We need emails immediately regarding HF945. This bill is on fast forward. The MTA will be testifying against it on Wednesday, March 6, at the House Environmental Committee hearing. This bill is especially concerning to water trappers. HF945 requires permission to set or stake a trap on private property. No trapper is against permission on private property but this would require it even if you're setting traps in the water and you accessed the water from a public water access. This would apply only if the bottom is privately owned. Duck hunters don't need permission to set decoys or fisherman to drag a lure, but trappers would need permission to set traps even on floating vegetation if you stake into the bottom. Discriminating against trappers is unfair, muskrat traps are no threat to people or pets anymore than duck hunters or fishermen. There's hundreds of lakes in Minnesota that can be accessed publicly where private property lines extend out into the water. Many have multiple landowners. I found one lake that is about 10 acres and has 13 different landowners who have property lines that extend out into the water. And the property lines aren't square many times, but can have multiple angles. It could be extremely difficult for both trappers and law enforcement to know where those exact property lines are and trappers would have to know exactly where they are if they don't have permission from every landowner. There's phone apps showing property lines, but phone service can often be sketchy in outstate Minnesota. Plus, phones are difficult to hold with cold hands. Dropping them will be an issue, and the bottoms of trapping boats nearly always have water in them. Wet phones will be a problem.
Also, there's large tracts of land in northern Minnesota that are owned by large paper companies. They're open to outdoor activities like hunting and trapping. Those lands are popular with bobcat, fisher, and marten trappers especially. Because they are privately owned, trappers would likely need permission. Would they continue to allow trapping if they had to give permission to each and every individual trapper? We don't know. They might look at it as an administration cost increase.
So please contact the 16 members of the Mn. House Environmental and Natural Resource committee before Wednesday. Urge them to keep the bill from advancing.
Click on the link below, then click on membership. The 16 members will pop up.

https://www.house.mn.gov/Committees/home/93008

I emailed all of them. Actually got a few positive replies.

Can I e mail them???

Thanks for asking, but the hearing was today and went well. If you want to email 4 legislators to thank them for going to bat for us trappers though I'd give you their emails

Thank you!

Same as South Dakota. Only targets trappers.

Sorry Goldy. I saw this only today. It appears I'm too late to e mail those 16.

Any updates?

The bill author has it in his mind that theres trappers everywhere setting traps on private property without permission. I've scoured DNR reports and talked to DNR people. Its just not an issue. The mandatory trapper education course is working. When you have thousands of trappers, theres going to be one guy that does something stupid. But a new law wont fix that, those types of people ignore laws anyway. He also thinks muskrat traps are a big danger to dogs. I've never even heard of a dog injury from a muskrat trap. Weve caught over 3,000,000 muskrats in the last 30 years, we would heard of one if it was an issue. He's being encouraged by people who just want to end trapping, no amount of common sense matters to those people. If someone is worried about it, all they have to do is post their property.

The hearing went well. We have some VERY good people in our fight.

Would appreciate that.

These people who want to end trapping will lie and do anything to end trapping. They don't know or care that trapping is an essential humane way to manage wildlife.

Thank You for your work on this and everything else down there, Randy!

This Author sounds exactly like a guy I met on a lake trapping rats through the ice 2 years ago on an outer ring suburb lake. He ran out from his house and told me to get off his lake as he hates trappers. I was at least 60 yards out from the waters edge in the cattails using baited conibears under the ice. After I instructed him on the laws, he called the police citing that my traps were a danger to his dog that likes to run the lake. I had a good talk with the police and they advised him to leave me alone. This, like many. of the city trapping bans and legislative attempts to end trapping come from these same folks. (This is exactly how we ended up with a possum season in MN. That one flew under the radar of even the DNR).

Thanks Goldy for keeping up on these things and knowing who to contact, bringing it to their attention, so these screwballs don't get their way.

Fellers there is another troubling bill that is being floated by the metro Democrats.

HF 2791/SF1324

Basically the bill will shut down OHV/snowmobile use on state and county land.

It's bad for all outdoor and recreational groups.

Most of these bills come from the big cities seems alot originate from the twin cities area maybe someone should draft a bill that stops them from leaving their big cities thinking they are experts in rural life and need permission to leave town to many running amuck in things they dont understand fully.alot of issues should be left s to the real experts, Its time they listen and stop trying to stop people from the enjoyment the outdoor people of Mn. enjoy partaking in.

Evidently they have no idea how much money this bring not only to the state in licensing but to the public. We need to get to the voting table and vote these individuals out trying to run our state. Someone needs to compile a list of these individuals and post it publicly with the list of what they are doing to wreck our state.

Good idea, let us know when you finish it.

I wonder if they would like Polaris and Arctic Cat to leave Minnesota?

Short answer?

Yes.