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Freeing an animal from a steel jaw leghold
trap |
Conibear
Traps
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Review trap
regulations: RGJ Editorial
February 13, 2007 The march of Northern Nevada civilization into the surrounding wilderness has brought with it a whole range of potential conflicts. The danger to humans and their domesticated animals of traps set to capture wild animals is just one more of those conflicts that were unimaginable a few years ago. It's a very real danger, however, that requires a fresh, new look at regulations governing the use of traps in areas that once seemed remote but now are in many residents' backyards. The controversy about trapping isn't much different from other controversies we've seen in recent years. Ages-old practices on the public lands, such as trapping or target shooting, are no longer acceptable when they endanger people using hiking trails or doing any of the other things that have made this area a haven for refugees from the urban areas of the West. It's not a one-way street, of course. When people build houses on the edge of the wilderness, they create their own dangers. Wildfires are more dangerous for homes on the edge of forests than for homes built in the center of the valley, for instance. And, when they push into the habitat of wild animals, they have to expect that, on occasion, the wild animals will fight back. So, there's an element of truth to the trappers' argument -- as well as those of target shooters, off-road vehicle riders and so on -- that the "city folk" have brought the problems on themselves. That battle has already been lost, however, and the "city folk" have won. The march of civilization into the wilderness might be slowed, but it won't be stopped. As Gary Schiff, district ranger for the U.S. Forest Service, wrote in a letter asking for a review of trapping regulations, "Human safety is paramount." The use of traps that are dangerous to people and their pets is incompatible in areas close to the Truckee Meadows' network of hiking trails and other accessible areas such as the creek drainages. It's time for a serious look at the regulations to ensure that they make sense given the growth of the past decade, not to ban trapping outright (though there are those who would support such a policy) but to protect the public in areas where they expect to be safe. It won't make everyone happy, but it is necessary. |
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