Great news, trappers! Word has it that Connecticut’s Senate Bill 994, which would have essentially outlawed trapping in Connecticut, has failed to pass the Senate Judiciary Committee. For now, the bill is dead, meaning that trapping can continue under the existing regulations administered by the Connecticut DNR.
Efforts from Connecticut trappers, as well as trappers from all over the country were crucial in keeping this bill from passing. Trappers, property owners and wildlife control officers flooded legislators with phone calls, email messages and other public comments. Because of this effort, lawmakers were better enlightened about the serious impacts of passing this bill.
This bill was similar to one passed in Massachusetts, where furbearer populations have increased well beyond their carrying capacity with no resources available to properly manage them. Trapping is an important wildlife management tool that doesn’t cost the state money – in fact, trappers pay license fees that promote wildlife research and management oversight.
It’s important that Connecticut outdoors folks and rural landowners continue to promote responsible trapping and ensure its future. Animal rights groups and their sympathizers will continue to introduce similar bills that threaten the future of trapping. And it’s still possible for a lawmaker to ammend this bill and attach it to another bill sometime soon.
Here at Trapping Today, I’ll do my best to keep you updated on future attackes to our trapping rights. Until then, many thanks go out to the Connecticut Trappers Association, Connecticut DEP (Wildlife Division), and the many other trappers and wildlife control officers that worked so hard in opposing this bill.
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