On Thursday, Jan. 20, the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Oceans and Wildlife will conduct a virtual hearing on HR 4716, a bill introduced by Rep. Jerrold Nadler, (D-New York) which bans the use of “body-gripping” traps in the National Wildlife Refuge System. The definition in the proposed legislation prohibits “any device that is intended to kill or capture wildlife by physically restraining any part of the animal.” The bill specifies that the prohibition would include snares, “steel-jaw” or other leghold traps, and any kill-type traps. HR 4716 would ban nearly all trapping on tens of millions of acres of public lands.
Act Today! Sportsmen need to contact their representatives in Washington, D.C., and oppose HR 4716, which will end trapping on tens of millions of acres of public land across the nation. Sportsmen can find their legislators by using the Sportsmen’s Alliance Legislative Action Center.
Trapping plays a key wildlife management role in protecting migratory bird nests, in managing endangered and threatened species, and serves the general public by saving taxpayers billions of dollars annually in infrastructure costs and deadly disease control for rabies and other viruses. Because of this, trapping is strongly supported by state fish and game agencies, and the national Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies.
Unfortunately, the issue has become partisan. The bill has 46 co-sponsors, all of whom are Democrats. Worse, the subcommittee, which is controlled by Democrats, includes six representatives from California, which has already banned nearly all trapping. It also includes the chairman of the overall House Natural Resources Committee, Rep. Raul Grijalva of Arizona, who is one of Congress’s most anti-hunting legislators.
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.