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63 °F Forecast | Road Cams Friday, March 18, 2005 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Health Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley SHOP OUR VALLEY AutoFinder HomeFinder JobFinder Classified Place an ad TOP JOBS EXTRA Ashland News NIE Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Moving here? eSouthernOregon CUSTOMER SERVICE FAQ's Advertise with us Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend March 13, 2005 Kathryn Hoot, right, walks with friend Pamela Ward along a trail at the boundary of Denman Wildlife Area. Hoot�s dog was killed by a lethal fur trap permitted in the area. But the dog�s death has brought changes to the area�s trapping rules. Mail Tribune / Jim Craven Ruby’s legacy A pet’s death leads state to reconsider trapping regulations in open area By MARK FREEMAN Mail Tribune WHITE CITY — In life, Kathryn Hoot’s little Jack Russell terrier named Ruby was 18 pounds of pure spunk and love. "She could jump four feet straight up and she was always ready to go," says Hoot, 53, of Eagle Point. "If you just picked up her leash, she’d go boing ." But it’s Ruby’s death that is shaking up how a small but historic use — the recreational trapping of raccoons, foxes and other furbearers — will operate now and in the future at the state-run Denman Wildlife Area in White City. Hoot’s 3-year-old dog died after getting caught in a lethal conibear trap set by one of two permitted trappers in a thicket adjacent to a Rogue River-side trail leading from TouVelle State Park into a portion of the 1,900-acre wildlife area. It was the first reported instance of a dog dying in a fur trap in the 51-year history of the wildlife area, which is used by everyone from hunters and anglers to bird-watchers and dog- trainers. Advertisement Since the January incident, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, which operates the wildlife area, has banned lethal conibear traps and body snares. Instead, the agency allows only non- lethal leg-hold traps until the current trapping season ends March 31. The agency also has moved trappers away from foot trails and into more isolated areas and signs now warn the roughly 40,000 annual visitors where traps may be placed. New signs also tell visitors when and where the trapping occurs. "It really was a freak accident and it’s an unfortunate accident," wildlife area Manager Vince Oredson said. "It’s never happened on Denman before and we don’t want it to happen again. ... But it really did bring this to our attention and I think it’s time to make some changes." The ODFW also will rewrite its trapping rules in a draft plan that will guide the wildlife area’s management for the next decade, Oredson said. Oredson said agency managers have yet to decide what changes to propose. However, he expected it to extend the ban on lethal traps. That draft is expected in summer and the ODFW will hold at least one public meeting before the plan is adopted, Oredson said. "Trapping is one of those traditional uses we’d like to continue in the wildlife area," Oredson said. "We don’t want to exclude it. We don’t want to over-restrict it. But we have to make it safe for everyone." Waymon Stanfield — the Eagle Point trapper whose trap killed the dog — died a week after Ruby’s death. He was 64. His grandson, 19-year-old Stephen Price of White City, remains the only other permitted trapper in the wildlife area. Price said he removed all the family’s traps from Denman and will not return this season. The pair trapped 52 raccoons, 13 foxes, seven beavers, and one otter this season, he said. The pelts were all sold, said Price, who said he plans on returning when the trapping season resumes Nov. 15. Price said he understands why conibear traps were banned in the area, but wants the opportunity to use snares, he said. Oredson said the ban on snares exists because they can be deadly to dogs. "I do feel bad about the dog and I don’t want to be mean to these people," Price said. "But they should have had a leash on the dog." Oredson said the ODFW is not considering requiring that all dogs be leashed while on the wildlife area because it would be impractical, unenforceable and would impede dog-training and upland bird hunting activities there. Also, other laws require dogs to be under the owner’s control, and dogs are banned from harassing nesting birds April 12 though July 31, Oredson said. Reactions to Ruby’s death have rippled across Oregon, where the ODFW is in the midst of regularly updating management plans for its 17 wildlife areas. Larry Cooper, the ODFW’s deputy administer of the ODFW’s wildlife division, said his agency will not be reviewing those management plans any differently. However, Ruby’s death has agency officials looking at the wildlife areas that permit trapping and see if any changes to trapping policies were needed to prevent any repeat, Cooper said. Also, the wildlife areas will look at adding more signs to inform visitors of the varying uses of those areas, he said. "We can’t stress enough that this was a terrible situation," said Cooper, in Salem. Hoot said losing Ruby has been difficult. She received "custody" of Ruby two years ago from friend Pamela Ward when Ward moved to Portland. Though Ward has since returned, Hoot kept the dog and the trio regularly hiked the Denman trails together. Hoot said she was stunned by the dog’s death. "It was a tremendous shock and in the beginning I was bitter," she said. "Did I know there was trapping there? Yeah, I guess. But it’s not something I thought about." Ward and Hoot on Friday visited the site where Ruby was killed, and Hoot had to fight tears. "I said I wouldn’t go back out there but she talked me into it, and I was pleasantly surprised," Hoot said. "And I did get a little emotional." But she smiled while reading the new signs. Several now mark where TouVelle State Park ends and Denman begins and one outlines when and where trapping occurs. "I’m happy to see this," she said. "I want people to know that, if you’re here between November and March, beware. "I’m glad something good has come of it," she said. Denman Wildlife Area Originally called the Rogue Valley Game Management Area, the Denman Wildlife Area was formed in 1954 when 1,760 acres of the former Camp White military base were deeded to the state Fish and Game Commission specifically for wildlife management. It was later named after Ken Denman, a Medford attorney and father of current Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission member Don Denman. The elder Denman served 10 years on the Oregon Game Commission, a citizens' board that was a forerunner of the current fish and wildlife commission. Various other land acquisitions bumped the acreage total to 1,900, divided into four units that are home to 175 species of birds, 41 different mammals and 21 kinds of reptiles and amphibians, according to the wildlife area’s management plan. The heaviest use comes from the estimated 25,000 bird watchers, dog trainers, horseback riders, hikers and other so-called "non-consumptive" users, wildlife area Manager Vince Oredson says. Hunters log an estimated 5,500 visitor-days. Anglers rack up 10,500 visitor-days annually, mainly on the Rogue River from the wildlife area's Modoc Unit. Two licensed trappers get special-use permits each trapping season, Oredson says. Oregon’s furbearer trapping season runs Nov. 15 through March 31. Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 776-4470, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback Student Loan Consolidation Conference Calls - $50/Month Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker, Trunk, Footlockers home equity loans helzberg Slippers Student Loans afsa teleconferencing Memory Foam Mattress w2 forms Tatoo Advertisement s