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46 °F Forecast | Road Cams Monday, January 19, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find a Rental Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Email Story to a Friend December 13, 2003 Progress made in trap-check time limit By MARK FREEMAN Mail Tribune Oregon no longer will have the most lax rules in the nation for trapping predators under a new rule proposal aimed at balancing humane practices with the practicality of reducing predator damage. After hearing from agriculture and animal-rights interests, the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission on Friday said next month it will consider requiring that restraining, snare-like traps targeting coyotes and other predators be checked within 76 hours after they are set. Oregon now has no set time limit for predator traps, allowing the possibility that wounded or non-targeted animals can be held for intervals some consider inhumane. Thirty states have 24-hour limits. The commission also wants a separate, longer time requirement for so-called "quick-kill" traps, but commission members did not suggest any specific length of time. Advertisement The seven-member commission also wants the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to come up with a concrete recommendation to settle the trap-check issue that sets specific times and offers no exemptions. If adopted as scheduled next month, everyone from a Wildlife Services "government trapper" targeting tree-eating mountain beavers to a ranch hand catching coyotes in remote Eastern Oregon would have to abide by the rules. "It comes down to what’s an acceptable length of time an animal can suffer in Oregon," said Kelly Peterson of the Humane Society of the United States, which has dogged Oregon for years to set tight time limits. "Ultimately, Oregon will answer that question." But agricultural interests say tight, inflexible limits could become an expensive burden that does not reflect real-world trapping problems or even give exemptions for such things as floods and fires. "It’s been such a contentious issue right from the get-go," said Mike Dykzeul, who represented the Oregon Forest Industries Council at the commission’s Friday meeting in Salem. "They realize they’re not going to make anybody or everybody happy." ODFW wildlife managers must quickly draft their recommendation and offer some economic analysis in the next few weeks to get it out for public comment later this month, said commission spokeswoman Anne Pressentin Young. The commission will take public comment on the option up to its Jan. 9 meeting in Salem, when it is scheduled to set the requirement. The Oregon Legislature in 2001 passed a new trapping law that set a 48-hour limit for the trapping of furbearers like mink and beavers, but the law states that traps set for predators should be checked only "on a regular basis." The commission is charged to define specifically what "regular" means, and a hot public debate has ensued over how long is long enough. Public hearings failed to flush out a recommendation that trapping interests and animal-rights activists would both accept. In October, the commission formed a working group of 10 people representing various factions interested in trapping. Three meetings failed to create a consensus recommendation to the commission. Instead, the group crafted three options that range from a minimum of 48 hours for restraining traps and 14 days for killing traps. Animal-rights groups pressed for across-the-board 48-hour limits that match furbearer rules. A separate legislative committee recommended a 76-hour limit for restraining traps. That would allow enough time for Wildlife Services’ agents to set traps on Friday and get them checked by late Monday morning. The legislative committee also recommended 14-day intervals for checking kill traps for predators. Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback 3 WEEKS FREE! ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S RESOURCES Oregon Road Conditions & Cams SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Food for Thought Wellness Connection Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities Prime Times