The Anchorage Assembly will hold a public hearing about a proposed trapping ordinance (AO 2019-50) next Tuesday, April 23rd at 6:00pm during the Assembly meeting. This ordinance would impose trapping buffers along trails and around trailheads and mandate trap tags within the municipal boundary. It would also close all municipal owned land to trapping. In person public testimony during the meeting or written comments to the Assembly would be greatly appreciated if you think the Assembly should leave the job of regulating trapping to the Board of Game. You can find additional information on the muni website.
http://www.muni.org/PublicNotice/Pages/OrdinanceNoAO2019-5004232019.aspx

That will be an uphill battle considering the makeup of the Anchorage assembly. It wouldn't surprise me to see them ban possession of a trap in the muni !

Will ADF&G be there? State has management authority. Cities and Boroughs can outright ban for public safety but not regulate!
mt

I have a bit of "experience" with this. Municipalities can regulate "activities", such as PLACING a trap, leashing a dog, picking up pet poop, riding an atv on municipal land, etc.
They CAN NOT dictate the harvest of wildlife..
All that said, they are indeed allowed to regulate your activity.
Most cities, towns, and villages don't have the financial resources to enforce sich non-sence, and the BoG has refrained from reigning them in, much to my chagrin.

I did a phone interview with a reporter for KTVA last night on this subject. If anyone watches it tonight (Tuesday) I'd be interested in how you thought it comes out.

It is CRITICAL that trappers have a powerful showing at the Assembly meeting to testify on this. Otherwise you are going to get rolled.

Pete

"What difference, at this point, does it make anyway?" H.R.C.

I wrote all Assembly members. It's easy to do, you can use their email. Herk-thanks for the link above!

wwmas@muni.org

Ordinance No. AO 2019-50

I choose to fight, every time. I wrote because I can't make it there. I'm working a second job otherwise I would be there and I would stand in line for a chance to talk to them. Put up or shut up.

I got a response from Dick Traini,

"Pete Peterson is bringing this forward I would come and testify on 23 April"

They state "The CRIME OF TRAPPING"...etc. etc.

This won't be good for South Central Trappers. I did remind them that they used my tax dollars to build many dog parks throughout the city, now they want the forest too. Hope others get involved!!! April 23 in next Tuesday!!

I hate to see this anti stuff in any of the states - but in the state of Alaska is Criminal. Thanks for bringing this to attention to where we can help by sending in letters. Anyone else reading this from the lower 48 needs to send an email to the provided link on the original post. I suggest you join the Alaska Trappers Association also, the membership is worth the magazine alone.

Thanks Cathouse Jim, I just received another email from another Assembly member. He sounded concerned and said the things I brought up were important issues and that they will be having a work session in 2 days. They do have a lot of anti's there that will be testifying in person, so ANY emails or ANY HELP is greatly appreciated.

I reminded them that they used my tax dollars to build them many dog parks in Anchorage and now they want the forest. In addition, that those one or two people a year who set 1-2 traps at the pullouts are NOT TRAPPERS, they are scum bags who bought or stole a trap and set it. I told them that as an example I run 110-120 traps and have never set one in a pullout or trail head. And that lastly, the people running their dogs off leash are the only one's breaking any laws. In addition, that Trapping is what made this state good enough to become a state to begin with and that almost all the trials we put in are paved roads.

And lastly, that Trapping Is Not a Crime, like they propose in the new legislation. They are actually thinking of calling Trapping a Crime!!! And they want to ticket, fine or imprisonment for such crimes such as trapping near a trailhead. But nobody get's a ticket or fine if they find my traps in the woods and steal them.

Send an email if you can. Come in person would be better, but anything is better than nothing!!! Thanks for your support.

Hopefully trappers come out on top here. It’s getting more and more common to see these attempts to end or limit trapping in the states.

maybe point out how simple it would be to get a trap, Put a tag on it, with Dick Train's name, and set it. now dick traini goes to jail..
how does one prove something that didn't happen. If they go through with it, then the Muni should have to issue people numbers and track it.

Put the burden of it on THEM, the cost, et al.


other than having a set back at trailheads, i dont agree with their proposal..

It is a fools errand to present facts to people who are engaged in an Emotional topic, like dogs..

Setbacks can have unintended consequences. Case in point:

On some trails just W of Fairbanks a few years ago, a very responsible trapper made some sets, none closer than about 100 yards from the main trails. These trails are on State land and are used by a number of different types of trail users. Setting back 100 yards seems reasonable.

A local skier was skiing along the trail, accompanied by his UNLEASHED dog. (We have a "leash law" in the Fairbanks North Star Borough.)

The dog wandered off on one of the trapper's side trails and became caught in a fox snare. When the skier returned to his vehicle after dark, he noticed that his dog was missing.

He went back to look for the dog, BUT, since the set was 100 yards from the main trail, he never found the dog until the next morning. It was dead in the snare.

It is reasonable to conclude that had the skier obeyed the Borough leash law, his dog would still be alive. It is also reasonable to conclude that if the snare had been immediately adjacent to the trail, his dog would also be alive, because he would have readily discovered it.

Pete

The Assembly is meeting tomorrow, Friday April 19th. Today is the day to send them an email. Or show up in person, next Tuesday at 6pm, and tell them.

I received token reply's from Meg Zaletel and Felix Rivera, stating only that they would be discussing this on the 19th. Pete Peterson has not replied back and he is the one leading the charge to ban trapping.

Get involved or loose your rights, it's that simple really. Anyone from Alaska can make an impact and anyone from outside (lower 48) can as well.

Hupurest and Pete make good points above!

You only have to make one email, it will be sent to the entire Assembly if you use this address: wwmas@muni.org

Like AV and Martentrapper pointed out it looks like the Municipal Assembly can technically ban the placing of traps on Muni-owned lands and perhaps private property but do not have authority to impose the trap tags and setbacks as proposed on the federal or state lands etc and that is the message they need to hear in a respectful manner.

BINGO!

Like Drasselt said, everybody needs to make their point that the municipality does not have the authority to require trap tags and setbacks on state and federal lands etc. Keep it respectful, to the point and don't throw others under the bus. The other side will undoubtedly let emotion and belief get the better of them and we have to stick to fact and the law in order to maintain the high ground. They are trying to use "public safety" as a backdoor work around of the legalities of muni regulations on trapping.The Mat-Su Animal Control said in 2017 there were 11 reported incidents of pets in traps over the previous 5 years (KTVA April 17, 2019), 2.2 a year average in the Borough. Meanwhile Anchorage animal control said in a April 11, 2019 KTVA piece that there were on average 500 dog bites a year for the last 3 years in Anchorage alone.I have yet to see any data put forth on the number of dog/trap incidents in the Municipality. Again the email to reach all assembly members is wwmas@muni.org and the meeting is Tuesday April 23 at Assembly Chambers in the Loussac Library. 6:00 p.m
meeting agenda http://www.muni.org/Residents/Pages/MuniMeetings.aspx

Another thing to point out is their definition of public use trail. "“Public use trail” means a footpath or way on any public land clearly discernible and exhibiting characteristics of common and frequent use, that is open to public use as a matter of right." It pretty well describes a regularly checked snowshoe trap line. Dog get pinched running your line and you get cited for not having your traps 50 yards off a discernible and frequently used foot path on public land.

Wonder how many Anchorage dog/trap incidents already occur in areas where trapping is illegal? I would guess MOST of them.

Like gun control, the opposition seems to feel that the NEXT law is the one that the lawbreakers will pay attention to...

Pete