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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend November 6, 2005 Lethal-trap ban made permanent By MARK FREEMAN Mail Tribune WHITE CITY — Denman Wildlife Area officials have made permanent the bans on lethal traps that were enacted in January after a pet dog died in a trap set near a hiking trail. The quick-kill conibear traps and body snares will no longer be set for beaver, muskrats and other animals traditionally trapped at the state-run wildlife area, where the trapping season runs Nov. 15 through March. However, snare traps that hold, but rarely kill, animals will remain legal for trappers in areas away from those frequented by other Denman users. "We are going to continue to allow trapping," wildlife area Manager Vince Oredson said. "We’re going to set guidelines, keep traps away from the most well-used trails and away from TouVelle State Park." The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, which operates wildlife areas such as Denman, also plans to post signs warning people that trapping occurs there, Oredson said. Advertisement But the agency will not require that all traps be flagged or otherwise marked, Oredson said. The new rules could be called "Ruby’s Law," after the Jack Russell terrier who was killed in a conibear trap set in January on a Denman trail that links the wildlife area to TouVelle Park. The conibear trap ban was enacted on an interim basis after Ruby’s death, and Oredson said he believes these changes will help ensure no repeat of it. "We’ve had no trouble with dogs getting caught in traps before and we don’t anticipate any trouble in the future," Oredson says. Trapping represents a small sliver of the use of the 1,900-acre wildlife area, an outdoor oasis amid the White City industrial area that draws about 40,000 visitors annually. So far, no one has sought the necessary free permit to trap at Denman this year, Oredson says. Waymon Stanfield, the 64-year-old Eagle Point man whose trap killed Ruby, died a week after the incident. Only Stanfield and his grandson, Stephen Price, had permits to trap at Denman last year. Price says he will resume trapping this season at Denman, where he plans to set 40 to 50 traps targeting everything from opossums and muskrats to beaver and otter. "Mainly, I’m doing it to carry on my grandpa’s tradition, my family tradition," says Price, 20, of White City. Price says he plans on selling the furs, but he does not yet have a buyer lined up. Price says he does not like the ban on snares and conibear traps but he will work within the limitations because the wildlife area is a fruitful place to trap. "I’ll have other areas to trap, but I’ll hit Denman the hardest," Price says. "There’s a lot of fur there." That rankles animal-rights activists such as Sally Mackler of Jacksonville, who believes all trapping should be banned on public lands, especially those with a mix of different types of use. "I think in places where people are allowed to recreate there should be no trapping," says Mackler, who is the wildlife chairwoman for the Oregon Chapter of the Sierra Club. "It’s not compatible with family uses." Kelly Peterson, the director of ballot issues for the Humane Society of the United States, says even leg-hold traps cause pain and suffering to wildlife. "Leg-hold traps are land mines for animals and pets," says Peterson, of Portland. "They are indiscriminate. They catch anything that walks into them, just like Ruby." Oredson says any trapping likely will be centered around the lands east of Agate Road around Little Butte Creek. Enacting a leash law is impractical and would conflict with dog-training and upland game-bird hunting that occurs there, Oredson says. Also, other laws require dogs to be under the owner’s control. Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 776-4470, or e-mail Lethal-trap ban made permanent ">[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 www.bingo.com Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker Distance Education Computer Security Cheap Website Hosting Discount Hotel Reservations dvd-r Online Pharmacy Myspace Home Equity Loans Windermere Van Vleet Deep Muscle Stimulator Sports Equipment Online Casino Reviews High End Computers Online Casino News Online Bingo Entertainment Guide Online Casino Fundraisers Student Loans Advertisement s