak Out Against Trapping

Our Wyoming Game and Fish Department has embarked on a major research study to develop a new agencywide strategic plan. As part of this planning and development process this agency has created a wildlife forum for citizens to help “Forge the Future of Wyoming’s Wildlife.” I encourage all citizens to avail themselves of this rare opportunity for input.

I see Game and Fish as being in a somewhat schizophrenic position: inherently responsible to oversee the health, sustainability and appreciation of the state’s wildlife, which belongs to all stakeholders, while at the same time inherently beholden to the significant and vocal minority — hunters and anglers — that provides the bulk of the very income necessary for it to operate. This hazards an occasional rift between decisions based on sound management and those compelled by service to those “paying the bills.”

Don’t misunderstand. Many, many fine, dedicated individuals work for the agency, and much of the work is performed honestly, thoughtfully and with measurable benefit. But I sincerely believe that this trust is, at times, broken when it comes to two questionable and arguably archaic practices: lethal trapping and hunting purely for trophy. The following comments are in regard to trapping.

I suggest it is time for a full cost-benefit analysis of the practice in ways that includes all impacts: biology, ecology, aesthetics, safety, ethics, economy and, overall, the mores of a civilized and compassionate 21st-century society.

Further, I call for the creation of a statewide trapping advisory committee to lend a fully and proportionally representative citizen perspective to review all elements of science and management related to trapping.

  • There is a virtual absence of sportsmanship, fair chase and compassion in lethal trapping.
  • The overall presumption of trapping as “wildlife management” is rarely cost effective.
  • Lethal trapping as it exists today demonstrates little or no benefit to the functional value of a healthy ecosystem.
  • We don’t have reliable population counts of many of our state’s furbearers, but we allow unlimited quotas. Where’s the science?
  • Innumerable and unacceptable deaths and severe injuries occur to nontarget species, and even animals released alive often die from their injuries.
  • Our wildlife is a public treasure owned by all citizens and taxpayers. Trapping rarely serves any citizen other than the one setting the trap.
  • Our public lands should remain safe havens for all. All people, pets and wildlife should be assured safety, which means vast trap-free areas for all.
  • Trapping for fun, trophy, fur and feeding one’s ego is no longer deemed acceptable by our general population.
  • The pure cruelty of trapping causes injuries, exposure, dehydration and immense suffering. It is culturally and compassionately unworthy of us.
  • The general public is woefully uninformed about the brutal, archaic and poorly managed trapping taking place in our state.

Wyoming wildlife, large and small, need our voice. If you would like to comment on the future of our a wild Wyoming, and for trapping reform, I encourage all to comment at WildlifeForum.org/wildlife.

Bruce S. Thompson

Dubois

 

Wyoming Untrapped (February 7, 2018)

February 7, 2018 – Jackson Hole News & Guide

Wanted: Wildlife Watchers

No one needs to tell us that nongame species have long suffered as low priority in Wyoming’s wildlife management. However, our Wyoming Game and Fish Department is now providing an unprecedented opportunity to contribute public input to drive the future of Wyoming’s wildlife. This opportunity follows a Game and Fish programmatic evaluation by the Wildlife Management Institute as requested by the state of Wyoming to review 12 selected programs within Game and Fish. The result of this directive will be substantial new research to understand attitudes toward agency priorities and management issues of concern by the public, including all Wyoming residents. This process will guide Game and Fish in developing a new agency wide strategic plan.

Are we concerned? Of course.
Do we feel skeptical? Maybe.
Do we believe in the power of numbers? Better still.

Rarely does this invitation to speak out come along. Now it is up to the unheard and underrepresented public — you — to speak your mind, loud and strong, on behalf of the furbearing speechless. Only by triggering that notorious power of numbers will we succeed.

The actions outlined here comprise what might well be the most substantive path we can take to mobilize on behalf of Wyoming citizens. Game and Fish has launched its feedback initiative, “Forging the Future of Wyoming Wildlife,” for you to provide input in three ways: an online “Wildlife Forum,” “Stay Up to Date” email updates and 10 statewide public meetings.

Game and Fish manages both hunting and trapping, but it is the latter that has become most susceptible to the shifting tide of 21st-century wildlife management philosophy and public intolerance. Focus the energy of your words on trapping reform and wildlife watching, for the critical need to value and protect wildlife as vital contributors to the health of our public landscapes and for the intrinsic character and worth of all furbearing animals.

The Jackson public meeting is 4-7 p.m. Saturday in the Cook Auditorium at the National Museum of Wildlife Art.

Please comment. Show up. Stay informed.
The future of Wyoming wildlife is up to you!

L. Robertson
Wyoming Untrapped
Jackson, WY

Wyoming Untrapped (May 24, 2017)

May 2017 – Jackson Hole News & Guide

Manage Wolves for All

With wolves listed as a predatory species for a majority of the year during the spring, summer and autumn months just south and west of town, there will be many more dogs caught by traps as people get outside to engage in recreational activities.

We are encouraging citizens to keep their pets on a leash or very close by when recreating on public lands south and west of town. Wolf traps are larger than traps set for other species and will easily catch and injure or kill pets. The archaic trapping regulations in Wyoming allow trappers to place an unlimited number of traps of any size on public lands. Traps do not have to be set off of trails. Snares do not have to be checked for up to 13 days. The laws and regulations favor the very few individual trappers and give no protections to the hundreds of thousands of pet owners in this state. If your dog is caught or injured, the trapper holds no legal responsibility whatsoever.

Numerous studies have been published that indicate nonlethal measures are more effective at reducing livestock losses from predators than lethal measures. We eradicated wolves from this state once; it can easily happen again. The current management plan does not include any provisions for educating livestock producers on nonlethal techniques or prevention of depredation. It focuses only on how many wolves can be killed and where. Wyoming is once again “managing” our wolves and other predators to minimum numbers. One hundred wolves do not constitute a healthy population.

With tourism the No. 2 industry in the state, why aren’t we managing our wildlife to reflect current nationwide cultural values? Millions of tourists are visiting Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks every year, bringing much-needed income to the state. Will visitors return when the wolves they used to see every year are gone? How will the residents of this state who love wildlife feel when they can no longer catch a glimpse of a wolf on our public lands? A wolf license costs $19 while that same wolf alive can bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars that benefits the whole community. All people should have access to shared resources that are held in trust for the public.

There is also a significant volume of mounting evidence that shows predator populations are self-regulating. Wolves do not need to be hunted. Perhaps the most disgusting thing is that wolves will now be afforded no protection in a majority of the state, not even from animal cruelty laws. Are you aware that there are contests to see who can kill the most predators that are held statewide every year? Wolves will be killed as a part of this repulsive and completely unnecessary, outdated practice. They will be shot on sight, run over with snowmobiles (which currently happens to coyotes — just search for it on YouTube), beaten to death, poisoned by M-44 cyanide bombs, left to suffer in traps for up to three days, chased down and shot from aircraft and generally treated lower than dirt. This is unacceptable treatment of any animal, but especially so for an iconic keystone species like the wolf.

We are in the geologic era known as the Anthropocene in which species are going extinct at an alarming rate, much faster than ever before. Large mammals will be the first to go. And we are allowing some of the most vulnerable to purposely be killed? When are we going to move our wildlife management into the modern century? When are we going to listen to science and evidence instead of relying on anachronistic attitudes based on fear and ignorance?

Almost 70 years after Aldo Leopold wrote and taught about the importance of our moral responsibility to the natural world, it’s incredible we are still discussing the wanton killing of predators. The focus of wolf management has to change to co-existence if we are to leave a lasting legacy of complete, diverse ecosystems behind to our children.

Kristin Combs
Program Director
Wyoming Untrapped
Jackson, WY

Wyoming Untrapped (April 7, 2016)

April  2016 – From Pinedale Roundup

Put an End to Senseless Killings

Wyoming Untrapped (WU), a wildlife advocacy group in the state, learned about an annual hunting contest in Sublette County that has been kept mostly under wraps until local citizens wrote letters to the editor and contacted WU. The coyote-killing contest consists of killing as many coyotes as possible for fun and prize money, and was partially funded and supported by the Sublette County Predator Management Board.

These senseless predator killing contests, which occur across the state, are often called coyote-calling contests, varmint hunts or predator hunts. We believe these events are not hunting; they are a blood sport.

Our WU mission is dedicated to creating a safe and humane environment for our people, pets and wildlife, and to promote an overall ethic of compassionate conservation for wildlife and other natural resources. Our highest priority is to address our state’s archaic and indiscriminate trapping regulations as well as wildlife management, which allows the cruel and inhumane senseless killing of wildlife in the form of predator-killing contests for money and prizes, such as the “mangiest mutt” award or the “biggest dog” award. These “management tools” are not based on a sound science foundation, and are in urgent need of reform.

WU is fighting for freedom in wildness each and every day. Although there is a deep-rooted resistance to change in Wyoming and our challenges are steep, we have made significant progress. For the first time in our state’s history, WU has brought the reality of our trapping and wildlife management to the forefront of the public eye and ignited the dialog surrounding the need to bring trapping reform and wildlife management into the 21st century. Change is coming to Wyoming.

To voice your opinion to end these predator-killing contests, contact your county commissioners or the local predator control board.

To report trapping incidents or predator killing contests, please call Wyoming Untrapped at 307-201-2422 or email info@wyominguntrapped.org.

L. Robertson
Wyoming Untrapped

http://www.pinedaleroundup.com/v2_news_articles.php?heading=0&story_id=4545&page=76

Dr. Mark Elbroch (February 10, 2016)

February 2016

WYOMING’S LIONS ESCAPE TRAPPING

O PI NI O N
Wyoming’s lions escape trapping plan

I
n January a bill was introduced in the Wyoming Legislature that, if it had passed, would have allowed any person with a valid hunting license to kill a mountain lion using a trap or snare. As a Wyoming resident and biologist, I’m thrilled to tell you that our Legislature voted yesterday in favor of science and to protect the balance of nature on which our state so deeply depends.

HB12 failed to pass the House on Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2016, at 2:23 p.m. This bill was not based on valid research, and the potential negative consequences for mountain lions, other wildlife, Wyoming citizens and the Wyoming Game and Fish Department would have been far-reaching.

Ostensibly, this bill was introduced to provide “additional tools” to reverse recent mule deer population declines, a valuable game species for Wyoming residents. In reality, the connection between mountain lions and mule deer population declines is tenuous at best. The Wyoming Game and Fish Department has said that mule deer declines are largely the result of other factors, including habitat loss and disruption to migration corridors. It is also well accepted among wildlife biologists that deer dynamics are driven primarily by weather patterns and resulting forage availability, not predators. In fact, a recent intensive, long-term study from the Idaho Department of Fish and Game emphasized that removing mountain lions and coyotes did not provide any long-term benefit to deer populations. The researchers reported: “In conclusion, benefits of predator removal appear to be marginal and short term in southeastern Idaho and likely will not appreciably change long-term dynamics of mule deer populations in the intermountain west.”

Like mule deer, mountain lions are also experiencing signifi cant population declines in some areas. Research conducted by Panthera’s Teton Cougar Project in Teton County, Wyoming, shows that lion numbers north of Jackson have declined by half in eight years. Mountain lions in Wyoming are hunted with all legal firearms, archery equipment and trailing hounds, and these methods have proven effective in reducing mountain lion populations across the West. Introducing trapping — an imprecise method of hunting — could have crippled mountain lion populations further, as well as rapidly and unexpectedly influenced other wildlife populations.

The nature of trapping is indiscriminate. Trapping consists of snares and leghold traps, including steel jaws, which often cause serious injury to animals — breaking legs, ripping skin or completely severing limbs, via the trap or through self-mutilation. Traps deliver painful, slow deaths to wildlife and domestic animals unlucky enough to be caught. In Wyoming it is currently illegal to kill a female mountain lion with kittens or the kittens themselves. However, a trapper cannot dictate what animal is caught, resulting in the potential maiming or killing of female mountain lions, their kittens or federally listed wolves, wolverines, Canada lynx or grizzly bears. Traps may also injure people should they stumble into one. Importantly, voting down HB12 maintained protection for the reproductive capital of our mountain lion populations: female mountain lions with kittens and the kittens themselves. Trapping is not only imprecise in its implementation, it is also nearly impossible to track and monitor. This bill would have completely undermined mountain lion management currently conducted by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, introducing chaos to a tracking system that may not be ideal but works. When Wyoming’s House and Senate representatives introduce legislation that threatens their own Wyoming Game and Fish Department’s ability to protect our state’s immense and singular biodiversity, something is clearly wrong.

But Rep. Sam Krone eloquently opposed the bill for sportsmen against indiscriminate trapping, followed by Rep. Charles Pelkey, who emphasized the potential consequences of increased trapping on domestic animals and people. In the end the bill did not gain the required two-thirds majority to move forward.

Every year visitors flock to Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks, investing millions of dollars in Wyoming communities in the hope of glimpsing charismatic apex predators like the mountain lion. In voting down HB12, Wyoming voted for sustainable, scientific decision-making for our state and every creature with which we share this precarious and wonderful balance that we call home. In voting against mountain lion trapping, Wyoming chose evidence-based science over old mythology perpetuating fear and persecution of this amazing animal. It made me proud to live in Wyoming.

Yet the possibility remains that this bill will be reintroduced to the Senate this week. To ensure Wyoming’s mountain lion trapping legislation stops in its tracks, continue to contact members of the Wyoming legislature this week.

If the bill is halted, New Mexico and Texas will be the only states in our country to allow the trapping of mountain lions. Dr. Mark Elbroch is lead scientist of Panthera’s Puma Program.

GUEST SHOT

Dr. Mark Elbroch

http://jhnewsandguide.wy.newsmemory.com/publink.php?shareid=1238ecf30

Wyoming Untrapped (August 12, 2015)

August 12, 2015

RUN WILD, FREE, AND UNTRAPPED

Dear Editor,

The recent ad for the Old Bill’s Fun Run, showing two cute little fox kits, is one of the most powerful we have seen.  We are reminded how proud we are to live in a community that gives with such tremendous passion and generosity for its people and its extraordinary wildlife.

We adore our foxes!  Unfortunately, many people in Teton County and throughout the state do not know that these little red foxes are designated “predatory animals” in Wyoming.  This means that every single day of the year, in unlimited numbers, they can be shot-on-sight or trapped in legholds for 72 hours, or up to 13 days in snares and conibears, with no concern for the suffering or pain, fear, thirst and hunger, but only for their fur or for fun.  Yes, this is how Wyoming treats our wildlife due to antiquated trapping regulations that need reform.

Wyoming Untrapped, dedicated to create a safe and humane environment for people, pets and wildlife, is working to change these archaic rules through education and trapping regulation reform.  Public awareness is already making a difference, one person at a time.

My family is grateful for the opportunity to support Old Bill’s Fun Run, our community non-profits, and the wildlife that live in our remaining wild areas.  Please help support Wyoming Untrapped and other wildlife-oriented non-profits through Old Bill’s, ensuring that you will have a direct positive impact on wildlife conservation.

Run wild, free and UNtrapped at Old Bill’s Fun Run everyone!

Peter Moyer (August 5, 2015)

From  Jackson Hole News and Guide, August 5, 2015

Cecil the Lion

Well-deserved global outrage has resulted from the recent killing of “Cecil the Lion” in Zimbabwe by a Minnesota dentist, for his $50,000 fee.  The lion was lured outside the safety of a national park, using bait.  He was then wounded by the dentist with an arrow (at night, spot lighted), tracked, shot and killed by the dentist 40 hours later.  The lion was skinned for the trophy room, with the carcass discarded.

All for money and ego, not need.

There are definite parallels to the modern day wild animal fur trade.  There is no real “need” nowadays:  fleece, Gore-Tex and other modern day materials are warmer, lighter, cheaper and abundant.  Pine martens, bobcats, foxes, otters, beavers, etc. are not esteemed as table fare. Faux fur is decorative enough.  There is no significant benefit to our economy–unlike hunting and fishing–and many of our wild animal furs are shipped to Russia and Communist China.

And trapping is brutal, whether for recreation or for profit.  How many of us humans would like to suffocate in a snare, or try to chew off a trapped limb?!

The Cecil the Lion incident revealed the great depth of compassion for wildlife felt by many of us humans, on a global scale. When the public is aware, people care.

Trapping results in the brutal treatment of our treasured and diminishing wildlife resources. In the American West trapping often occurs on forested and riparian lands owned by the people of the United States.  We are responsible, and we can do better.

Peter F. Moyer

Wyoming Untrapped (July 15, 2015)

From  Jackson Hole News and Guide, July 15, 2015

CONTACT THE COMMISSIONERS

The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission on Friday rejected the efforts to address the adverse effects of trapping on the safety of people, pets and wildlife in Teton County by such means as trail setbacks, signage and the closure of a single heavily traveled trail on the outskirts of Jackson, Cache Creek.

The changes to Chapter 4 Trapping Regulations proposed by WGFD were supported by Wyoming Untrapped (WU), the Teton County Commission, Bridger Teton National Forest, and many Jackson residents for whom Representative Ruth Ann Petroff spoke.  An additional 5700 positive public comments were submitted, including 600 from Wyoming residents.  They were overwhelmingly in favor of the new regulations for Teton County.

Commissioner Little, when making the motion to remove the closure of Cache Creek from the draft commented that she believed agreeing to WU’s proposal was the beginning of the slippery slope intended to disenfranchise the rights and heritage of Wyoming’s trappers. Efforts by conservation and advocacy organizations do not pre-empt the slippery slope. Sustainable funding is the main threat to game agencies and hunters today.  Even Governor Mead has acknowledged that a solution to long-term funding must be found. The slippery slope is the reduction occurring among the hunting and trapping community due to cultural change. Finding a way to accommodate ALL users whether hunting or non-hunting will be the answer to collaborative management and sustainability.

Even though WU was hugely successful in bringing extensive support to the table and also offered to take financial responsibility for trail use data collection, signage and trap-release education, the Commission decided that the ‘need’ for reform had not been established. However, numerical substantiation of damage and injury to non-target animals, including dogs, is impossible to establish because of the very limited requirement to report.

“We understand that change happens slowly in Wyoming.  Trapping reform is a reasonable expectation by the public, especially when traditional practices and social use of trails coincide.  It just makes sense.  WU is the first organization in the state’s history that has addressed trapping reform, and we have raised public awareness at a fast pace.  However, our governing Game and Fish Commission is not ready to address the need to modernize our current archaic trapping regulations.  Continued awareness and collaboration will eventually change that.  Our modern public demands it.  And it’s the time in history for change.”

Please let your Commissioners know that you also support trapping reform.

Wyoming Untrapped

Jake Nichols - Planet JH (May 27, 2015)

From  PlanetJH.com

THE MENACE OF MODERN DAY TRAPPERS

It’s hard to believe the practice of trapping is making a resurgence in Teton County solely on economic realities.  Fur prices skyrocketed during the recession, though they’ve tailed off recently.  Eye-popping price-per-pelt figures have spurred many a Davy Crocket-wannabe to invest in a half-dozen 330 conibears and head for the hills.

In Wyoming’s more rural counties, where 4H is more popular than junior cotillion classes, trapping could understandably provide a means to put dinner on the table one cape at a time.  But in ritzy Teton County, where any derelict can walk into a restaurant for breakfast and be the sous chef by that evening’s dinner, there are easier ways to skin a cat making a buck.

That leads me to the neo-woodsman movement as the primary factor driving the uptick in trapping activity in Teton County.  One scan of Facebook and it’s easy to find several tree-hugging hipsters who’ve suddenly discovered their inner-man(woman) by growing vegetable in the backyard and hunting their own protein.  An extension of the Paleo Peacenik crusade probably involves Silicon Valley warriors who’ve traded in their iPhones for Bowie knives.

Wyoming Untrapped has been working feverishly to get trapping banned in the Cache Creek drainage and other popular recreation areas where rusty jaws are more likely to clamp down on a Golden Retriever than a read fox.  Lisa Robertson launched WU after incidents in Red Top Meadows and elsewhere highlighted the dangers of traps placed too close to dog walking trails.

Running a trap line close to the trail in Cache Creek is just plain lazy.  Real mountain men hump it to get to their traps and they check them responsibly.  Too many trendy trappers are looking for the path of no resistance.  Robertson is right.  No trapping should be allowed anywhere near trails in popular areas like Cache Creek. This is not the 1800s.

And WU and its ilk shouldn’t stop there.  State trapping laws are updated every three years.  This summer marks Game & Fish discussions about possible revisions (July 8-10 in Cody).  One thing that desperately needs to change is how often traps need to be checked.  In Wyoming, an animal can spend three days in a leg-hold trap waiting for a mercy killing.  Other type traps and snares require 13 days between required checks.  That’s simply too long to allow an animal to suffer.

Jake Nichols

Wyoming Untrapped (May 25, 2015)

From Jackson Hole News and Guide, May 25,2015

UNTRAP SUPPORT

To the editor:

Wyoming Untrapped (WU) is reaching out to the public with an URGENT request.  As you may be aware, furbearer and predator trapping on public lands have uniquely impacted Teton County.  Five dogs belonging to area residents have been injured in legholds, snares, and conibear traps on US Forest Service lands in recent years.  At present, regulations allow for traps to be set directly on hiking trails.  No reporting of such incidents is required. Neither of those who engage in trapping activities nor the agencies that regulate them are required to report such incidents, so the problem is surely much larger than five dogs — indeed, we recently learned of two more previously unreported incidents.  WU was founded in response to these incidents and we are making strides toward safer public lands for both residents and visitors alike.  Now, we need our community’s help.

WU is not an organization focused on banning trapping.  Instead, we advocate for ways to improve trapping regulations to mitigate the impacts that the practice has on other people, their pets, and their shared public lands.  At present, we are advocating for the WGFD and the WGF Commission to implement trapping regulations that would prohibit furbearer traps from being set in the Cache Creek drainage in the Bridger-Teton National Forest and on Snow King Mountain, and would prohibit furbearer traps from being set within 300 feet of some of our community’s busiest trails.  Interests from elsewhere in the state are pushing back against regulations that would affect Teton County, so it is imperative that the local community voice its support for this small, reasonable change that could mitigate some of the unnecessary risk currently imposed on anyone who ventures out onto our public lands with their pet.

Specifically, we ask that you:

  • Submit written public comment to the WGFD and WGF Commission supporting furbearer-trapping setbacks in Teton County and a closure of the Cache Creek drainage and Snow King Mountain to furbearer trapping.  The public comment period closes May 29 at 5 p.m.  To see the list of trails recommended for setbacks, and to take-action: www.wyominguntrapped.org/take-action/.
  • Please attend WGFD’s public meeting Thursday, May 28, Antler Inn, 6 p.m., to represent our community interests.

    We hope that you will help us in representing Teton County and the public’s reasonable expectation for safety on our public lands, and our vested interest in trapping regulation reform.

Bert Fortner (May 13, 2015)

From Jackson Hole News and Guide, May13,2015

The public lands in Wyoming are fantastic. We have BLM land, school sections and national forest all for the public to use freely for just about any outdoor activity you can imagine. But are they safe?

There is one activity on public lands that jeopardizes the safety of public use for most of us: trapping. I absolutely am not against trapping, and predator control in Wyoming is a necessity. But on public lands there should not be traps that endanger the rest of us who enjoy using them. There are deadly snares and severe steel traps set everywhere and even right along paths and roadways. If you are out hiking, camping or doing whatever activity you enjoy and have your pets and small children with you, beware! There have been many cases of pets maimed or killed by these traps.

There is an alternative for the trappers, so they still have rights on the public lands: live traps. You can be very successful using live traps, and if the wrong animal (like your pet) gets caught it can be turned loose with no harm done.

There are thousands of acres of private land to trap on with snares and steel traps, and landowners will jump at the chance to have someone help with predator control. So let’s make it safe for everyone to use public lands.

After all, they are called “public lands” not “trapper lands.” To look at your rights and voice your opinion, go to the website WyomingUntrapped.org and go to “Take Action.”

Bert Fortner, Gillette

Samantha Rowe (May 11, 2015)

From Cody Enterprise, May 11, 2015

Public lands are for the benefit for everyone: outdoor enthusiasts, horseback riders, hikers, hunters/trappers and fishermen, parents and children taking adventures and anyone else.

However, when one has to avoid public land, because their dog may be caught and killed by a deadly snare, then it infringes on the rightful use of others.

At this time the Wyoming law allows all types of trapping on all public lands. This includes deadly snares and powerful steel traps. There have been several incidences of pets being caught in these devices.

I have taken my dog to the vet after freeing it from a trap. If a pet or small child gets caught in a snare it could kill them.

I am not against trapping; it is the trapper’s right. But on public lands I feel they should have to use live traps. If your pet gets caught in it, it will not be harmed, and there are no dangers to children. They are still getting to trap effectively without a risk to anyone or anything else.

Colorado’s laws specify live traps on public land and it works.

(s) Samantha Lowe

Gillette

Peter Moyer (January 9, 2015)

There are many locals and visitors who treasure Wyoming’s great wildlife species on our extensive public lands: pine martens, beavers, ermine, badgers, otters, bobcats, mink, red squirrels, etc.

By contrast, there are not many people who need to trap and kill these esteemed wildlife resources outside of carefully defined areas. Nor is there a significant benefit to our economy–trapping produces very little local revenue, visitor income, retail trade, outfitting work, licensing income, table fare, or conservation support. Unlike hunting and fishing activities, which are and should be widely supported throughout Wyoming.

Very broad trapping setbacks from hiking areas, and other area trapping restrictions on our public lands, simply make sense. It is not just concern for dogs and other “non-target species” killed or maimed in traps, where trapping is far more indiscriminate than hunting aimed at specific target species.

Absent broad setbacks and area restrictions, wildlife resources should not be compromised in our magnificent public surroundings just so a very limited group of people can trap and kill. It is nice to have the critters around, and nice to have ecological balance. It is public land, where there should be fair and proper management balance considering the nature and relative importance of different uses.

/s/

Peter F. Moyer

Wyoming Untrapped (December 31, 2014)

TRAPPING REFORM – Jackson Hole News and Guide

Imagine you and a friend are out on a bluebird winter day, walking your dog on a Forest Service trail near Jackson. Your well-behaved dog is wandering along the trail, wagging her tail as she follows each scent she finds. You get caught up in your conversation and your attention wavers from your dog for just a few moments. Suddenly, your dog yelps from just a few feet off the trail — she’s been caught in a trap. If you’re lucky, it is a leg-hold trap that your dog will suffer from, but hopefully survive. If you’re unlucky, your dog’s neck has just been snapped by a quick-kill conibear or slowly squeezed by a snare. Either way, the trap was completely legal and the person who set it is not liable in any way.

Gruesome? Yes. Possible? Absolutely. A scenario not unlike the above became reality for one family in Casper only weeks ago. It has happened here, too, and could happen again at any time. Should this be the reality of recreating in Jackson Hole?

As compassionate people we don’t want to imagine a dog being trapped, don’t want to think about trapping and don’t want to see images of trapped pets and wildlife — but as community, we must not look away. Trapping regulations are antiquated, and the trapping status quo endures because it remains off the radar of nonconsumptive public land and wildlife users.

Trapping season is in full swing, and traps of all varieties can be found almost anywhere on public land — even on your favorite hiking trails. Thousands of furbearing animals including bobcats, American martens, weasels and many others are trapped without limit. Nontarget species regularly caught in traps include not only pets but also threatened species like Canada lynx. Dog owners, hikers, wildlife watchers, photographers and the rest of the nontrapping public deserve a reasonable expectation of safety while recreating on public lands and deserve to be considered in wildlife management decisions.

We need to put trapping reform on the radar. Wyoming Untrapped is working on establishing trapping setbacks along trails in Teton County through its “Traps and Trails Campaign.” Setbacks are a step forward, and you can help affect change — visit WyomingUntrapped. org for information on taking action. It is time for this community to take a hard look at trapping reform.

Katy Canetta – Program Director Wyoming Untrapped

Peter Moyer (August 25, 2014)

From Peter Moyer, August 25, 2014

Our wildlife cannot vote or mount campaigns or write checks, so they really need great and dedicated people like you!! The historical perspective is interesting. Furs used to be necessary for warmth in Northern climes. Beaver hides and other furs like ermine were decorative, but few looked at ecology or animal cruelty back in those days. Trappers were iconic and admired, and still are from our distant modern perspective. Even though there is no real need for warmth or decorative pelts from wild animals any more.

The cruelty to trapped animals is barbaric in modern times. Absolutely barbaric. The value of those animals in wild ecosystems is very, very important. Many of our most productive riparian wetlands–for so many critters and many humans as well–have been created by beavers. Predators trapped cruelly for their furs play a very important role as checks and balances in many ecosystems. And the “Collateral Damage” of trapping is very bad, such as wolverines.

Anyway, sorry to be so windy but it is a great cause, more power to you! Some people are mostly concerned with dogs, but it goes way beyond that.

K Brown (July 26, 2014)

Shared by Cdapress.com.

K. BROWN/Guest opinion 

I am a responsible Idaho hound hunter and I have great concerns about trapping in the state of Idaho. I believe that it is time to address the elephant in the room and I feel that we need to make some major adjustments to trapping before it is too late for both trappers and hound hunters.

Here are the facts:

* Trapping and dog hunting do not mix.

I purchase my hound tag every year just like the trapper does, but I cannot hunt year round for fear of having another dog lost to a snare. I, myself, have even been caught in a snare just looking for my dogs. This is how out of control trapping has become.

* No regulated limits to the number of snares, leg hold traps and conibear traps on the ground. Collateral damage to wildlife.

A typical snare runs around $2.25 per snare. Most trappers put out so many snares that they have to put ribbons on bushes to find them again. Every day, a variety of wildlife falls victim to the trapper’s collateral damage list. When I buy a deer tag, I fill that tag only once and I know that it is against the law to bag another deer. The trapper has a free pass to kill or maim unlimited amounts of deer, cougar, bobcats, elk, moose, rabbits, etc. as needed to obtain his target. These are only considered “untargeted incidentals” and remain very legal.

* Domestic dog owners.

Hundreds of people recreate with dogs in the state of Idaho. Most trappers trap where it is easy to get to their traps – along highways, roads or trails. This always puts domestic dogs at risk when one is recreating, walking or just letting the dog out to relieve himself.

Hundreds of dogs are killed every year that belong to domestic dog owners. We are all being held hostage by this loosely regulated sport that has absolutely no oversight or consequences for breaking what few laws they may or may not follow.

* No limits on number of animals caught except otter and beaver

The bobcats have suffered terribly due to a five-month trapping season that makes it legal to trap virtually everything when in fact the bobcat season is only two months long – another pass for the trapper. Now with wolf trapping, bears are being caught in November before they can even go into hibernation. Trapping to this degree is affecting everything.

* New residents and so called “bunny huggers” dominating Idaho

There are 1.6 million people in Idaho with only approximately 2,000 trapping licenses issued. How long do you think it will take for people to realize that they can not safely recreate with dogs because of trapping? How long will they tolerate the inhumane treatment of animals and suffering that all victims of the snare or trap must endure?

This is slowly turning into a state that is leaning toward ethics. Numbers have always taken precedence over history and heritage. I worry that the dog hunting will go out the door along with the trapping if we don’t find some balance for everyone.

* Trap damage

Bone damage, tissue damage, blood vessel damage, skin and nerve damage or in most all cases … death. Even if one of my dogs survived, it would never be able to hunt again.

My recommendations:

* Outlaw conibear traps set on dry land.

These traps kill instantly and have no business being set where humans interact with wildlife and nature. In most states, they can only be used under water. The average person can not even release a pet much less themselves without special hardware for one of these monsters.

* Outlaw snares.

Snares are unforgiving to all animals. They are not only cheap to buy, but are 100 percent effective and can be set over an unfathomable amount of area – catching almost anything that is moving, either in or out of season. Because of the unfair and indiscriminating amount of collateral death caused to wildlife while trying to catch targeted animals, they should never be legal due to this factor alone.

* Limit the amount of traps a person can set.

Change the 72-hour torture check to 24 hours every day. This would make a trapper think twice about laying out 80 to 100 traps and just letting them ride till the weekend (which is what most of them do because they work). Legally, he would have to think about the time involved in checking traps within a 24-hour time frame. Because there is no oversight, most of them get away with this anyway, but at least it would be illegal.

* Limit the number of animals to be caught.

This sport has turned into a killing free-for-all. There are limits on everything else we value with hunting. Why not for the trapper?

* Require trapper liability insurance.

The people who illegally snared and killed my $5,000 young hound didn’t appear to have any remorse. After the incident, it was business as usual with just a slap on the wrist. I was the one who suffered the emotional and financial loss from their negligence, but they were well within most of the trapping laws.

There has to be some accountability to protect the average person who recreates in our woods and wetlands. They should be able to freely use these public lands without fear of losing their dogs. The rules can’t always be overwhelmingly in favor of the trapper or it will come to an end. Trappers would be more mindful of where they trap if they were required to have trappers insurance.

* Raise the license fees to trap.

If Fish and Game can not afford to patrol and control trappers, maybe they should consider raising the fees to put some balance out there for the rest of us when it comes to recreating together. This would cut down unnecessary kills and keep the till full.

* Require only “live” traps.

This would really solve the problem. There could then be some control as to what should or shouldn’t be taken. I know this would be a hard pill for the trapper to swallow, but we need to find a way to level the playing field for the common man. Other states do this with much success and everyone is happy, not to mention this leaves a larger abundance of wildlife for others to pursue such as myself. Needless killing of fur bearers is never a good idea for wildlife populations or for anyone.

In Conclusion:

My thoughts are not new with regard to trapping in Idaho. I have watched what I dearly enjoy doing go down the drain in the St. Joe country. Trappers gobble up what little bit of country is left that supports the lion or bobcat populations. There is no such thing as working side by side with snares and conibear traps when you do what I do. The trapper has had it pretty good doing whatever he has wanted to do on our public lands for decades, but this isn’t going to last – not with the new mindset of the people who are moving into this state. People love their dogs and they are concerned about animal suffering, but there are still solutions that could happen to make everyone happy.

Earlier this year, a mother, her 12-year-old son and their large dog were looking for antler sheds near Kellogg. The dog was trapped and died in an unmarked conibear trap that neither of them could open. There was nothing the boy could do but watch his dog die. Turned out this trapper was found when he returned for the trap, but he only received a slap on the wrist for not marking the trap. He went on to use the conibear trap up Cougar Gulch near Cd’A where he also trapped and killed two more domestic dogs. Fish and Game could do absolutely nothing about these incidents because he was well within the law. This is nothing short of insufferable.

How long will it be before a 12-year-old boy loses his foot in one of these monster traps? How many more domestic dogs will be victim to a snare, leaving their grieving owners wondering about what their rights are on public lands? This has to change or the power of the people will bring it to an end – and I am afraid they will take down dog hunting while they are at it.

We have to make laws so everyone can enjoy these lands together. There needs to be compromise on everyone’s part. No one sport should be able to dominate and hold everyone else hostage while they willy nilly do whatever they want without facing consequences. We need some drastic steps and changes made with regard to trapping – and we need it done soon.

K. Brown is a resident of Plummer.

Jean Molde (July 18, 2014)

From the Reno Gazette-Journal

In the July 14 Reno Gazette-Journal, we learn that a young man accused of cruel acts on domestic dogs has been arrested and faces felony charges. We applaud. Yet, on the same front page of the paper, we are told that the Nevada Department of Wildlife commissioners are having difficulty making a decision regarding making a change in the regulation requiring how frequently a trapper must visit his/her traps. Is it somehow less cruel than the aforementioned crime the young man is accused of to cause an animal to languish in a trap for up to four days, in pain, frightened, thirsty and hungry, just because the activity is not in the public eye and the animal is wild?

Jean Molde, Reno

TrailSafe Nevada (July 15, 2014)

A post by TrailSafe Nevada

Mr. Les Smith (“Hunters, trappers key to management” – July 6 Letter to the Editor LVRJ – also July 9 Nevada Appeal) posits “people [who] would love to make wildlife management an environmental issue.” How is wildlife management not an environmental issue? He follows this statement with: “ If it becomes one, hunting and trapping will be gone, and so will the funding that comes with them.” This is the slippery slope mantra aired by sportsmen at Wildlife Commission meetings whenever trapping regulation is discussed. The sportsmen passionately defend trapping. They believe that if trapping is curtailed, even minimally, somehow hunting and then gun ownership will be next. They refer to a “secret agenda” we animal activists ourselves are unaware of. In reaction to this exaggerated fear, we see bills attempting to secure hunting and trapping “rights” for eternity – even attempting constitutional amendments. One activity – hunting – is well regulated in the interest of wildlife management. Hunters take mandatory education; buy tags; observe seasons and a host of regulations. Trapping is something else altogether. There are no bag limits; no limits upon number of traps set; no limits upon the agony a trapped animal suffers. If the people Mr. Smith defines as such a threat have not already brought the hunting and trapping communities to their knees, when and how will they do so? Is he saying a few grassroots animal activists can match the money and influence of the larger hunting groups? Trappers join coalitions with these hunting groups and enjoy great advantages thereby. These coalitions control wildlife policy in our state. Most animal advocates make a clear distinction between hunting and trapping. To object to the excesses of one is not a threat to the other.

Mauricio Handler (November 25, 2015)

November 2015

NO STUFFED WILDLIFE

Stuffed dead wildlife for sale decorate tourist and souvenir stores in downtown Jackson.

After a week at the Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival trying to figure out, together with 800 delegates from around the world, how we can be a voice for conservation and wildlife proliferation in a time of unprecedented animal extinction, I am revolted at the reality of the local mentality and the message it sends to all Jackson visitors from around the world, including China and other Asian countries.

How can we expect them to conserve, protect and cultivate a culture of wildlife welfare when we give them this front row seat to a horror show? As I said, all animals are for sale. Is this an oxymoron? Let’s wake up. Do not support businesses like these and make your voices heard. We are not above nature; we are part of it.

Taxidermy from the 20th century I understand — it was a different time. But to bring this to the forefront of today’s world and to have all for sale? Something is not right with this picture.

Many species are disappearing from the Wyoming landscape because trapping and furring are legal here.

We are talking dozens of animals in each store.

China is a huge problem for the endangered species of our planet. People there trade, consume and dissect anything and everything. But with Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks attracting waves of Chinese tourists, this issue in Jackson and other prohunting and pro-trapping locations in the U.S. is definitely is not helping the cause.

Make sure you watch “Racing Extinction” airing in 220-plus countries Dec. 2. This is the very best environmental film ever made. It is the beginning of a global movement. Let your voice be heard.

Wyoming Untrapped is single-handedly trying to address this issue in the area. Please join it and lend it your support when possible.

Mauricio Handler, filmmaker Durham, Maine

http://jhnewsandguide.wy.newsmemory.com/publink.php…

Leslie Patten (March 12, 2014)

Jackson Hole News and Guide, 3/12/14 Trapped In December

I spent a month exploring Anazasi ruins around Bluff, Utah. One morning I drove along an excellent dirt access road indicated in my guide book toward a popular hiking trail. Recent snows created muddy conditions, so I decided to walk the remaining few miles to the trailhead. I let my dog out, and we both walked on the road itself. My dog was about 15 feet ahead of me when he began yelping in pain. I rushed to his side and saw his foot was caught in a leghold trap meant for coyotes. The trap had been hidden under the dirt directly on the public road, ‘baited’ only with dog scat and scent — in other words, there was no indication to a human that a trap was there. Luckily, I was able to free my dog quickly, and he had no injuries. Although my experience took place in Utah, I live in Wyoming and know many people whose dogs have been caught in traps here. People recreating with children and dogs need to know that trapping is legal everywhere except in national parks. Coyotes can be trapped year round. Wolves can be trapped in 85 percent of Wyoming year round. Other wildlife such as bobcats have a long season in the winter months. It’s only a matter of time, as recreational use increases, before a child is trapped. Releasing a leghold trap is not intuitive. One has to practice before an incident occurs. Snares require a hiker to carry a good pair of wire cutters so your dog won’t choke to death. If you come across a conibear trap, then kiss your dog goodbye because you’ll never release him in time as it takes only seconds for the animal to die. Trapping is not only cruel and antiquated, but trappers are selling our wildlife overseas to China and Russia for coats. As fur prices escalate, more people are trapping, many of them inexperienced and unethical. Last year, trappers placed bobcat sets around the perimeter of Joshua Tree National Park in California, hoping for the $750 that a pelt can bring, robbing the American public visiting that park of the pleasure of seeing our native wildlife. Old, outdated laws and attitudes favor the trapper who pays a miniscule fee for his license. Nonconsumptive users of recreational lands are not only at risk but so is the tranquility of their outdoor experience. Leslie Patten Cody

Kirk Robinson (May 30, 2014)

Kirk Robinson wrote a beautiful essay about wildlife management.  Shared by Trap Free New Mexico.

I work for Western Wildlife Conservancy, a non-profit wildlife conservation organization that I founded several years ago in Salt Lake City. I am motivated by a concern for the future of the West, of our wildlands and wildlife, the health of our watersheds and a place where people (individuals and families, not the species) can flourish and stay in touch with wild nature. I want to know how we can best work together to ensure these things. This is particularly urgent given continued population growth, habitat fragmentation and degradation, and the reality of climate change – not to mention the majority of our Western politicians, who seem oblivious to these important matters.

One of my most cherished memories is working side by side with my grandfather on a ranch one summer when I was 16. We rode horses, rounded up calves, branded them, castrated them, and treated them for pink eye; I learned to drive a tractor and helped out with the irrigation and haying. There were no other kids on the ranch, so in the evenings I was left to myself for a couple of hours between dinner and bedtime. One evening after dinner I went out for a walk with my Winchester semi-automatic .22 rifle, on the lookout for something to shoot. In those days, it was a rite of passage for a boy to get a “varmint” rifle at about age 14.

While walking a path along the edge of an alfalfa field I saw a large bird with a whitish breast standing in the middle of the field about 100 yards away. A sitting duck, so to speak. Pointing my rifle in the direction of the bird and raising it slightly to allow for distance, I pulled the trigger. Instantly the bird fell over. Excitedly, I climbed over the fence and ran over to it. It was a beautiful barn owl, stone dead, its bright yellow eyes still open. I wondered what to do with it. Taxidermy wasn’t an option, but just leaving it seemed wasteful, so I plucked out a few of its feathers and proceeded to saw off its talons with a dull packet knife. After salvaging these trifles, I put my trophies in my shirt pocket and carried the dead bird over to the edge of the field and threw it into the sagebrush. Then I started walking back to the ranch house in the waning light, guided by the glow from a window a few hundred yards away. As I walked along, feeling some remorse for what I’d done, another owl, just like the one I’d killed, flew toward me and began to fly in circles just a few feet above my head. I thought it might attack me and I was scared, so I stopped. When I did, it lit on the nearest fence post, about six feet away, and stared straight at my face with its big yellow eyes. It was very spooky. I didn’t want to kill it too, so I tried shooting at the post below it instead, hoping to scare it off. But it wouldn’t leave. So I began walking again; and again the owl began circling my head on its silent wings. After a few seconds I stopped again and it stopped too, lighting on the nearest fence post and staring straight at my face. I shot at the post again. It didn’t move. This was repeated about a half dozen times, the owl following me nearly all the way back to the ranch house, each time looking me in the face with its big yellow eyes. I don’t know what became of my trophies, but the memory of that experience has stayed with me for 50 years. It was my Aldo Leopold moment.
The theme of this conference is “Integrating scientific findings into [cougar] management.” This is an interesting theme. It suggests that it isn’t obvious how scientific finds should be integrated into wildlife management. Why is this? When you think about it for just a moment, you see it is because science by itself doesn’t dictate wildlife management. Values play a role too.

Wildlife management programs involve values. There is no escaping it. Sometimes the values are of a purely practical nature, such as ways to simplify data collection or save money, or what not. Other times they involve killing animals and manipulating ecosystems to try to achieve some goal. The value judgments (or assumptions) reflected in the goal, and often in the methods for achieving it, are inexorably moral ones – even when the values at issue are not consciously entertained. They are institutionalized values.

This fact invites the question what values should prevail – what would be the morally best or right action in a given circumstance? Certainly it’s not always easy to know, but in practice the prevailing values tend to be the ones favored by the most politically influential interest groups, which are ranchers and hunters. Wildlife management agencies are largely captives of these interest groups. Consequently, wildlife management agencies are loath to forego the chance to provide hunting opportunities; and in general herbivores are favored over carnivores, with comparatively little concern for the welfare of animals or their roles in ecosystems.

In philosophy there is a grand distinction called the fact/value distinction. And there are fundamentally just two views about it. One view is that facts have nothing at all to do with values. The idea is that facts are objective and value neutral, while values are subjective – matters of arbitrary personal opinion. According to this view, different people have their own values, which might vary, and they project their values onto value neutral reality; whereas reality itself is value free.

Science tends to reinforce this view by teaching us to think of facts as objective, mind-independent states of affairs that make up the world, ideally susceptible of exhaustive description in terms of quantitative measures, such as mass and momentum, which can be represented in mathematical formulas. This idea is reinforced by the dominant economic paradigm which treats everything as a resource having only extrinsic value – a commodity to be used or treated however one chooses. This is reflected, for example, in the names of agencies, such as the “Utah Division of Wildlife Resources.”

The competing view about facts and values is that facts are not always value neutral, but are sometimes bearers of value, and that recognition of such value is important to making good moral choices. The term often used for this value is ‘intrinsic value’. It is value that things are believed to have independently of human valuing – a kind of value just as real as a physical object, but that isn’t captured by science and isn’t commensurable with economic value.

Wildlife management agencies, as public institutions, are largely beholden to political and money interests, so they often have to disregard questions of intrinsic value. Wildlife managers are often required to act as if facts are not bearers of value, even though some managers might take a different personal view, as I know many of them do. In that case, they must live with a certain amount of cognitive dissonance. Conservation activists, such as I and my colleagues, on the other hand, are not forced to ignore intrinsic values and so we tend to emphasize them in order to give them due recognition. And therefore, our views about how wildlife species ought to be managed, particularly predator species, tend to clash with official agency views.

Which view is correct? You are all familiar with Aldo Leopold’s account in Thinking like a Mountain, of an incident in his youth when he worked for the Forest Service. One day he shot an old she-wolf and arrived at her side just in time to see a “fierce green fire dying in her eyes.” 40 years later he formulated his famous “land ethic”: “A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise.” This famous passage is frequently quoted but rarely receives the kind of attention it deserves. Notice the words ‘right’, ‘wrong’, and ‘beauty’. These are value terms, whereas ‘integrity’ and ‘stability’ are scientific terms that apply to factual states of affairs. Leopold was certainly aware of this and deliberately meant to imply that facts can be bearers of value – value that he described as being of the “philosophic kind,” more commonly referred to as intrinsic value. He did not shy away from this conviction, which may have been planted in his mind decades earlier by the incident with the wolf.

Not everything is beautiful, but some things are. Not all beauty is merely “in the eye of the beholder.” And beauty can be more than “skin deep.” Wild animals are beautiful. Healthy ecosystems are beautiful. Wilderness is beautiful. People can be beautiful too. Beauty is a kind of intrinsic value and it deserves our respect. This was Leopold’s conviction; and it is my conviction too.

Wyoming Untrapped (Dec 12, 2013)

Jackson Hole News and Guide 12/4/2013 Reform trapping

On Nov. 22, two dogs were caught in snare and foothold traps while walking with their owner and caretaker along Fall Creek Road, a popular recreation area. The traps probably were aimed at fox or coyote, predators for which few trapping regulations apply in Wyoming. All too often, however, traps don’t discrimi­nate and other species often are caught. Sometimes they’re our pets. The Fall Creek incident was the second in little more than a year in that area. It was the fourth known incident in Jackson Hole during the same time period. Others undoubtedly have not been reported. Fortunately, these two dogs on Fall Creek were freed, but only after the owner and caretaker ran back to her vehicle and drove back to her house to retrieve bolt cutters. One dog was freed from the foothold trap after a ride to the veterinarian in Wilson.    In the Buffalo Valley last year a dog walking with its owner was caught in a foothold trap and required about $2,000 of veterinary care. Another dog was caught in a snare but uninjured the same day in the same place. These incidents raise the question of whether more popular recreation areas on public land should be off-limits to trapping. Trapping in Wyoming peaked in the mid-1880s, but persists today. The Wyoming Department of Game and Fish reported that approximately 1,800 permits to trap furbearing animals were issued in 2011. No permits are required to trap predators, such as coyote, fox and wolf. In 85 percent of the state, predator trapping is allowed at all times of the year. Trappers are not required to report trapping of “non-target” animals unless they’re seriously injured or killed, so no records are available to tell us how often it happens. Trappers also have no responsibility for any harm that may come to you or your dog if you happen to step into a trap. Trapping regulations today are at best antiquated. Trap check times are ridiculously long in some instances, resulting in days of suffering for trapped animals. For example, if placed on a Monday, body grip and conibear traps need not be checked for 13 days. What do you suppose would happen to your dog during that time? With the removal of the gray wolf from the federal Endangered Species List, anecdotal evidence suggests that trapping frequency and trap size have increased. And predator trappers are allowed to use any size and number of traps and place them almost anywhere on public lands. With the price of bobcat pelts rising, we can expect more trapping. It is time to take a hard look at the practice of trapping and how it’s regulated on our public lands. Roger Hayden Executive Director Wyoming Untrapped

Linnea Gardner (July 3, 2013)

Jackson Hole News and Guide   5/3/2013 Another Trap Incident

Beware everyone who recreates in the Munger Mountain/Fall Creek area.  On June 30th, in an effort to cool off, a friend, my dog and I went down to the large meadow, about 1.5 miles south of the bus turnaround on Fall Creek Road, to wade in the creek.  As we came out of the creek, about 10 feet from the embankment, we encountered a 6-inch-plus leg-hold trap staked in the ground and virtually invisible as it blended in so well with the dirt and growth. Fortunately for all of us, the trap had been sprung.  Unfortunately for the animal it had caught.  There was a chewed off paw still in the trap.  It looked like the trap had been abandoned and had been there for a while, possibly since last winter.  I could not find an identification tag or the stake. This area is heavily used for recreation in all seasons.  My friend and I were both wearing sandals for wading and could easily have stepped on the trap had it been open.  My dog got his muzzle right up to it before I even saw it.  Less than 20 yards away, two young boys were playing in the creek and running around the embankments.  I see people there daily, fishing and wandering the banks.  These people include families with children and neighbors letting their dogs out for a good run and to play in the creek. This is my public land, too, and my “backyard,” and I go there regularly and have for over a dozen years. My dog was snared a mile from this location in December, and now I’m coming across leg-hold traps 100 yards from the road.  I’m so angry. I don’t know how many other traps there might be out there.  Sprung or not.  I don’t’ want to find out the hard way.  I don’t want there to be a third time and have my dog maimed or killed, or get my foot caught in one of those.  I don’t want it to happen to anyone else. This is a safety issue for everyone.  There are some areas that need to be off-limits for trapping of any kind. Voice your concern:  Wyoming Game and Fish, Jackson 733-2321.  Bridger-Teton National Forest, Jackson District 739-5400. Linnea Gardner Wilson, WY

Ursula Neese (January 4, 2013)

Shared by Footloose Montana, published in the Livingston Enterprise. Editor.

The day was like many in Montana — a cold winter blue sky day. We were walking our dog last week in an area where we have walked for the past 17 years. Our dog was glad to be out in this familiar setting and was out to our side about 30 feet sniffing and looking for rodents, when all of a sudden she was bolting in the air frantically screeching, yelping and biting uncontrollably. We ran to help. It took a second to realize what it was: “My god, it’s two traps that were clamped down on her front leg above the paw and her back leg at her paw.” She was fiercely trying to bite them off. Blood was flowing. We were freaked, and tried to calm her. We tried to restrain her from hurting herself more. She finally went into shock and became docile. We were afraid to try and release the traps for fear of hurting her more. My friend started having severe chest pain and I had to take over restraining Solano. We both had our cell phones, so we called 911, our vet, and the land owner. We then tried to pull the traps from the ground where they were staked. No luck. Such a mixture of archaic tortures and telephones! Our vet arrived and the sheriff was not far behind. Our vet was able to release the traps. Solano was taken to our vet’s office, X-rayed, and found to have no broken bones, though she has several broken teeth from trying to bite off the steel traps. My friend continued to have chest pain. Both were lucky. Other pets or people might not be so lucky. A wild animal would definitely not be so lucky. The thought of how my dog reacted and was injured in this very short amount of time reminds us of the unthinkable process a wild animal might go through in the 24 to 48 hours before her killer arrives. Montana regulations are very much all about the trapper and not about the public or the animals that are being trapped. A trap can be set only 150 feet from a road, and the trap does not need to be marked in any way for a person to see it. In fact, most of the regs are all about the hunt. This treatment of animals is not a hunt at all — it is malicious torture of our wildlife and can lead to injury of people and their pets. I suggest that anyone thinking of joining the trapper group please take two traps into a field, stake them down, and when they are nicely frozen in, walk out and place both hands into the traps so they will snap into place. I’m sure no trapper would do this, but I hope you get the point. We must stop this trapping now, please write, call your legislators. So the second part to this horrific day: When Solano was caught in a wolf trap and DD and I were struggling for Solano’s life, a rush of adrenaline and calcium was heading for DD’s heart. What that means in the medical world is that she was having a heart attack caused by the anxiety of our dog’s life being threatened in an instant. We took her to the ER in Livingston, where her enzyme levels indicated that her heart was sustaining damage. She was taken then to Bozeman by ambulance, and into the cath lab. They determined that she had a Stress Cardiomiopathy a “mild heart attack” that is solely produced in a fight or flight situation. She is going to be fine. She does not have a diseased heart — her attacker was the wolf trap. Ursula Neese South of Livingston

John Ruther (May 21, 2008)

May 24, 2017 – Jackson Hole News and Guide

Manage Wolves for All

With wolves listed as a predatory species for a majority of the year during the spring, summer and autumn months just south and west of town, there will be many more dogs caught by traps as people get outside to engage in recreational activities.

We are encouraging citizens to keep their pets on a leash or very close by when recreating on public lands south and west of town. Wolf traps are larger than traps set for other species and will easily catch and injure or kill pets. The archaic trapping regulations in Wyoming allow trappers to place an unlimited number of traps of any size on public lands. Traps do not have to be set off of trails. Snares do not have to be checked for up to 13 days. The laws and regulations favor the very few individual trappers and give no protections to the hundreds of thousands of pet owners in this state. If your dog is caught or injured, the trapper holds no legal responsibility whatsoever.

Numerous studies have been published that indicate nonlethal measures are more effective at reducing livestock losses from predators than lethal measures. We eradicated wolves from this state once; it can easily happen again. The current management plan does not include any provisions for educating livestock producers on nonlethal techniques or prevention of depredation. It focuses only on how many wolves can be killed and where. Wyoming is once again “managing” our wolves and other predators to minimum numbers. One hundred wolves do not constitute a healthy population.

With tourism the No. 2 industry in the state, why aren’t we managing our wildlife to reflect current nationwide cultural values? Millions of tourists are visiting Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks every year, bringing much-needed income to the state. Will visitors return when the wolves they used to see every year are gone? How will the residents of this state who love wildlife feel when they can no longer catch a glimpse of a wolf on our public lands? A wolf license costs $19 while that same wolf alive can bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars that benefits the whole community. All people should have access to shared resources that are held in trust for the public.

There is also a significant volume of mounting evidence that shows predator populations are self-regulating. Wolves do not need to be hunted. Perhaps the most disgusting thing is that wolves will now be afforded no protection in a majority of the state, not even from animal cruelty laws. Are you aware that there are contests to see who can kill the most predators that are held statewide every year? Wolves will be killed as a part of this repulsive and completely unnecessary, outdated practice. They will be shot on sight, run over with snowmobiles (which currently happens to coyotes — just search for it on YouTube), beaten to death, poisoned by M-44 cyanide bombs, left to suffer in traps for up to three days, chased down and shot from aircraft and generally treated lower than dirt. This is unacceptable treatment of any animal, but especially so for an iconic keystone species like the wolf.

We are in the geologic era known as the Anthropocene in which species are going extinct at an alarming rate, much faster than ever before. Large mammals will be the first to go. And we are allowing some of the most vulnerable to purposely be killed? When are we going to move our wildlife management into the modern century? When are we going to listen to science and evidence instead of relying on anachronistic attitudes based on fear and ignorance?

Almost 70 years after Aldo Leopold wrote and taught about the importance of our moral responsibility to the natural world, it’s incredible we are still discussing the wanton killing of predators. The focus of wolf management has to change to co-existence if we are to leave a lasting legacy of complete, diverse ecosystems behind to our children.

Kristin Combs Program Director Wyoming Untrapped
Jackson, WY

https://wyominguntrapped.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Kristins-LTE-Wolf-Management-5.24.17-JHNG.docx

Shared by Footloose Montana.

Hello, my name is John Ruther and I would like to deliver a message, using the experience of my dog companion Logans’ death in a snare trap.

The first hint of a snare’s work is your animal will be jumping, acting as if he is getting into mischief off there in the woods. Then, as your attention wanders, the corner of your eye will catch the jumping turning bizzare, almost as if a buck deer, or bear, or mountain lion, or something, is throwing him backwards, violently, over and over. It will be quiet, all the while there will be only the struggle. As you walk cautiously towards that place there will be stillness. When you see your animal it will be alive, fighting with every ounce of life it has left to get air into its’ lungs. Its’ legs will be straight out, perpendicular from the body, the tail will be rigid, the eyes will be wide and bright and pleading, the mouth and tongue will be the wrong color, a precursor to death purple.You may think, as I did, that your animal friend has broken his neck. You might speak to your friend to try to comfort him in what suddenly seems to be his final moments, you will search his body for wounds, you will gently roll him to search his other side and to be prepared to give heart compressions. The realization of his life slipping away will compel you to say his name to him what seems to be a thousand times. In the end you will be staring into his eyes, they will be the eyes of your best friend, they will be shining and filled with terror, and then, as sure as we all will die, the brightness fades slowly, and that unique irreplaceable spirit is no longer there. And then, as you stroke your friends’ still warm body for the last time, you may find it, as I did, the hidden wire around his neck, the snare embedded in his neck and lying in the tall grass and tied to the bush. Then the absurd but necessary for your sanity attempts at mouth to mouth resuscitation and heart compressions, and finally the acknowledgement that it all is very wrong, but absolutely real. This must be trapping at its’ best, the physical killing of a dog and the spiritual killing of a man.