http://www.nvtrappers.org
President — Joel Blakeslee (Sherri), 4905 Jackrabbit Rd, Reno, NV 89510; 775-742-1308
Vice President — John Sullivan; 702-493-8342;
johnsull4@aol.com
Secretary/Treasurer — Judi Curran, 4170 St. Clair Rd., Fallon, NV 89406; 775- 867-2239
Fur Manager — Jim Curran, 4170 St. Clair Rd., Fallon, NV 89406; 775-867-2239
Membership Options:
• Individual membership including subscription to Trapper & Predator Caller — $20
• Husband & wife with subscription — $22
• Junior (under 16) with subscription — $10
Complete membership application on first page of association section and send dues to:
NTA, Secretary/Treasurer
Judi Curran
4170 St. Clair Rd.
Fallon, NV 89406
PRESIDENT’S REPORT
Hello Trappers,
You will probably get this edition after the rendezvous on Aug. 1, 2, and 3 in Ward Mountain Campground just outside of Ely.
This is shaping up as one of our best get togethers in many years, and I hope you could make it.
Much thanks to Joe Bennett from EIy for putting this event together. And much thanks to the vendors and demonstrators who attended. The way I look at demonstrations is if I can pick up one tip to make my trapping or fur handling any better, then it is worth the entire cost and effort of going. Not to mention it is always a lot of fun.
On the political side of things, after an exhausting two year campaign by the antis to change trapping laws drastically in this state, it all came down to the wildlife commission meeting in Tonopah on June 21. By that time, they key issue was visitation. The state legislature had passed a law, SB213, which directed the wildlife commission to consider making changes in populated and heavily use areas. The antis define just about everyplace as populated and or heavily used. They had a map (their backup position) that changed half the state to 24 hour areas. Very generous, their first map was the whole state. Of course their goal is a total ban. Hunting too. But they will settle for just changing visitation statewide – for now.
The meeting in Tonopah lasted about all day. In the end the wildlife commission did make changes, but they were quite minimal. Some areas around Reno and Las Vegas will have new regulations for visitation every other calendar day instead of 96 hours, but those areas are much smaller then were originally drawn up. Particularly in Clark County the impact is negligible because the area for reduced trap visitation is the same small area as for Illegal Firearms Discharge, which is a county ordinance.
There were also changes made for demerit point increases for violations of the visitation laws and intentional trapping on private property without permission. But the big showdown was over visitation.
While the NVTA argued long and hard for no changes to exiting rules, considering the time and effort the antis put into this campaign, this outcome seems to be about as good as we could have expected. I think the biggest reason for this outcome was superior organization. From our president who has been fighting this war for 40 years to the regional directors to our members, we had more and better people. One key factor was turnout. In meeting after meeting of the wildlife commission’s trapping committee, trappers and supporters outnumbered the antis and were not afraid to speak up in public comment. The meetings in Elko and Las Vegas were extremely one sided for trapping. Less so in Reno but we were still in the majority. Then at the grand finale in Tonopah, it was a blowout. Approximately 50 trappers to 6 antis.
For all of you who wrote emails or came to these long and exhausting meetings, thank you. You are the reason trapping is alive and well in Nevada. At the Elko meeting, Joel got up and said he was never so proud to be associated with any group of people. At the Tonopah meeting, Fred Fisher from Ely, who has been going to similar types of meetings for 30 years, said the same thing.
Now that the politics are a done deal for now, it is on to things that we like doing much more, like getting outdoors to prepare and scout for the next hunting and trapping seasons.
Best Regards. — John Sullivan
