The Oregon game commission will consider a proposal to ban beaver trapping on all federal forest land in the state at the June 12 commission meeting. The proposed rule change comes with very little notice and limited efforts to consider public input from sportsmen. Efforts like these can only be interpreted as underhanded maneuvers to diminish the rights of sportsmen in Oregon.
Take Action Today! Oregon sportsmen should email the game commission and the Governor’s Natural Resource Office policy staff below and urge them to OPPOSE ALL CHANGES TO CURRENT BEAVER TRAPPING REGULATIONS AND STAND WITH SPORTSMEN BY SUPPORTING SCIENCE AND SOUND WILDLIFE CONSERVATION.
Commissioners: [email protected]
Jason Miner, Natural Resources Policy Director: [email protected]
Amira Streeter-Natural Resources Policy Advisor: [email protected]
The Oregon Division of Fish and Wildlife and the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission is funded almost exclusively by hunting and fishing license fees and federal excise taxes paid on the purchase of hunting and fishing equipment. Oregon sportsmen pay for the natural resources they are granted from the state with little funding from state general revenue funds or state tax dollars. In turn, the commission should base fish and wildlife decisions on the North American Model of Conservation to ensure that resources and wildlife are properly managed to preserve hunting, fishing and trapping opportunities in the state, forever.
Recognizing the connection between successful wildlife conservation and hunting, fishing and trapping, most state fish and wildlife agencies have sportsmen heavily involved in fish and wildlife decision. The Oregon Wildlife Commission is unfortunately not a game commission made up of sportsmen and, as such, the voice of sportsmen is diminishing on a regulatory board that oversees them.
“Last year the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission voted to circumvent science and the recommendations of their own wildlife biologists at the Oregon Department of Wildlife and outlawed a marten trapping season with little consideration for sportsmen,” said Jacob Hupp associate director of state services at the Sportsmen’s Alliance. “This is likely to happen again for beaver trapping without strong opposition from the Alliance and our Oregon members and partners. The future of beaver trapping in Oregon depends on our efforts. ”
About the Sportsmen’s Alliance: The Sportsmen’s Alliance protects and defends America’s wildlife conservation programs and the pursuits – hunting, fishing and trapping – that generate the money to pay for them. Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation is responsible for public education, legal defense and research. Its mission is accomplished through several distinct programs coordinated to provide the most complete defense capability possible. Stay connected to Sportsmen’s Alliance: Online, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.