As government officials enter the final stages of adopting new rules that will govern coyote hunting with dogs and trapping, lawmakers and members of the Fish and Wildlife Board may not be able to agree on several details.
The yearslong process has been hugely controversial among hunters, some of whom object to stricter regulations, and among animal welfare advocates, who have encouraged lawmakers to further regulate the activities.
The two bodies are struggling to find common ground on two issues: whether underwater and under ice traps can be set near public spaces, and whether trapping should be defined as a type of hunting.
In 2022, lawmakers passed two laws that required Vermont’s Fish and Wildlife Board to adopt rules that would govern both activities.
Act 159 requires the department to make trapping practices more humane. Act 165 creates a moratorium on hunting coyotes with dogs, with some exceptions, until rules are created. The act of hunting coyotes with dogs has not previously been regulated.
Before the Fish and Wildlife Board can officially adopt new rules, they need to be approved by the Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules, or LCAR, a body of lawmakers that decides whether to approve or deny rules created by state government agencies.
Recently, members of LCAR and the Fish and Wildlife Board have clashed over whether the rules go far enough.
At a Nov. 16 meeting, members of LCAR decided that several details of the new rules don’t align with the mandate of the 2022 laws. They voted to approve the most recent version of the board’s rule — except for four pieces of the rule, which lawmakers rejected.
The Fish and Wildlife Board met on Thursday to review those objections. Catherine Gjessing, a lawyer with the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department, had prepared recommendations for the board that would fix the rule to make it amenable to LCAR.
While the board accepted several of those recommendations, it rejected others. Later this month, LCAR is set to meet and decide whether it can approve the latest version of the board’s rule.
The Fish and Wildlife Board can move forward with their version of the rule, even if LCAR rejects the board’s new version, but that decision could have legal implications for the board.
If the board got sued over the rule, it would need to prove that the rules it certified are indeed aligned with the laws that passed in 2022.
On Thursday, the Fish and Wildlife Board voted to change its proposed rules to address two concerns from lawmakers. The first change encourages hunters to request landowner permission to hunt coyotes with dogs, and it requires them to use specific training collars. The second change expands the definition of public trails, near which hunting and trapping are restricted.
The board rejected two of the recommendations that would have addressed lawmakers’ concerns, instead opting to keep the rules to which LCAR had objected.
In its definition of the word “trapping,” the board had added the word “hunt,” indicating that trapping is a type of hunting. Since the word had not previously been part of the state’s definition, members of LCAR argued the decision had broader significance.
While hunting is protected under Vermont’s constitution, it’s unclear whether trapping is protected, Rep. Seth Bongartz, D-Manchester, a member of LCAR, argued at the Nov. 16 meeting. Adding the word to the definition could give trapping an added protection, which he opposed. The issue should be decided by the Legislature, he said.
At Thursday’s meeting, Michael Bancroft, a board member representing Orange County said he feels that “LCAR objecting to us adding ‘hunt’ to the definition is somewhat petty.”
The board also voted to keep part of its rule, related to trapping, the same.
While the rule prohibits traps from being set near trails and public areas, it exempts traps set under water and under ice. LCAR wanted to strike the exemption, arguing that traps under water could still cause danger to people and pets. The board voted to keep the exemption. One board member said that some of those traps are designed to catch beavers, and that beavers typically cause problems near culverts and roads, which are public areas.
During the meeting, several board members expressed concern about the continued back-and-forth with lawmakers as well as a reluctance to make hunting and trapping regulations stricter.
“How long do we do this dance back and forth?” said Jay Sweeny, a board member representing Franklin County. “I mean, we’ve sent it to LCAR, (it’s) come back for little changes and stuff. I think we’ve reached the point where there’s really not much more we can do.”
After the meeting, Brenna Galdenzi, president of Protect Our Wildlife Vermont, a wildlife advocacy organization, said the board members’ rejections represent a broader issue with the board.
“Since I’ve been involved, going back 10 years, they are just completely unable to move forward on any kind of improvements to the status quo,” she said. “They’re unwilling to compromise, even when they are forced to by the Legislature.”
Galdenzi argued that many people take their dogs in water during hunting season, and that the traps could hurt pets.
“The broader wildlife coalition that I’m part of in Vermont, which has really made a huge showing over the past two years, is going to pursue ways, as far as litigation, against the state, against Fish and Wildlife, for ignoring LCAR’s recommendations,” she said. “So this isn’t going to end here.”
