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WKR
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There is an anti-trapping group here in Wyoming that has got a bill written to be heard in committee during the next legislative session. The bill is trapping setbacks, making it illegal to place a trap near trailheads, trails, and even possibly roadways.
We need to email or call every senator to let them know that we do not want this bill to ever leave committee. Below is the email I sent, done copy and paste and resend it, it's just there for reference. Link to contact information for all legislators, https://www.wyoleg.gov/Legislators/2024/H
I would like to add some facts to a proposed bill that will be coming up at the next session. Trapping setbacks, making it illegal to set traps within certain distance of trail heads, and trails.
First, its illegal to even have your dog off their lease at a trailhead, see response for the USFS to my question of if dogs need to be leashed:
4/27/2024
Hello Trevor,
I will try to paraphrase it a bit and let's see if that is helpful to you, ok? Otherwise, you can call us at 307-739-5500 and we can talk and see if that is more useful to you.
Title 36 CFR 261.16 (k) basically says in any developed recreation area of the forest (and that would be a trailhead, a parking lot, at a campground, a boat launch, next to corals installed by the FS, a swimming beach, a bathroom, etc.) must have their dog on a leash, no longer than 6-feet, or under physical control, ( not voice control). This applies to all National Forests, and all Ranger Districts. The other rule, I am aware of is that Wyoming is a fence out state, meaning if you don't want cattle or other animals (dogs) on your property (your private land abutting the FS), it is a responsibility of the private landowner to put up and maintain a fence.
Why do we need a law to make it illegal to trap somewhere to protect dogs, when it's illegal to have your dog off their leash there in the first place?
A lot of the conversations about this are in the wrong place with the topic, I should not be able to just let my dog run around out of site, or unrestrained. What if it runs around the corner and runs into another hiker who is deathly afraid of dogs, or another dog, or a wild animal? If my dog is out of sight and of my control, I do not know if my dog is killing a squirrel or a rabbit, or chasing a deer, all illegal in Wyoming. Why take away my freedom to trap somewhere, where you legally have to have your dog on a 6' or shorter leash? Nobody is putting a trap within 6' of a trailhead, because no target animal with be in a parking lot. This is purely an effort to chip away at the trapping rights of the Wyoming trapper.
If this bill was written to protect animals, the pet owner would keep their dog on a leash to ensure that their dog, along with any other wildlife from a mouse to a moose isn't harassed or even possibly killed while out on a walk, but they don't want that, they want to let their dog loose and let it run where ever it wants to go, in most cases out of site, doing whatever the dog wants to do at the expense of any wild animal or other person it comes across.
A poll was placed on a hunting forum asking people if their dog had been injured. Being hurt by other people, other dogs, wild animals, trash like old barbed wire, the least was trapping (link below). There are far greater threats and dangers in the outdoors to hurt a pet then trapping. This poll shows that every possibility for a dog to get hurt, trapping was the least dangerous way.
At this date and time response to the survey were instances where your dog was injured:
70 injuries reported by falling or running into something, fence posts and barbed wire were the 2 primary reports
39 injuries by a wild animal
29 injuries by another domestic animal
23 injuries by a motor vehicle
7 injuries by another person
5 injuries by trapping
https://rokslide.com/forums/threads/has-your-dog-been-injured.356117/
There are so many other things Untrapped to go target to protect dogs out on a walk than trapper setbacks, the survey above shows that clear as day.
Third concern I have with this is simple. If setbacks go in place for trailheads, trails, and I have personally heard Untrapped say even along public road ways, how will this effect most elderly, limited mobility, and disabled people? They will not be hiking a quarter mile in to set a trap in nearly all instances.
I urge you to not take away the rights of Wyoming sportsmen and sportswomen. Mandatory trapper education, along with higher fines for illegally placed traps will solve this problem, not taking away ten's of thousands of acres of land from us.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me, via email or phone. If you yourself have never experienced trapping, I give you an open invitation to ride along with me someday on the trapline so you can experience it first hand.
I thank you for your time and service to this great State of Wyoming,
Trevor Herrman
Cheyenne Wyoming
We need to email or call every senator to let them know that we do not want this bill to ever leave committee. Below is the email I sent, done copy and paste and resend it, it's just there for reference. Link to contact information for all legislators, https://www.wyoleg.gov/Legislators/2024/H
I would like to add some facts to a proposed bill that will be coming up at the next session. Trapping setbacks, making it illegal to set traps within certain distance of trail heads, and trails.
First, its illegal to even have your dog off their lease at a trailhead, see response for the USFS to my question of if dogs need to be leashed:
4/27/2024
Hello Trevor,
I will try to paraphrase it a bit and let's see if that is helpful to you, ok? Otherwise, you can call us at 307-739-5500 and we can talk and see if that is more useful to you.
Title 36 CFR 261.16 (k) basically says in any developed recreation area of the forest (and that would be a trailhead, a parking lot, at a campground, a boat launch, next to corals installed by the FS, a swimming beach, a bathroom, etc.) must have their dog on a leash, no longer than 6-feet, or under physical control, ( not voice control). This applies to all National Forests, and all Ranger Districts. The other rule, I am aware of is that Wyoming is a fence out state, meaning if you don't want cattle or other animals (dogs) on your property (your private land abutting the FS), it is a responsibility of the private landowner to put up and maintain a fence.
Why do we need a law to make it illegal to trap somewhere to protect dogs, when it's illegal to have your dog off their leash there in the first place?
A lot of the conversations about this are in the wrong place with the topic, I should not be able to just let my dog run around out of site, or unrestrained. What if it runs around the corner and runs into another hiker who is deathly afraid of dogs, or another dog, or a wild animal? If my dog is out of sight and of my control, I do not know if my dog is killing a squirrel or a rabbit, or chasing a deer, all illegal in Wyoming. Why take away my freedom to trap somewhere, where you legally have to have your dog on a 6' or shorter leash? Nobody is putting a trap within 6' of a trailhead, because no target animal with be in a parking lot. This is purely an effort to chip away at the trapping rights of the Wyoming trapper.
If this bill was written to protect animals, the pet owner would keep their dog on a leash to ensure that their dog, along with any other wildlife from a mouse to a moose isn't harassed or even possibly killed while out on a walk, but they don't want that, they want to let their dog loose and let it run where ever it wants to go, in most cases out of site, doing whatever the dog wants to do at the expense of any wild animal or other person it comes across.
A poll was placed on a hunting forum asking people if their dog had been injured. Being hurt by other people, other dogs, wild animals, trash like old barbed wire, the least was trapping (link below). There are far greater threats and dangers in the outdoors to hurt a pet then trapping. This poll shows that every possibility for a dog to get hurt, trapping was the least dangerous way.
At this date and time response to the survey were instances where your dog was injured:
70 injuries reported by falling or running into something, fence posts and barbed wire were the 2 primary reports
39 injuries by a wild animal
29 injuries by another domestic animal
23 injuries by a motor vehicle
7 injuries by another person
5 injuries by trapping
https://rokslide.com/forums/threads/has-your-dog-been-injured.356117/
There are so many other things Untrapped to go target to protect dogs out on a walk than trapper setbacks, the survey above shows that clear as day.
Third concern I have with this is simple. If setbacks go in place for trailheads, trails, and I have personally heard Untrapped say even along public road ways, how will this effect most elderly, limited mobility, and disabled people? They will not be hiking a quarter mile in to set a trap in nearly all instances.
I urge you to not take away the rights of Wyoming sportsmen and sportswomen. Mandatory trapper education, along with higher fines for illegally placed traps will solve this problem, not taking away ten's of thousands of acres of land from us.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me, via email or phone. If you yourself have never experienced trapping, I give you an open invitation to ride along with me someday on the trapline so you can experience it first hand.
I thank you for your time and service to this great State of Wyoming,
Trevor Herrman
Cheyenne Wyoming
