At a recent legislative hearing on trapping, as required under Act 159, one of the legislators asked Vermont Fish & Wildlife’s general counsel if trapping is needed in Vermont to manage wildlife. Rather than providing a direct answer during the hearing, Fish & Wildlife said it would respond at a later date.
Why not just answer the question directly? I suspect it’s because they wanted time to dodge the question and further obfuscate the issue.
The reality is that Fish & Wildlife’s own senior furbearer biologist has gone on record stating that trapping is not needed in Vermont to manage wildlife. Thanks to a public records request revealing a conversation between the furbearer biologist and a colleague, we have the answer.
The following is from the public records. When the furbearer biologist was presented with three possible rationales to trap in a department email Sept. 26, 2022, he responded as follows.
1. Claim: Trapping to manage furbearer populations to reduce wildlife diseases that could affect people, pets, and other wildlife. The furbearer biologist’s response: “We do not put this forward as a rationale for trapping (or at least we shouldn’t in my opinion).”
2. Claim: Trapping to control certain wildlife populations so that they do not become too numerous and destroy wildlife habitat. The furbearer biologist’s response: “Other than nutria trapping to our south, there really is no other example of this being the case that I am aware of, certainly no such case here in VT.”
3. Claim: Trapping to relocate wild animals from where they are abundant to places where they once existed as part of a restoration program. The furbearer biologist’s response: “Who wouldn’t want us to restore populations?! I get why we ask this question but in reality there is no such work on the horizon and, if we should ever find ourselves in the need to do more restoration work using traps, I feel fairly confident that the public would support our effort even if it used traps.”
The reality is that trapping in Vermont is a recreational activity enjoyed by about 500 trappers. They trap mainly for recreation and out of an intolerance for predator species like bobcats, coyotes and fisher that they view as competition over prey animals like turkeys and rabbits that they want to hunt. Fur prices have plummeted and no one traps to feed themselves.
It’s past time for honest conversations about trapping and they should start with Vermont Fish & Wildlife.
Sophie Bowater
North Middlesex
