Feds Cut Animal Damage Control Programs

UPDATE: Looks like the feds will find some money for the program after all.  Read the story here.

 

Shortfalls in the federal budget will likely have an impact on animal damage control programs throughout the United States.  According to an article in Minnesota’s Duluth News Tribune, the USDA Wildlife Services program that hired government trappers to capture and remove problem wolves will go away due to budget cuts.

The wolves were targeted near where livestock and pets had been killed. And almost everyone who knew about the program — farmers, conservation leaders, wolf lovers, state natural resource officials, Republican and Democratic politicians — liked it.

But with a moratorium on earmarks in Washington, there’s no money assigned to the program after fiscal 2011 ends Friday, when wolf trappers will cease operations. In past years, Minnesota and Wisconsin Congress members routinely used earmarks to preserve the program, which is run by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services division.

The animal damage control program wasn’t just popular in Minnesota.  Throughout the U.S., the program aided farmers, ranchers and landowners who had problems with animals ranging from coyotes and wolves to beavers and geese.

“We’re losing one of the best wolf conservation tools we’ve had. It was so effective at solving the problem without randomly harming wolves,” said Nancy Gibson, a board member of the Minnesota-based International Wolf Center. “And there was such an educational element. The trappers had so much expertise, I think they really helped the farmers avoid problems.”

Unless the program is funded, the responsibility will rely on states, local communities and private landowners to deal with the problem animals.  On the bright side, the absence of the government programs may provide an opportunity for skilled trappers to market their services and take care of animal damage control problems on a local level.

Some Interesting Tales From Canadian Trappers

Philip Rushton of the Whitecourt Star recently interviewed a couple of old timer Canadian trappers who had some interesting tales to tell.

Click here to read the full story.

New Zealand School Program Promotes Possum Trapping

Project Possum, a new program offered by a collaboration of New Zealand groups, is promoting possum trapping as a career path for area students.  The program would teach trapping methods and fur preparation and marketing of possum pelts.

Susan Karels, the council’s regional Enviroschools co-ordinator, says the training stems from twin desires to offer participants the chance to earn the NCEA credits, as well as create potential job prospects for young Northlanders

It is also a great opportunity to help control a pest which has a significant impact on the region’s environment.

While giving education credits to students, the program would also jumpstart a pilot project for some students interested in starting their own possum trapping business.

Mrs Karels says once the training is complete, Enviroschools Northland and several students from Te Kura Taumata o Panguru would begin a pilot programme that would see them set up a small business to trap local possums and sell their fur or skins.

The New Zealand Association for Environmental Education had already contributed to the pilot via the purchase of 20 humane possum traps worth about $400 which the students could use until they had paid for them through fur/skin sales.

Depending on the success of the pilot, it could be rolled out to other Northland schools, possibly as early as next year.

I’ve always admired New Zealanders in their management of natural resources.  They have been extremely successful raising and marketing red deer, promoting hunting and fishing for exotic and trophy species, and producing some of the best wool sheep in the world.  Now they’re finding ways to profit from exotic opossums, which are discarded as an essentially worthless commodity in many trapping circles.

Read the full story here.

New Trapping Blog – Northeastern Trapper

I’ve been reading Dave M.’s new trapping blog, Northeastern Trapper, for a few months now with interest.  Here’s a description of the blog from Dave’s site:

Welcome to the Northeastern Trapper, THE source for trapping news, information and entertainment in the Northeastern US and Eastern Canada. Over the coming months I’ll be discussing breaking news affecting trappers, new products for the trapline, techniques, trapping heritage and the trapping lifestyle. I’ll focus mostly on trapping in the Northeastern US and Eastern Canada but will include items of interest from across North America and around the World.

Reader comments and guest posts are always welcome!

Sincerely,

Dave M.

In just a short time, Dave has put a lot of time and energy into the site and has been very thorough with his coverage of trapping issues.  Take a look at the site, hope you enjoy it!

http://northeasterntrapper.wordpress.com/