Montana Trappers In for a Fight

Footloose Montana, an anti-trapping group, has pushed forward an initiative on Montana ballots that would outlaw all trapping on public land in the state.

The Montana Trappers Association has been monitoring the situation for months and President Tom Barnes had this to say in his last T&PC report:

Your board is not sitting back hoping they will just go away. We are working on some things to counteract their actions. This all takes time and money (Serious Money!). This will be an effort by all organizations effected by any such initiative, and believe me there are many that will be effected. We are working toward getting everyone on board to fight this war. I will not go into detail on what we are working on, because who knows who might read this. If you would like to find out more, feel free to give any director or myself a call.

You can contact Tom at 406-683-2791 or t_barnes@wmc.edu.

If you'd like to donate to the MTA, visit their donations page. I'm sure they will appreciate any help you can provide.

Here is a draft copy of the Footloose Montana initiative:

BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MONTANA

AN INITIATIVE CALLED THE MONTANA TRAP-FREE PUBLIC LANDS INITIATIVE   PROHIBITING TRAPPING OF ANIMALS ON PUBLIC LAND WITHIN THE STATE OF MONTANA EXCEPT FOR SCIENTIFIC OR PROPGATION PURPOSES AND PROVIDING AN IMMEDIATE EFFECTIVE DATE.
Be it enacted by the people of the state of Montana:
    NEW SECTION. Section 1. Short title. [Sections 1 through 3] may be cited as the Montana Trap-Free Public Lands Initiative.
    NEW SECTION. Section 2. Findings. The people of the state of Montana find as follows:

1.    Animal trapping poses significant financial threats to Montana's tourism revenue stream.  An estimated two hundred fifty million to three hundred million dollars per year flow into our state from wildlife watching activities.  The direct loss of wildlife due to trapping, as well as the unfavorable public opinion of such activities, poses a direct threat to this revenue source.

2.    Animal trapping is largely unregulated in Montana.  There are no limits to the number of traps a trapper may set, and thus, no limit to the number of animals taken each year.  No data exist as to the population numbers or overall health of any of the animal species being trapped.  Montana is in danger of decimating its wildlife populations through trapping.

3.    The ethical implications of trapping are very disturbing.  The suffering inflicted upon so many species in the name of recreation and profit is astounding.  The people of Montana have too much respect for the wildlife within their state to allow such activities to continue.

4.    Montana's public lands should be open to all people.  By placing such hazardous and indiscriminate devices on our public lands, the trapping community is putting others, as well as their companion animals, at constant risk.  The people of Montana have a right to recreate on public lands without fear of injury to themselves or their pets from such devices.

Section 3.  Section 87-2-103, MCA is amended to read:

License required.  (1) Except as provided in subsection (2), it is unlawful for a person to:
(a) hunt or trap or attempt to hunt or trap any game animal, any game bird, or any fur-bearing animal or to fish for any fish within this state or possess within this state any game animal, game bird, fur-bearing animal, game fish, or parts of those animals or birds, except as provided by law or as provided by the department; or
(b) hunt or trap or attempt to hunt or trap any game animal, game bird, or fur-bearing animal or fish for any fish, except at the places and during the periods and in the manner defined by law or as defined by the department; or
(c) hunt or trap or attempt to hunt or trap any game animal, game bird, or fur-bearing animal or fish for any fish within this state or possess, sell, purchase, ship, or reship any imported or other fur-bearing animal or parts of fur-bearing animals without first having obtained a proper and valid license or permit from the department to do so; or
(d) trap or attempt to trap predatory animals or nongame wildlife without a license, as prescribed in 87-2-603, if that person is not a resident as defined in 87-2-102; or
(e) trap or attempt to trap wildlife, game, and nongame animals on public lands in Montana except as allowed under 87-2-806 MCA or 87-2-807 MCA.
(2) The provisions of this section do not require a person who accompanies a licensed disabled hunter, as authorized under 87-2-803(4), to be licensed in order to kill or attempt to kill a game animal that has been wounded by a disabled hunter when the disabled hunter is unable to pursue and kill the wounded game animal.  However, the person must meet the qualifications for a license in the person's state of residence.
NEW SECTION.  Section 4.  {standard} This act is effective upon approval by the electorate. 
NEW SECTION. Section 5. Submission to electorate. {standard} This act shall be submitted to the qualified electors of Montana at the general election to be held in November 2010 by printing on the ballot the following:
Statement of Purpose (100 words)
This initiative prohibits trapping of wildlife, game and nongame wildlife, including  furbearers, wolves and predators, by any means on any public lands within the state of Montana, except as allowed for scientific or propagation purposes.
Statements of Implication (25 words)
[]  FOR prohibiting trapping of animals on any public lands within the state of Montana.

[]  AGAINST prohibiting trapping of animals on any public lands within the state of Montana.

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Wildlife Society Annual Conference - 2009

Join us for The Wildlife Society's 16th Annual Conference taking place September 20-24 in Monterey, California. On opening day at the Plenary session, a panel will discuss "The Use and Abuse of Science in Fish and Wildlife Policy Decisions," a topic that spotlights one of the most significant challenges facing wildlife professionals today. That evening, attendees are invited to enjoy the Opening Reception/Dinner at the acclaimed Monterey Bay Aquarium.
The conference will feature more than 200 concurrent paper presentations as well as posters sessions, half-day and full-day workshops, related field trips, and multiple networking opportunities for wildlife professionals at all career stages. On Monday, September 21, attendees can explore new career possibilities at the Career Fair in the Exhibit Hall from 8 a.m. to noon, then attend the Student-Professional Mixer and Dinner that evening.
TWS Council chose to keep registration fees at the 2008 level for TWS members only. To take advantage of early-bird registration rates, you can register now online, or by downloading the registration form and sending it with payment to The Wildlife Society by fax at 301-530-2471 or by mail to 5410 Grosvenor Lane, Suite 200, Bethesda, MD 20814. If you have questions or need assistance, please email mlevin@wildlife.org or call 301-897-9770 x 315. As for hotel rooms, TWS has arranged for discounted rates at the Portola Hotel adjacent to conference center (rates start at $179 per night) and at the Hyatt Regency Monterey (rates start at $169 per night; use code g-wild).

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New Trapping Magazine makes its' Debut !

Announcing Trappers Post, a bi-monthly magazine devoted exclusively to trapping. Published and edited by Bob Noonan. Trapper’s Post will be a bi-monthly magazine of tabloid size (11x12-inch). The first issue will be September/October 2009.
For more information and to subscribe go to: www.trapperspost.com

WCS "Magnum" Gloves Being Used on TV

Ned Bruha, "The Skunk Whisperer" using WCS "Magnum" gloves on TV

 

http://video.yahoo.com/network/100000086?v=5289218&l=100000085

Eastern States Home to 163,000 Black Bear

The Three Bears? Try 163,000 ... and counting
4 days ago
HARLAN, Ky. (AP) — Bobby Koger was deer hunting on a Kentucky hillside when a black bear gave him the fright of his life.

A 300-pound animal, apparently unhappy that an intruder was on his turf, came charging and didn't stop until Koger raised his .50 caliber muzzleloading rifle and fired from point-blank range. A hunting companion who witnessed the attack from a distance also shot the bruin, which wheeled, ran a short distance and collapsed.

Conservation officers concluded that they fired in self-defense at a bear that had lost its natural fear of humans.
With black bear populations rising, run-ins have become almost commonplace — more than 15,000 in the past year in states east of the Mississippi River according to a survey of state wildlife agencies.

Canadian bear researcher Hank Hristienko, who conducted the survey in January, found that 18 Eastern states were seeing more encounters with bears.

Most encounters involve hungry bears raiding backyard bird feeders or toppling garbage bins, but sometimes they're harrowing. In a 2006 attack, a 210-pound male bear killed a 6-year-old girl and mauled her 2-year-old brother as well as her mother who tried to fend off the animal. The attack occurred during a family outing in Tennessee's Cherokee National Forest.

Some bears have become brazen, dining beneath backyard fruit trees, raiding pet food bowls, even chasing campers. At a park near Prestonsburg, Ky., last year, a bear held tourists at bay inside a cabin until rangers arrived to chase it away.

They have also become road hazards. Wildlife agencies reported more than 1,300 struck by automobiles in 2008.
The U.S. bear population more than doubled between 1989 and 2006, rising from 165,000 to over 350,000, according to The International Association of Bear Research and Management, a bear conservation nonprofit that takes a periodic census of the animals. The Eastern states alone now have about 163,000 bears, according to findings Hristienko released in May.

Biologists with the same group found nearly 20,000 reported conflicts between bears and humans in 37 states in a 2006 survey of state wildlife agencies.

More recently, in the Eastern region alone, 18 states reported an increase in bear-human conflicts over the past year, Hristienko found in his survey of wildlife agencies.

Tennessee reported the largest increase, up from 300 to 1,000 over the past 10 years. That was followed by New York, which went from 587 to 1,127, and New Jersey, which jumped from 691 encounters to 1,117.

Frank van Manen, a U.S. Geological Survey research ecologist and president of the International Association for Bear Research and Management, said it's not that the bears are becoming more aggressive. Instead, he said, bear populations are skyrocketing under state bans or limits on bear hunting.

"What we have seen throughout the eastern United States is quite a phenomenal range expansion of the black bear," van Manen said. "With the range expansion, the likelihood of the encounters is increasing."

Black bears are the most common bear species in the U.S. with measurable populations in most states. Their larger cousin, the grizzly, is limited to the northwestern states and Alaska. They eat just about anything, including meat, but tend to subsist mostly on insects, nuts, berries, acorns and other vegetation.

Stephanie Boyles, a wildlife scientist for the Humane Society of the United States, said 14 people have been killed in attacks by black bears in North America since 2000, including two in Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Cherokee National Forest. Boyles said another 10 people were killed by grizzlies during the period, mostly in Alaska and Canada.

In Kentucky, officials opened a hunting season for bears, a move pushed by the state League of Sportsmen to reinforce the animals' fear of humans.

More than a century ago, bears thrived in Kentucky, but over-hunting and habitat loss led to their disappearance. As the large animals have ventured back from neighboring states, Kentucky residents nowadays find themselves unaccustomed to living among bears.

"You've got bears moving into areas where people live and you've got people moving into areas where bears live," said Mark Ternent, a state bear biologist in Pennsylvania. "Both of those scenarios frequently involve people with little experience living around bears."

Ternent said most of the encounters are harmless, ending with the bears running away.
"The average bear is afraid of people," he said. "If it encounters a person, it would rather flee than fight."
Boyles said people can prevent unwanted bear encounters by doing simple things like putting bird feeders out of reach of the animals, putting trash out only on the day it is to be picked up, and keeping pet food indoors.

Koger, a construction worker, said he has run across lots of bears over the years in the mountains of eastern Kentucky. Most of the time, he said, the bears don't relish the encounters either.

"Usually they want to get away from you as much you want to get away from them," he said. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jW8Az6dNM2XOhDW1ew8OEEji-MuAD98Q4B6G0

WCS Unveils New Web Site

Wildlife Control Supplies is happy to announce that on Friday 6/12/09 we go live with a new and improved web store! For the past few months we have been working diligently on the new site in order to better satisfy the needs of our customers and increase the convenience of shopping with us. You can still access us at www.wildlifecontrolsupplies.com or www.shopwcs.com.

New features like customer selectable searches (e.g. by price, by name, best sellers, arrivals), the latest "new items" will be listed on our home page and more user friendly categories are some of the new enhancements. For those customers who have set-up a login and password on our old site, that login information has been moved to the new site. For customers who have or establish an account with a login and password, order history moving forward will be captured for future reference.

We hope that you find our new site easier to navigate and that your shopping experience is better than ever! As always, we value your feedback. Once online, let us know how you like our new site. We will continue to add enhancements to make shopping with us easier and convenient.

Wildlife Control Supplies!

NPMA Announces PestWorld Keynote Speakers

FAIRFAX, Va. — The National Pest Management Association (NPMA) has announced the line-up of keynote speakers for its 76th Annual PestWorld Convention & Exhibition.  

Speakers include Christopher Gardner, the inspiration for the film The Pursuit of Happyness, and Bob Pritchard, a global marketing expert.  

NPMA PestWorld 2009 will be held Oct. 26-29 at The Venetian Palazzo Resort-Hotel-Casino in Las Vegas.

 The PestWorld 2009 program of events and conference registration are now available online at www.npmapestworld.org/events.

 

50th Annual National Trappers Convention

From July 30 to Aug. 2 in Lima, Ohio, the Allen County Fairgrounds will host the 50th Annual NTA Convention.

Admission is $10 per person for the whole show. Children ages 2 and under are free.

Camping costs $25 with electric/water per day and $10 per day without electric/water. Supply dealers from throughout the United States will be on hand at the convention.

The demonstrator lineup includes Pete Hammond, Eric Space, Dave Linkhart, PDK Snaring, Kirk DeKalb, Art Scott, Bob Best, Dirk Shear, Jeff Robinson, Jeff Squires, Corky Klausing, Clint Locklear, Henry Beecher, FHA, Bob Jameson, Ron Leggett, Rally Hess, Ray McMillen, Butch
Barhorst, Jim Blakley, Tom Parr, Mark Stackhouse, Blackie Baits, John Graham, NAFA, Carl Jones, Hal Sullivan, Nick Bower and Jim Geffert.

A benefit auction, dinner, and dance are part of the annual festivities.

To purchase tickets, send money to National Trappers Association, 2815 Washington Ave., Bedford, Indiana 47421.

For further information, visit www.nationaltrappers.com/2009nat.html or contact Dan Skurski at 231-590-9288 or 231-988-4432 or email at skurski@nationaltrappers.com.

Two Major Upcoming Trapping Events

Tomorrow marks the start of the first of the year's major trapping events. The 2009 Fur Takers of America Rendezvous will be June 11 to 13, Mena, Ark., hosted at the Polk County Fairgrounds.

A little more than a month later, the 50th Annual National Trappers Association Convention takes place in Lima, Ohio. The golden anniversary of the event takes place July 30 to Aug. 2.