NRA-ILA press release:

Newly Proposed Bill Takes Aim at Trapping in Maryland!

Monday, February 23, 2009

Please Contact the House Environmental Matters Committee Today!

NRA urgently requests your help in opposing the latest attempt by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) to ban regulated trapping in Maryland. House Bill 831 would effectively prohibit recreational trapping in Montgomery County and also limit the authority of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to manage wildlife in that county. HB 831 has been assigned to the House Environmental Committee.

It should be noted that this is not merely a county bill, it has been introduced into the Maryland General Assembly and will be heard by the Legislature. If passed, it will not only affect Montgomery County, but it will establish a statewide precedent that takes traps and trap-use out of the hands of DNR, trappers and landowners. If this precedent is established, it will become much easier to expand these prohibitions to include other counties or even statewide.

HB 831 would prohibit the use of live hold foot trap and body-gripping traps by anyone in Montgomery County except an authorized agent of the DNR. This will prevent state wildlife officials, trappers and private landowners from using the most effective and humane trapping tools currently available to manage furbearers. This will influence the DNR’s ability to manage wildlife and nuisance wildlife complaints and also place an unrealistic financial burden on state government and private landowners. Landowners would no longer be allowed to use these tools to trap nuisance animals on their property; they would be forced to hire agents of DNR to handle their problems.

Please contact the members of the Environmental Matters Committee TODAY and respectfully ask them to oppose HB 831. Contact information can be found below. The future of scientific wildlife management in Maryland may depend on it. This is one step toward allowing emotion, not science, to dictate wildlife management practices. Maryland’s sportsmen must fight to ensure this precedent is not set.

Delegate Maggie McIntosh (D-43), Chair
1-800-492-7122, ext. 3990
maggie.mcintosh@house.state.md.us

Delegate James Malone, Jr. (D-12A), Vice Chair
1-800-492-7122, ext. 3378
james.malone@house.state.md.us

Delegate Saqib Ali (D-39)
1-800-492-7122, ext. 3021
saqib.ali@house.state.md.us

Delegate Pamela Beidle (D-32)
1-800-492-7122, ext. 3370
pamela.beidle@house.state.md.us

Delegate Elizabeth Bobo (D-12B)
1-800-492-7122, ext. 3205
elizabeth.bobo@house.state.md.us

Delegate Rudolph Cane (D-37A)
1-800-492-7122, ext. 3427
rudolph.cane@house.state.md.us

Delegate Alfred Clinton Carr, Jr. (D-18)
1-800-492-7122, ext. 3110
alfred.carr@house.state.md.us

Delegate Virginia Clagett (D-30)
1-800-492-7122, ext. 3211
virginia.clagett@house.state.md.us

Delegate Barbara Frush (D-21)
1-800-492-7122, ext. 3114
barbara.frush@house.state.md.usC

Delegate Heryl Glenn (D-45)
1-800-492-7122, ext. 3257
cheryl.glenn@house.state.md.us

Delegate Anne Healey (D-22)
1-800-492-7122, ext. 3961
anne.healey@house.state.md.us

Delegate Marvin Holmes, Jr. (D-23B)
1-800-492-7122, ext. 3310
marvin.holmes@house.state.md.us

Delegate Stephen Lafferty (D-42)
1-800-492-7122, ext. 3487
stephen.lafferty@house.state.md.us

Delegate Doyle Niemann (D-47)
1-800-492-7122, ext. 3326
doyle.niemann@house.state.md.us

Delegate H. Wayne Norman, Jr. (R-35A)
1-800-492-7122, ext. 3284
wayne.norman@house.state.md.us

Delegate Anthony O’Donnell (R-29C)
1-800-492-7122, ext. 3314
anthony.odonnell@house.state.md.us

Delegate Andrew Serafini (R-2A)
(410) 841-3447
andrew.serafini@house.state.md.us

Delegate Tanya Thornton Shewell (R-5A)
1-800-492-7122,ext. 3070
tanya.shewell@house.state.md.us

Delegate Richard Sossi (R-36)
1-800-492-7122, ext. 3543
richard.sossi@house.state.md.us

Delegate Dana Stein (D-11)
1-800-492-7122, ext. 3527
dana.stein@house.state.md.us

Delegate Paul Stull (R-4A)
1-800-492-7122, ext. 3288
paul.stull@house.state.md.us

Delegate Michael Weir, Jr. (D-6)
1-800-492-7122, ext. 3328
michael.weir@house.state.md.us

Delegate Tom Hucker (D-20)
1-800-492-7122, ext. 3474
tom.hucker@house.state.md.us