News Category: Wildlife Management

Contact: Aoibheann Cline, Western States Coordinator On June 12, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) Commission (Commission) reviewed and updated their furbearer management regulations, as they do every two years. Following release of the Commission meeting agenda, a citizen-proposed amendment to the beaver trapping regulations was submitted which would ban recreational and commercial…

By: Ellary TuckerWilliams, Inter-Mountain Western States Coordinator  On November 27, New Mexico Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard withdrew over 200 acres of Rio Grande bosque State Trust Land from an agreement with New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, disallowing hunting and trapping from occurring on the land parcel, effective immediately. In a recent press…

Contact: Ellary TuckerWilliams, Inter-Mountain Western States Coordinator On November 21, the New Mexico Game Commission unanimously voted to approve a proposed regulation, prohibiting recreational trapping of cougars within the state for the 2020-2024 seasons. The attack on sportsmen’s trapping traditions and heritage in New Mexico ramped up during the 2019 legislative session after an extremely…

Contact: Ellary TuckerWilliams, Inter-Mountain Western States Coordinator On October 21, the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) joined eight other New Mexico based groups in asking Governor Michelle Lujan-Grisham to oppose two rules proposed by the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish Commission (NMDGF) that would negatively impact trapping throughout the state. The Bear and Cougar…

Contact: Ellary TuckerWilliams, Inter-Mountain Western States Coordinator On August 15, the Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission will be holding a final opportunity for public comment, before making decisions on numerous topics which included nine proposed changes to trapping regulations. The proposed regulation changes include: The public meeting will be held at Montana Fish, Wildlife and…

Contact: Ellary TuckerWilliams, Inter-Mountain Western States Coordinator On June 5, the Idaho Fish and Game Department (IDFG) began a 21-day public comment period to allow stakeholders to provide input on rule proposals affecting the importation of wildlife, certain deer and elk tags, youth turkey hunting, the use of Wildlife Management Area (WMA) permits where pheasants…

By Joe Mullin, New England States Coordinator On April 5, Governor Sportsmen’s Caucus Member Governor Janet Mills (ME) signed An Act to Enhance Fish and Wildlife Laws (LD 490) into law. LD 490 provides Maine’s Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Commissioner Judy Camuso with the ability to “extend any open trapping season on any…

By John Culclasure, Central Appalachian States Manager On May 24, North Carolina Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus Member Representative Kyle Hall introduced legislation (HB 991) that would provide continuity in fox trapping regulations in certain counties in North Carolina. The legislation would set fox trapping season in select counties across the state to be consistent with North…

On November 8, Montanans soundly rejected Initiative 177 (I-177), which would have banned trapping on public lands in Montana, subverting the science-based fish and wildlife management model in the United States. Voters defeated I-177 by a vote of 63 percent to 37 percent. As written, I-177 would have prohibited use of traps and snares for…

On Tuesday, November 8, Montanans will decide the future of trapping in the state when they go to the polls to vote on Initiative 177 (I-177), which would ban trapping on public lands in Montana, subverting the science-based fish and wildlife management model in the United States. As written, I-177, “generally prohibits the use of…

On February 18, the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) submitted a letter to the Senate Subcommittee on Fisheries, Water and Wildlife to express support for the testimony given by the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (AFWA) at a February 9 hearing titled, “Federal Interactions with State Management of Fish and Wildlife.” The letter echoes AFWA’s…

On June 17, a host of pro-sportsmen’s organizations, including the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF), sent a letter to the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works and the House Committee on Natural Resources providing comments on the “Refuge from Cruel Trapping Act” (S. 1081 and H.R. 2016). The 34 organizations voiced their opposition to the…