Category: Non-Targets Trapped Elsewhere

Our friend, Steve, raises some important questions about who and what is honored in the North American Wildlife Conservation Model designed for all wildlife and for all people. Take note!

While we appreciate what true sportsman did for wildlife conservation, significant excise tax from guns and ammo also comes from many guns purchased for personal protection such as handguns, or target shooting. In contrast, there is no excise tax on traps.

“The North American Wildlife Conservation Model

The North American Wildlife Conservation Model is the only one of its kind in the world. In the mid-1800’s hunters and anglers realized they needed to set limits in order to protect rapidly disappearing wildlife, and assume responsibility for managing wild habitats. Hunters and anglers were among the first to crusade for wildlife protection and remain some of today’s most important conservation leaders.

History
As early settlers made their way West, North America’s wildlife populations diminished due to market-hunting and habitat loss. Many species were on the brink of extinction. Elk, bison, bighorn sheep, black bears—even whitetail deer—had all but disappeared across the country. Hunters and anglers realized they needed to set limits in order to protect what they loved and assume responsibility for the stewardship of our natural resources.
Hunters like Theodore Roosevelt and George Bird Grinnell rallied fellow sportsmen. They pushed for hunting regulations and established conservation groups to protect habitat.

Basic Principles
Their efforts are the backbone of the North American Wildlife Conservation Model. The model has two basic principles – that our fish and wildlife belong to all Americans, and that they need to be managed in a way that their populations will be sustained forever.
The principles of the North American Wildlife Conservation Model are explained more fully through a set of guidelines known as the Seven Sisters for Conservation.

Sister #1 – Wildlife is Held in the Public Trust
In North American, natural resources and wildlife on public lands are managed by government agencies to ensure that current and future generations always have wildlife and wild places to enjoy.
Sister #2 – Prohibition on Commerce of Dead Wildlife
Commercial hunting and the sale of wildlife is prohibited to ensure the sustainability of wildlife populations.
Sister #3 – Democratic Rule of Law
Hunting and fishing laws are created through the public process where everyone has the opportunity and responsibility to develop systems of wildlife conservation and use.
Sister #4 – Hunting Opportunity for All
Every citizen has an opportunity, under the law, to hunt and fish in the United States and Canada.
Sister #5 – Non-Frivolous Use
In North America, individuals may legally kill certain wild animals under strict guidelines for food and fur, self-defense and property protection. Laws restrict against the casual killing of wildlife merely for antlers, horns or feathers.
Sister #6 – International Resources
Wildlife and fish migrate freely across boundaries between states, provinces and countries. Working together, the United States and Canada jointly coordinate wildlife and habitat management strategies. The Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 demonstrates this cooperation between countries to protect wildlife. The Act made it illegal to capture or kill migratory birds, except as allowed by specific hunting regulations.
Sister #7 – Scientific Management
Sound science is essential to managing and sustaining North America’s wildlife and habitats.

Wildlife Funding
Hunters also recognized the need for a significant and sustainable source of funding for wildlife stewardship. In 1937, sportsmen successfully lobbied Congress to pass the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act, which put an excise tax on the sale of all sporting arms and ammunition. This was followed in 1950 by the Dingell-Johnson Act, which placed a similar tax on fishing equipment. Today, every time you buy hunting and fishing gear, you contribute to this fund. It generates upwards of 700 million dollars every year. This money has been used far and wide to conserve America’s key wildlife habitat. When you combine funding from the excise tax with the state license and tag sales sportsmen pay each year, it constitutes the majority of funding for wildlife in North America. It’s not just funding for huntable wildlife, but for ALL wildlife.

( Source: Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation)

NOW WITH THE NORTH AMERICAN WILDLIFE CONSERVATION MODEL IN MIND, THESE QUESTIONS NEED TO BE ASKED:
IF THE NORTH AMERICAN SPORTSMEN HOLD THIS MODEL IN SUCH HIGH ESTEEM, WHY DO SO MANY PICK AND CHOOSE ONLY CERTAN PARTS OF THE MODEL TO REGULATE THEIR SPORT AND IGNORE THE REST ?

WHY IS SOUND SCIENCE IGNORED BY MANY STATE WILDLIFE DEPARTMENTS IN ORDER TO SATISFY THE WHIMS OF CERTAIN UNETHICAL HUNTING ORGANIZATIONS THAT HUNT ONLY FOR TROPHIES, TRAP ANIMALS FOR FURS TO BE SOLD, CREATE WILDLIFE KILLING CONTESTS, OR ADVOCATE FOR ONE SPECIES OVER ANOTHER.

IF WILDLIFE BELONGS TO ALL AMERICANS, WHY ARE SO MANY NON-HUNTING AMERICANS THAT SUPPORT THE NORTH AMERICAN CONSERVATION MODEL DENIED A VOICE IN HOW WILDLIFE IS TO BE MANAGED ?

SISTER GUIDELINE # 1 STATES WILDLIFE IS HELD IN THE PUBLIC TRUST. IF THIS BE TRUE, WHY DO MANY SPORTSMAN SIDE WITH POLITICIANS AND CORPORATIONS INTENT ON SELLING OFF OUR PUBLIC LANDS, AND WITH IT THE WILDLIFE THAT INHABIT THOSE LANDS ?

IF SISTER GUIDELINE # 2 & # 5 PROHIBITS THE COMMERCIALIZATION OF DEAD WILDLIFE. THEN WHY IS TRAPPING ALLOWED WHERE THE SOLE INTENT OF THIS INDUSTRY IS TO TRAP AND KILL WILDLIFE, WHOSE FURS ARE TO BE COMMERCIALLY SOLD ?

FINALLY, WITH THE CONTINUAL DOWNWARD TREND OF SPORTSMAN DOLLARS SUPPORTING THIS NORTH AMERICAN CONSERVATION MODEL, WHY DO SO MANY SPORTSMAN CONTINUALLY DENY NON-CONSUMER REVENUE THAT WOULD HELP SUPPORT THIS MODEL ?

THE ETHICAL SPORTSMEN THAT HOLD THE NORTH AMERICAN CONSERVATION MODEL IN SUCH HIGH ESTEEM AND TAKE SUCH OVER WHELMING PRIDE IN THE CREATION OF THIS HONORABLE CONSERVATION MODEL NEED TO ASK THEMSELVES: WHY ARE WE ALLOWING THOSE WITHIN OUR OWN COMMUNITIES TO RUN RAM SHOD OVER THE PRINCIPLES OF THIS MODEL, AND DICTATE WILDLIFE POLICIES THROUGH POLITICS WITH NO REPERCUSSIONS? IT IS NOT THE NON-CONSUMERS THAT ARE THE THREAT TO THE NORTH AMERICAN WILDLIFE CONSERVATION MODEL, AS THE MAJORITY BELIEVE JUST AS STRONGLY IN ITS PRINCIPLES, THAT SPORTSMEN NEED TO BE CONCERNED ABOUT, ITS THOSE UNETHICAL FRACTIONS WITHIN THE HUNTING COMMUNITY ITSELF THAT THE ETHICAL SPORTSMAN SHOULD BE FIGHTING AGAINST.”

Steve Clevidence

The release of a bald eagle after it was caught in a trap in Montana in March 2015. That makes a minimum of 15 raptors, including numerous golden eagles, goshawk, and owls that fell victim to traps and snares in Montana from 2013 through just January 2015. Some never made it onto the Montana FWP records, yet the reports and/or records of treatment exist. Most of the birds were injured. Some were found dead. Birds of prey, aka raptors, are federally protected under the Migratory Bird act. Most trappings occurred on public land. A couple of trappers received a warning. We are aware of only one trapper being charged. This maybe because most sets were determined legal and catching “incidental” nontargets is exactly part of what trapping does. Wildlife that are incidentally captured in traps in Montana, that can be released uninjured, are not required to be reported. This determination of injury generally falls upon the trapper once they return to check their trap. A rarely publicized exception for reporting is for traps set for wolves. ALL “non-targets’ caught in “wolf sets” must be reported in Montana. We have no required trap check time interval in Montana, other than wolves are permitted to suffer for up to 48 hours stuck in a trap. Experts tell us after 24 hours, injury is a given. An animal alive, running off or flying away does not equate to uninjured. Their future is bleak and fate unknown. To try to prevent raptors from getting trapped, Montana regulations require bait greater than 1lb in weight that is visible from above be set 30 feet from the trap. Clearly, this isn’t working. How many perish, never to be discovered, never reported? Meanwhile, wildlife rehabbers, veterinarians, FWP, you and we pay. However, raptors, like all the targeted and indiscriminate victims of trapping pay the most.

Luckily someone found the eagle before it starved to death. The trap cut off circulation to her foot so a toe had to be amputated.

• This Bald Eagle Was Found In A Trap. Now She’s Finally Flying Free April 8, 2015– The Huffington Post | By Katie Sola
• Glasgow man charged with illegally killing golden eagle March 31, 2015 – Helena Independent Record
• Golden eagles falling victim to snare traps Jan 29, 2015- The Spokesman-Review
• Injured eagle shows risks of trapping, Missoula raptor researcher says February 02, 2015- Missoulian – Rob Chaney
• 3 golden eagles caught in snare traps in Montana; 2 die Jan 28, 2015- Billings Gazette- MARTIN KIDSTON

After spending over 3 years as a trail volunteer for Lee Metcalf Wildlife refuge in Stevensville Montana, a dedicated volunteer quit as a result of finding a beaver crushed, drowned, intentionally from a conibear trap. When she asked the staff what was going on they said these were planned trappings for night to kill beavers for the waters for ducks. The legal trapping of beaver ended in this district 7 days before this beaver was trapped. What can we say of Montana, a dry arid state, with increasing temperatures and decreasing precipitation, with shrinking wetlands impacting rare and endangered species, reduced water resources impacting big game browse, agriculture, irrigation, fisheries and natural fire breaks, where perhaps the most critically necessary species able to create and rectify these dwindling resources……….is not permitted to live out their vital role in the ecosystem and instead of finding safe haven is purposefully trapped and killed at our wildlife refuge, contradictory to the design and vitality of the Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge in the first place. “Designated in 1964, the Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge was created to provide habitats for migratory birds. The 2,800 acres of lush riparian and wetland habitats attract a variety of wildlife. About 250 species of birds, 37 species of mammals, and 17 species of reptiles and amphibians have been documented on the Refuge.” http://visitmt.com/listing/categories_NET/MoreInfo.aspx… To add insult to injury, to proclaim trapping beaver on the refuge was to benefit ducks? Beaver help waterfowl by creating increased areas of water, and in northerly latitudes they thaw areas of open water, allowing an earlier nesting season. In a study of Wyoming streams and rivers, watercourses with beaver had 75-fold more ducks than those without. Trumpeter swans and Canada geese often depend on beaver lodges as nesting sites.[ Canada’s small trumpeter swan population was observed not to nest on large lakes, preferring instead to nest on the smaller lakes and ponds associated with beaver activity. WikipediaNorth American Beaver Beaver may benefit the birds frequenting their ponds in several additional ways. Removal of some pondside trees by beavers would increase the density and height of the grass–forb–shrub layer, which enhances waterfowl nesting cover adjacent to ponds. Both forest gaps where trees had been felled by beaver and a “gradual edge” described as a complex transition from pond to forest with intermixed grasses, forbs, saplings, and shrubs are strongly associated with greater migratory bird species richness and abundance. Coppicing of waterside willows and cottonwoods by beavers leads to dense shoot production which provides important cover for birds and the insects they feed on. Widening of the riparian terrace alongside streams is associated with beaver dams and has been shown to increase riparian bird abundance and diversity, an impact that may be especially important in semi-arid climates. WikipediaNorth American Beaver As trees are drowned by rising beaver impoundments they become ideal nesting sites for woodpeckers, who carve cavities that attract many other bird species including flycatchers, tree swallows, tits, wood ducks, goldeneyes, mergansers, owls and American kestrels. Piscivores, including herons , grebes, cormorants, American bitterns, great egret , snowy egret, mergansers and belted kingfishers, utilize beaver ponds for fishing. Hooded mergansers, green heron, great blue heron and belted kingfisher occurred more frequently in New York wetlands where beaver were active than at sites with no beaver activity. WikipediaNorth American Beaver According to FWP, in the last 6 recorded years, almost 40,000 beaver have been reported trapped and killed in Montana. Beaver can be trapped in unlimited numbers throughout much of the year and DO NOT need to be REPORTED. “Beavers are a keystone species – that is, their presence and activities are so important to an ecosystem that their removal leads to a loss of habitat for other species and a breakdown of ecological integrity.” –Dave Foreman, Rewilding North America, 2004 Need any more reasons to support our initiative? Please help spread the word! Getting our initiative on the ballot and successful passage of it will help protect beavers and other species on Montana public lands and refuges!

Winter and prevalent trapping diminishes as animals shed out their desirable furs. Yet the evident cruelty of trapping is timeless. A bear cub has become another known innocent victim of trapping and is killed as a result of a snare. A snare costs only a couple of dollars. Therefore, they are set out often in large numbers, usually baited, carelessly, forgotten, irresponsibly as is characteristic of trapping. Trapping, including the use of snares, is legal in Montana year round. How many victims of trapping are there?

Wild and Free

Photo courtesy Wild and Free This cub was brought to us with an illegal snare around its neck. Unfortunately the bear’s injuries were too extensive to treat. He was humanely euthanized and the authorities are looking into the illegal snare.

Here is what one wildlife rehab center had to say about enclosed foothold traps, aka dogproof coon traps. “I am shocked to see the animal in this condition,” says Ashley Kinney, wildlife rehabilitation supervisor for the center. “I have never seen such a horrendous piece of equipment — almost like a scene out of a horror movie.” Trappers like them because the animal cannot chew off or gnaw on their paw as they customarily do to try to escape the foothold trap. Not surprising, these traps, too, are legal in Montana.

Conibear traps are body crushing, designed as quick kill traps, in response to the suffering of trapped animals. To think, what this dog has gone through and is lucky to be alive. Who pays for this in addition to the dog? Conibear traps are legal in Montana, too.

Dog found injured with trap on jaw on Peguis First Nation

“She roamed the rough country near the Sweetwater Mountains in western Nevada. She feasted on mule deer and rabbits. And two years ago she died violently, as mountain lions in Nevada often do. Yet there is something about her life that sets her apart from other mountain lions, an unfortunate turn of events that illustrates the brutal and indiscriminate nature of fur trapping.

In Nevada, trapping mountain lions is illegal. This cat was trapped twice by mistake in traps set to catch bobcats. The second time, a state wildlife official snapped pictures. In one, she sits in a tree, snarling and defiant. In the photo above, she has been sedated and hangs helpless from a branch, her paw in a trap, before eventually being released. After that incident, trap-related injuries – including a mangled paw and missing claws – began to take a toll. Six feet long, she weighed only 75 pounds. She was in pain. She was hungry. And she was desperate. That is what led her to into the crosshairs of dangers, to a ranch where – unable to bring down natural prey – she began killing sheep and goats. And that is where a rancher shot and killed her on March 27, 2014. We know such details from documents and photos maintained by the Nevada Department of Wildlife. “Very gaunt and thin,” wrote an official who investigated her death. “Left front foot badly damaged from recent trap season wound. Missing two toes. Left bottom canine recently broken.” -Tom Knudson, senior reporter.

Trapped animals are desperate to escape. One of the worst things that can happen to a wild animal in danger is the inability to execute instinctive survival options, flee, fight, freeze or bluff and achieve successful results. With trapping those natural lifesaving behaviors are futile and the trapped animal pays a significant price in doing so…. from dislocations, broken bones, broken teeth, strangling, exposure, exhaustion, expenditure of precious calories, loss of toes, paws, even escaping with the trap still attached. Revealnews “I found a coyote in a trap and it was horrible. I was leading a Sierra Club outing and saw a movement out of the corner of my eye. The coyote was struggling against the trap and the chain. She would lunge to try to get away. She would reach the end of the chain and it would flip her over. And she would do it again. The trap was slowly wrenching her foot off. Trappers have a name for that. They call it a wring-off. It totally changed the outing, to see that suffering. When I got home, I called a game warden. We agreed to meet the next morning. When we got there, she had managed to completely finish the job. She had wrung her foot off and was no longer in the trap. I don’t know what happened to her. I am haunted still. It was so horrible.” – Retired New Mexico high school teacher Mary Katherine Ray. This photo she took of the coyote is now the logo for Trap Free New Mexico. Senior reporter @tom.knudson is sharing photos and stories from his reporting on America’s booming fur trapping industry and its hidden toll on wildlife. Read his full investigation on website, revealnews.org.

Trigger happy predator haters kill innocent animals, including our pets. Even the Montana Trappers Association now sponsors events such as Predator Killing Contests that fosters this mindset. This is unethical, unnecessary, irresponsible, and is going to eventually lead to much more serious consequences. The coyote killing craze takes the lives of Veterinarian’s 2 beloved dogs that were wearing vests! One ran to her with her chest shot open. The other was likely 3 times the size of a coyote…what, was he hoping, like many, to kill a wolf and claim thought it was a “coyote” that just happened to be wearing a reflective vest? If our pets aren’t getting caught in secreted traps, they are getting shot by these predator haters. What is wrong with these people? No excuses! No reason to be so vindictive to another species just because you legally can! Our dogs and our safety are in serious jeopardy.