Written by Briana Wipf
Tribune Staff Writer
About 10 members of an outdoors group gathered in Gibson Park Saturday afternoon to protest the wolf trapping season, which opened that day.
Footloose Montana has no position on wolf hunting, according to organizer Sue Ann Stephenson-Love. Instead, the group, and Saturday’s protesters, oppose setting of any traps, not just for wolves, on public land.
“Traps do not discriminate,” said Stephenson-Love, who dressed in a fuzzy bear costume, complete with plastic nose. “They are baited and hidden.”
More than 2,400 people are certified to participate in wolf trapping after taking mandatory classes on trapping gear, safety and ethics.
Ken McDonald, FWP’s wildlife bureau chief in Helena, said earlier this year, “We are clearly aiming to reduce the wolf population in Montana.”
No statewide quota has been set on the 2012-2013 wolf trapping season.
Stephenson-Love said Footloose Montana is in favor of stopping trapping only on public land, where recreationists or their pets may unknowingly walk into a trap. Or other threatened species, such as lynx, may wander into a wolf trap.
“That unwanted animal is discarded,” she said.
Some of Saturday’s protesters brought dogs with them. Stephenson-Love said she worries about family pets wandering into a trap.
The group also argues trapping is cruel. Trapping regulations of small, furbearing animals, such as beaver, otter, bobcat or lynx, do not require trappers to check their traps, but recommends they check them every 48 hours. Regulations require wolf traps be checked every 48 hours.
“I oppose trapping because it is a very cruel way to capture an animal,” Stephenson-Love said. “I wish people could comprehend the suffering an animal goes through.”
Wolf traps must be set 1,000 feet from a designated campground or trailhead and 150 feet from a public trail or road. Fur-bearing traps must be set 1,000 feet from a campground, between 300 and 1,000 feet from a trailhead and 50 feet from a public trail or road.
Another, larger protest also occurred in Missoula Saturday, but Stephenson-Love was happy with the turnout.