Back in early February, I saw an announcement for the Alaskan Wild Women Hiking & Backpacking Group on Meetup.com. They weren’t going out on one of their usual hikes. They were holding a free gathering called “Trap Safety for Pets. Learn about traps and how to remove a pet.”
The gathering was held in Wasilla and included about a dozen women who like to hike around the valley and elsewhere, often with dogs in tow. A volunteer with the Palmer Alaska Fish & Game Office, Michelle Roundtree, took her own time on a Saturday to share what she knew. It included details on the six Mat-Su Borough recreation areas that prohibit trapping on borough land (but not nearby adjacent state land). She also had pocket-sized handouts of Alaska Trapping Regulations that included trapping season dates, and a slick brochure (pictured above, link below) that offered pet owners tips on how to remove an animal caught in a trap. She had also borrowed samples of different types of traps and snares, and demonstrated how to release them and let us practice.
I love to go hiking with my dog. All I could think of was how much I didn’t know.
Where is trapping legal–in the Anchorage Bowl, and in the Mat-Su Borough? What are the trapping seasons? What are ways you might recognize traps while out on a hike, bike, snowshoe or ski trip? What resources are available for you to educate yourself?
The goal of today’s show is to share this information so you better understand your exposure to traps in Alaska. Regardless of your view of trapping, it is legal in Alaska and recent efforts to constrain the activity near populated areas have failed. Unless or until laws change, this information could be very important to you. Your questions and comments are welcome throughout the program.
HOST: Kathleen McCoy
GUESTS:
- Seth Kollman, Alaska State Wildlife Trooper
- Kathy Meyer, hiker, hosted Alaskan Wild Women Hiking & Backpacking Group trap information session
- Richard Person, trapper, member Alaska Trappers Association
LINKS:
- Sharing the Trails, Alaska Dept. of Fish & Game website. Site includes short videos on how to remove a pet from different types of traps: body-grip trap, coilspring foot-hold trap,longspring foot hold trap, jump trap and a snare. It also includes a 24-min video by the Alaska Trappers Association, displaying the way traps look on trails, tools to help you release a trap, and how to manage a distressed dog until you can release it.
- Trap Safety for Pet Owners, brochure PDF.
- Areas closed to trapping, Alaska Department of Fish & Game
- Management units in Alaska, Alaska Department of Fish & Game (may include some trapping info)
- Alaska’s Trapping Heritage, 22-min 1995 video, hosted by former Gov. Jay Hammond, Alaska Department of Fish & Game
- (Mat-Su Borough) Assembly bans trapping in 6 parks, updated March 21, 2017, Borough website
- Alaska Safe Trails, Facebook page
- Dog killed by legal snare on state land near Palmer, KTVA, 3.1.2019
- Traps or snares that injure, kill off-leash pets concern Mat-Su dog owners, Anchorage Daily News, 6.30.2016
- Trapping and dogs in Juneau, The Grateful Dogs website
- Residents learn how to rescue pets from traps, Chugiak-Eagle River STAR, 1.24.2018
- Trapping class aims to help pet owners keep their dogs safe, Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, 1.29.2016
- Alaska game board rebuffs two bids to restrict trappers, Anchorage Daily News, 9.28.2016
- Game board kills proposed Kenai Peninsula trailside trapping ban, Anchorage Daily News, 3.18.2015
- Snared in trapping debate: Chugach National Forest sees overlap of trapping, dog owner recreation, Redoubt Reporter, 3.23.2012
- Can I bring my pet? (FAQ, AK DNR Div. of Parks & Outdoor Recreation) website
DATES:
- Alaska Board of Game meets March 14-19, 2019, Southcentral Region.
PARTICIPATE:
- Call 550-8433 (Anchorage) or 1-888-353-5752 (statewide) during the live broadcast (2:00 – 3:00pm)
- Send e-mail to hometown@alaskapublic.org before, during or after the live broadcast (e-mails may be read on air)
- Post your comment or question below (comments may be read on air)
- LIVE: Monday, March 4, 2019 at 2:00 p.m.
- REPEAT: Monday, March 4, 2019 at 8:00 p.m.
