Press Release: Provision to require owner's permission to trap on private land approved on bipartisan vote

PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 24, 2016

CONTACT: Dr. Maureen Hackett, Howling For Wolves, 612.250.5915 or Leslie Rosedahl, LWRosedahl@locklaw.com, 651.353.1818

Provision to require permission to trap on private land approved on bipartisan vote

(St. Paul, Minn) – Today the Minnesota Senate Environment and Energy Committee approved a bipartisan amendment to Senate File 2758 that updates the state’s fish and wildlife regulations to require permission before setting traps or snares on someone else’s property. Current Minnesota law allows trappers to set traps on private property without the landowner’s permission.

Howling For Wolves President & Founder Maureen Hackett, MD released the following statement:

“We support this reform to Minnesota’s wildlife trapping laws. In fact, this is such a common sense policy most people already think it’s in law! Whether you’re worried about your pets getting caught in a snare on your land, or you simply want to be asked before traps are concealed on your property, this proposal requires trappers to let you know and get your permission first. It’s a safety issue, and it’s an exceedingly reasonable ask of anyone setting traps to kill wildlife on someone else’s property.”

By adopting this common sense language into statute, Minnesota will join 22 other states that support strong requirements to obtain clear permission from a landowner to set traps on someone else’s private property. Wisconsin has required permission to trap on someone else’s land since 1995. To trap on private lands in Wisconsin, permission from the landowner is already required.

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Howling For Wolves is a Minnesota-based wolf advocacy organization working to educate the public and policy-makers about wolves, to foster understanding and tolerance, and to ensure their long-term survival in the wild. HFW supports effective, science-based, and nonlethal wolf plans to support and promote human and gray wolf coexistence into the future.