Alaska Trapper Makes Cover of Field & Stream Magazine

Several months ago, Fairbanks, Alaska trapper Marty Meierotto was featured on the cover of the special survival issue of Field and Stream.  A cover shot for a trapper is pretty incredible – not just for Marty and his fellow Alaskans, but for all trappers in the U.S. and Canada.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen an issue of F&S that featured a trapper.  While the magazine covers hunting and fishing in great depth, trapping is often much more obscure.

Field and Stream’s Bill Heavey joined Meierotto on his Alaskan bush trapline this winter and put together an extensive story on Marty, survival in the Alaska wilderness, and trapping.  The story appears to have shone trapping in a pretty good light, and surely introduced a number of folks to the fact that trapping is still pretty prevalent in the modern world.

The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner had a story on Meierotto and the reaction to the F&S article. It’s a great read.

The article seemed well received.  Hopefully the mainstream sporting magazines will begin to pay more attention to trapping as an important part of the outdoor lifestyle.  We trappers could certainly use the support of our brothers and sisters in the mainstream sporting community.

A Message from MEWM on the Montana Trap Ban Effort

Here’s an update from Montanans for Effective Wildlife Management, the group formed to fight the proposed ballot initiative (I-160) that would ban trapping on all public land in Montana.  The initiative supporters still need to collect a large number of signatures for the question to show up on the ballot, but MEWM is being proactive in an effort to get the early word out on I-160 and the impacts it would have on Montanans and others.

MEWM Needs Your Help

As you may have heard, trapping on public land is under attack by animal rights activists.

Montanans for Effective Wildlife Management would like your help in defeating Initiative 160.

We would like to invite you, as a Montana Trappers Association member, to join us in our efforts.  We are eager to get the word out to all Montanans.

Initiative 160 will impact the ability to control pests and wildlife on all publicly owned land and facilities in Montana. It is an overly broad initiative with far reaching consequences; it will impact livestock ranchers, farmers, timber growers, home owners, pest control professionals and all those who depend on smart wildlife management methods.

MEWM hopes you will join us in our efforts to defeat I-160. Also, please spread the word by forwarding this email to family, friends, co-workers and others who might be interested in joining our efforts to defeat this overbearing initiative.  Our goal is to build a broad base of Montanans who oppose such a heavy-handed, intrusive, initiative. For additional information regarding I-160 you can go to our web site, www.NoOn160.com. Keep an eye out for future newsletters full of useful information and events taking place in a town near you.
Why I-160 is a bad idea…

• This initiative will hurt Montana’s agriculture, ranching and forestry industries by significantly adding to the cost of doing business in Montana.
• I-160 removes an important wildlife management tool from home owners, ranchers, farmers and pest control professionals.
• This initiative will require public employees to conduct all pest control on public land, forcing the state to spend thousands of taxpayer dollars to conduct basic pest control.
• The initiative is so broadly worded, that it would ban the trapping of common pests, like moles and gophers.

Remember…
Initiative 160 would harm Montana’s environment and economy.

Trapping is an effective and
trusted wildlife management tool.

I-160 does more harm than good to Montanans.

Initiative 160 will waste taxpayer dollars.

What you can do…

Do not sign a petition on this  initiative; it is bad for the economy and bad for Montanans.

Talk with family, friends and neighbors and ask them to oppose I-160.

Write a letter to the editor of your local paper.

Visit www.NoOn160.com for additional information.

Trappers Help Control Mink Numbers in Ireland

While furbearers can be a valuable natural resource, they can also cause serious ecological problems when their population levels are uncontrolled.  For example, we simply have to look at places like Massachusetts and Washington state, where laws prohibiting trapping have resulted in overpopulation and animal damage problems from multiple furbearers.

Ecological problems also arise when furbearers are introduced into areas outside of their native range.  The newly introduced species and the natural environment it is placed in are often not compatible and a major ecosystem imbalance can often arise.

In a recent case of ecosystem imbalance with a furbearer population, trappers in Ireland have been commissioned to trap and kill thousands of American mink that are causing havoc with bird and fish populations.

Mink are not native to Ireland, but have been inadvertently introduced via escapes from fur farms in the country.  Since their establishment in the wild, mink have taken on a predatory role in a place where populations of fish and bird species are not used to such predation.  So to help minimize the negative impacts mink are causing to the country’s environment, this huge trapping effort is underway.

More than 33,000 mink which originally escaped from fur farms have colonised much of Ireland, a new report shows.

Three full-time trappers have now been engaged by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) to catch the mink in riverside traps and to kill them before they can wipe out rare birds.

Luckily, trapping can help play a role in restoring ecosystem balance in places like these.

Read the full story here.