Nevada Anit-Trapping Bill-Updated 4/11

Polls done on proposed bills reflect greatly on how our politicians vote. Lets be honest, most of them could careless if trapping is around or not. These are the ones that are the most important to voice our opinion on. When they see a lot of votes on a poll for a bill they don't have much interest, they quickly gain interest in that bill. This is one of the main reasons we were able to fight off the anti-trapping bills last session. Anyone can take the poll, you don't have to be a Nevada Resident. Below is a step by step pictorial on how to cast your vote. It can be done on your mobile device or computer.

1) Click on the link https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/Opinions/80th2019/


2) Scroll down to the "Type a Bill Name" and type in AB473.


3) Click "Get Bill Info". The info about the bill will pop up to make sure you selected the correct bill.


4) Select that you are against this bill. There is one comment so far where someone voted that they are in favor with the bill but in the comment they are clearly against it. We are not in favor for these bills. It helps a lot to leave a comment, but its not required. Remember to keep your comments focused on facts, and don't make threats or any other unnecessary remarks. The local anti-trapping group lost a lot of respect and credibility for making death threats to a couple Trapper Association members on social media, plus we as a trapping community are better then that.


5) Fill out the personal information section, and hit "Submit Your Opinion".


You can submit an opinion for anyone who will allow you to. So talk to your friends, family, coworkers, people at the bar, school mates, or anyone else. All you need is their permission, name, and address. If you need help or don't have time, feel free to send me your name and address so I can submit it for you.

AB473 is the only one targeted towards trapping at the moment. Another important one that was also recently submitted is targeted at coyote hunting/calling contest. That Bill is SB487. Even though it is not targeted towards trappers, it greatly affects our wildlife and ranching. We all need to stick together as an outdoor community to stop these anti-hunting/trapping bills. We were able to pull together to stop the antis in New Mexico, lets pull together to stop the antis in Nevada!!!!




[i][/i][u][/u]

Thanks much for posting this. I hope EVERYONE takes the 90 seconds it will take to voice their opinion and vote AGAINST this bill. Two years ago we had tremendous support on a similar bill and defeated it because legislators were swayed by the tremendous outcry from sportsmen. Please help.

I did it. ZERO excuse for everyone on here not to vote.

Done!

Both done.

Thank you. As New Mexico and Montana recently showed, we all have to stick together. It's Nevada today, but it will soon be your state.

done

Done as well.

Done

Thanks for all the votes so far. The trapping bill is 15th and the coyote contest one is 11th out of 630 active polls and they haven't even been out for 24 hours yet. Its great, but not enough. Please continue to help us with this and spread the word. Fill out an opinion against these two bills for anyone who will allow you too. Lets make 2019 a winning year for sportsman!

done

Done, it only takes a minute to comment

Done
Im not on facebook but if someone is and could also get this on Nevada big game hunters page. We have to stick together

Done on both! Wish u the best.

Done .The family did as well.

Did it

Done

Both are done by me and the wife

Done

Voted and expressed my opinion

So far, 435 people voted AGAINST a trap ban, compared to 5 in favor.

Done, good luck

The trap restriction bill is now the 11th most popular. With only 5 in approval for the change. The two comments that people in favor of the bill mention needing more humane traps and suffering animals, both of which are emotional opinion. I’ve read every comment and most of the comments from those opposed to bill have been sticking to a lot of facts which include data taken from trappers to help biologist understand the animals we are trapping, benefits in population control, the renewable resource of fur, pastime and heritage, and a huge one is to help with predation on the Sage Grouse. Sage Grouse is a very big conversation in the West. With fires destroying sage flats and being replaced with cheat grouse, sage grouse numbers have been low and many are pushing to have them protected with the endangered species act. Nevada is one of the last strong holds with native and wild sage grouse. The ending of trapping would be bad for the sage grouse population. These are the kinds of facts that help promote trapping. It’s only day one of a multi-month fight. Let’s keep it going!!!!

Excellent point on the sage grouse!!!!

Done, with this as my comment:

A common misconception regarding the leghold trap is it's purported cruelty to an animal. In fact, modern leghold traps are designed to hold an animal unharmed. Modern wildlife biologists commonly use the leghold trap as an important tool for mammal research as they are able to capture animals unharmed and release them. Economically, damaged animals are worth less at resale and therefore it is in the best interest of the trapper to use humane methods such as a foothold trap to capture animals.

Boom, I was nice...

Looking at the other comments I guess I got a little long-winded LOL.

There is another Nevada bill against coyote hunting contests:

SB487 Makes it unlawful to conduct or participate in certain competitions in which coyotes are taken. (BDR 45-1156)

Got er done!

Both bills are in the top 5 most popular and it only took 48 hours with around 90% of the votes opposed to the bills. We need to try to get them in the top 2. Thanks for all the support so far. We are definitely making a point!!!!

The Southern Nevada Coalition of Wildlife just announced that SB487, calling for the ban of coyote hunting contest, has been pulled!!!!!! They got flooded with emails, calls, and polls. We need to put all that energy to AB437 to stop that one as well.

The fight isn’t over but we thank everyone who has helped so far. Let’s keep it up and continue to make it a winning year for sportsmen!!!

https://m.facebook.com/SouthernNevadaCoalitionforWildlife/

I sent one in.

Commented on both bills. That's great to hear that the contest bill has been pulled. That bill was outrageous! The trapping bill is roughly 13-1 against it and is sitting at #5 on the most commented list. Good job trappers, keep it up! Good luck Nevada! NM is pulling for you!

Assembly Committee on Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Mining
Wednesday, April 03, 2019
4:00 PM
Room 3138 of the Legislative Building, 401 S. Carson St., Carson City, NV.
Videoconferenced to Room 4401 of the Grant Sawyer State Office Building, 555 E. Washington Ave., Las Vegas, NV.

AB473 Classic Revises provisions relating to trapping. (BDR 45-904)
Sponsors: Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Mining

done

Done and comments left.

Against both bills and left my honest opinions on both matters. Best of luck Nevada trappers. PA has your back.

Done. Thanks for the heads up.

WE MADE IT TO NUMBER 2 ON THE POLLS!!!!!! We are making a huge impression on everyone and I’m sure other states are watching. Now we need to send emails. Bellow is the assembly memebers on the committee that will be doing the first voting on the bill. Please send emails and be VERY RESPECTFUL when you write them. They are all Democrats, but they are willing to vote either way and we fell very fortunate to have people like them in the assembly.

Shannon.BilbrayAxelrod@asm.state.nv.us
Alex.Assefa@asm.state.nv.us
Maggie.Carlton@asm.state.nv.us
Sarah.Peters@asm.state.nv.us
Howard.Watts@asm.state.nv.us

Its best to send individual emails, but if you don't have time you can send one to the email below.

asmNRAM@asm.state.nv.us (email for the entire committee). Ask that your comment be distributed to the committee

REMEMBER TO BE RESPECTFUL!!! Members of the anti group were barred from attending meetings because of death threats they made towards Trapping Association Members. Multiple Assembly and Senate members, most of which are on the fence with how they will vote, mentioned that the anti group lost a lot of credibility because of rude and emotion driven comments. Facts will trump emotion.

One main point is that SB 213 a few years ago made areas around town a 48 hour check. Trappers left those areas, coyote problems doubled. NDOW's own reports show coyote problems have had a 23% increase every year since then. The point to make with legislators is: 48 hours doesn't work; it makes coyote problems increase exponentially. We've had countless pets eaten by coyotes and at least one human attack in the valley -- if you vote in favor of this bill, you are not only ensuring this problem increases, you are going to make it happen statewide. Do you want to be responsible for that??

Sage Grouse are a hot topic with their numbers being in the critical range because of habitat loss. Restricting trappers and shortening trap checks will increase predation on Sage Grouse which will reduce their numbers even more.

Internet response is a good way to win these battles. Montana last year, New Mexico earlier this year, now Nevada. We can win if we stick together and get involved.

Much thanks to everyone who has taken the time to respond.

Done

Thanks a ton!!!!!!

WE MADE IT TO NUMBER 2 ON THE POLLS!!!!!! We are making a huge impression on everyone and I’m sure other states are watching. Now we need to send emails. Bellow is the assembly memebers on the committee that will be doing the first voting on the bill. Please send emails and be VERY RESPECTFUL when you write them. They are all Democrats, but they are willing to vote either way and we fell very fortunate to have people like them in the assembly.

Shannon.BilbrayAxelrod@asm.state.nv.us
Alex.Assefa@asm.state.nv.us
Maggie.Carlton@asm.state.nv.us
Sarah.Peters@asm.state.nv.us
Howard.Watts@asm.state.nv.us

Its best to send individual emails, but if you don't have time you can send one to the email below.

asmNRAM@asm.state.nv.us (email for the entire committee). Ask that your comment be distributed to the committee

REMEMBER TO BE RESPECTFUL!!! Members of the anti group were barred from attending meetings because of death threats they made towards Trapping Association Members. Multiple Assembly and Senate members, most of which are on the fence with how they will vote, mentioned that the anti group lost a lot of credibility because of rude and emotion driven comments. Facts will trump emotion.

One main point is that SB 213 a few years ago made areas around town a 48 hour check. Trappers left those areas, coyote problems doubled. NDOW's own reports show coyote problems have had a 23% increase every year since then. The point to make with legislators is: 48 hours doesn't work; it makes coyote problems increase exponentially. We've had countless pets eaten by coyotes and at least one human attack in the valley -- if you vote in favor of this bill, you are not only ensuring this problem increases, you are going to make it happen statewide. Do you want to be responsible for that??

Sage Grouse are a hot topic with their numbers being in the critical range because of habitat loss. Restricting trappers and shortening trap checks will increase predation on Sage Grouse which will reduce their numbers even more.

Done

Since it's April 1st, I could post a mean April Fools joke, but I'll keep this thread serious. The first public meeting about AB473, a bill that would ban leghold traps and change our trap checks to 24 hours, is this Wednesday (1/3) at 4:00. We need as many people as we can get. So anyone who can come, please come. If your from the Carson area or Las Vegas area, there is no excuse. If your in the Vegas Valley and need a ride, let me know.

Assembly Committee on Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Mining
Wednesday, April 03, 2019
4:00 PM
Room 3138 of the Legislative Building, 401 S. Carson St., Carson City, NV.

Videoconferenced to Room 4401 of the Grant Sawyer State Office Building, 555 E. Washington Ave., Las Vegas, NV.

AB473 Classic Revises provisions relating to trapping. (BDR 45-904)
Sponsors: Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Mining

Done - good luck! We all have to stuck together no matter where the fight is....


"Please consider that ts bill goes against SCIENCE 100%. Please research this to understand fully that trapping is an important wildlife management tool and in today's modern equipment, is done humanly. Excess population causes disease and predation of other species that are being managed. As a outdoor enthusiast; fisherman, hunter, and also a trapper, I am proud to work closely with game wardens, biologist, and department of wildlife organizations in providing data such as species populations, disease management, reducing predation of valuable livestock, all while respecting these renewable resources in a responsible manner. Voting in favor of this bill would cause population explosion, increased disease, increased pressure on other species such as grouse and numerous other egg laying birds. I am not a resident of Nevada, but understand the misrepresentations that the opposition would have you believe, and feel it important to express the importance of sound management practices trappers provide. Thank you"

Game plan for tomorrow 4/2 between 11am and 1pm Pacific time. We need everyone to call our assembly members during this time frame to tell them you oppose AB473. Doesn’t matter what state or country you are from. It only takes a few seconds per assembly member. The Antis have woken up and are working hard right now. We need to out work them. The list for phone numbers is on the Southern Nevada Coalition for Wildlife. The link is below. While you are their, like and repost the pot that have been posted so far. It all shows how serious we are.


https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=2225265560845035&id=421712117867064

****Trapping bill AB473 update****
It's time to let the dogs out!!!!!
Last session we flooded their phone lines and it's time to do it again. First off let us tell you that a hearing will be held on Wednesday at 4pm and it will be video-conferenced to Las Vegas and Elko. There has been a surge from the opposition today and it's time the Assembly of Natural Committee members hear from us. We are listing the committee members and their office phone numbers. The game plan is to call each member between the hours of 11am and 1pm. Set your alarms on your phones to remind you. Just imagine getting a thousand calls in one day!!!! Here are the members names and numbers. It takes 15 seconds to call and ask each member to oppose AB473!! The Assembly members in bold are the 5 who will be voting to oppose the bill and kill it in committee or pass it to be voted by the Assembly.

Heidi Swank -Chairwoman 775-684-8595
Maggie Carlton 775-684-8597
Alex Assefa 775-684-8803
Shannon Bilbray-Axelrod 775-684-8847
Alexis Hansen 775-684-8823
Ozzie Fumo 775-684-8839
Sarah Peters 775-684-8559
Howard Watts 775-684-8835
John Ellison 775-684-8831
Robin Titus 775-684-8507
Jim Wheeler 775-684-8843
Greg Smith 775-684-8841

We need to share this post far and wide!! If you can't call between these hours then call sometime between 8-5.

Doesn't matter what State or Country you are from. Anyone can call and voice there opinion.

Question of the day? Will you be a soldier or a prisoner?

I've asked for the time off work to be able to attend the meeting. I have sent emails and called the people on the list. I reached 3 of the 5 offices this morning already, from the calls I made couple of things stuck out. Be super nice say good morning and ask how they are, huge change in the tone of voice once I started that way. These folks are just staff and get beat-up on the phone by upset people everyday. All asked if I had anything to add and to keep it short I asked that we be allowed to continue to use Nevada's renewable resources as stewards of the land and as hunters and trappers the first wildlife conservationists. When I thanked them for their time and wished them a good day most seemed surprised and very receptive. Like gma always said kill them with kindness

Thank you and great advice.

I got through to 3 of the 5 bolded ones and left voicemails on the others.

They didn't sound harried, so please call and make them busy!

I got through to 4 out of the entire list and left messages for everyone else. We need everyone to call. It took me 10 min to get through the list. Haha it was quicker then my emails.

Same here.

I tyoed. I had 5 calls where someone picked up.

I have made all of the calls. I wish I could get to Vegas for the video conference, I'd be there-- if there was any way possible I could break away.

Thanks for all of those who called. If your in The Vegas Valley, Carson area, or Elko please attend the meeting tomorrow at 4. We have made a huge impression with the polls, emails, and phone calls. Let’s continue impressing everyone with our attendance tomorrow!!!!

Thanks again for all the support so far!

My dad called those not in bold and 4 out 6 said they were voting against the bill the other two got messages

That’s what we need. We have 3 chances to stop it, but stopping it in the committee would be ideal. Keep sending those emails and making calls. We also need to fill seats tomorrow.

Any update on today's activities?

The meeting today went well. We need to send emails letting the committee members know why Nevada needs 96 hour trap checks. Nevada is Over 80% public land with dense populations in two small areas. The only state with similarities is Alaska. For trappers to be affective we need to be able to afford, with both time and money, to cover ground. Shortening trap checks forces us to all trap closer to the cities, causing more issues. Legholds have been removed from the bill which is big for us. They changed the leghold ban to a can on bodygrip traps on dry land. The Committee member who amended the bill did a great job researching bodygrip traps and was able to define it so snares didn’t fit in that category. Thanks for the support so far. We are making a stance that we will not be prisoners

Another note for everyone who shared there testimony. Everyone did an awesome job. Very respectful, very professional, and got our points across. They gave both sides 30 mins to share testimonies with a limit of 2 min per person. The Antis took up 15 min or so, and they had to cut us off because we used our 30 min.

Anyways, this is a long post but we had to sit through a 3-1/2 hour meeting so I’m trying to sum it all out.

THANKS FOR THE SUPPORT SO FAR. We need to send emails about the trap checks. We need 96 hours and nothing less.

Great comments by everyone today. I was proud of our team -- respectful, professional, informative and pertinent. Thanks again to everyone that helped.

Thanks for keeping us updated

Assembly Committee on Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Mining
Monday, April 08, 2019 at 4:00 PM

Room 3138 of the Legislative Building, 401 S. Carson St., Carson City, NV.
Room 4406 of the Grant Sawyer State Office Building, 555 E. Washington Ave., Las Vegas, NV.
Room 102, McMullen Hall, Great Basin College, 1500 College Parkway, Elko, NV.

This is the 3rd and final reading for the bill with the Committee. That’s means they will vote right after they discuss it. We need to get emails out before the meeting stressing the importance of 96 hour trap checks in Nevada.

A big concern is the conflict between traps and other outdoor groups. Shortening trap checks will make it so Trappers can’t afford with time or money to travel far from the city where most people go to hike and enjoy the outdoors. This will cause more conflicts. 96 hours allows trappers to disperse out from the cities.

Another point to make is how shortening trap checks effects the working class. We can’t afford to take off multiple days a week to check traps. If we are checking at nights, we will have to trap close or we will be out all night multiple nights which will effect our work negativity with quality and safety. This will take away the opportunity from the workings class.

Right now the law states that 96 hours is the MAX amount of time that NDOW can allow. If at anytime they feel a need to reduce trap checks, they can through regulation change. Reducing the law to say 48 hours takes away that flexibility away from NDOW.

Once again remember to be RESPECTFUL. Remember that they do have the right and authority to make these laws. We have done good at being respectful so let’s keep that up.

Members of the Assembly Natural Resources Committee:

Heidi.Swank@asm.state.nv.us Chairwoman

Shannon.BilbrayAxelrod@asm.state.nv.us Vice Chair

Alex.Assefa@asm.state.nv.us

Maggie.Carlton@asm.state.nv.us

Ozzie.Fumo@asm.state.nv.us

Sarah.Peters@asm.state.nv.us

Howard.Watts@asm.state.nv.us

John.Ellison@asm.state.nv.us

Alexis.Hansen@asm.state.nv.us

Robin.Titus@asm.state.nv.us

Jim.Wheeler@asm.state.nv.us

AsmNRAM@asm.state.nv.us (email for the entire committee). Ask that your comments be distributed to the committee.

A reminder for the meeting tomorrow. It’s the final meeting and voting for the committee. If we can get a majority to vote against it, then the bill will be killed. If it passes then it has to go through both the Assembly and the Senate with the same process. Let’s get this thing ended tomorrow. Please send emails to all the committee members and let them know that Nevada trappers need 96 hour trap checks.

Good points to make and the emails for the assembly members are in the previous two post.

Done! E-mailed all the assembly members! Thanks cat trapper nv for keeping us up to date.

Thanks for the update!!

How did yesterdays hearing turn out? Couldn't attend but called and emailed.

The hearing was continued until tomorrow (Wednesday) at 4:00 pm. I take that as a good sign. Might be some things going on behind the scenes. Keep an eye on this page and the Southern Nevada Coalition for Wildlife Facebook page for further details.

The meeting is today at 4:00pm Pacific. It’s the last day for the Assembly’s Committee of Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Mining to workshop bills and vote.

The meeting is in Carson’s City and will be video conferenced in Las Vegas and Elko. If you are in any of these 3 areas, please attend the meeting at their respective locations listed in the previous post (same as the last meeting). If you can’t attend, or are out of State, you can watch the meeting live at the link before. Click on the link, then click on “view meeting”. They don’t start the Cameras up till 3:50pm Pacific.

https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/80th2019/Committee/235/Meetings

Thanks for all the support from everyone so far. We truly have a great community of Men and Women.

Any word on how things went today? Thanks!

So far so good.

We will be able to post more news in a few days.

Thanks for all of the support.

The workshop meeting was scheduled to hear AB473 yesterday, but was pulled from the agenda before the meeting started. We don't know why it was pulled but this same thing happened on Monday. We will let everyone know if a new hearing is scheduled.
April 12th is the scheduled cut off date to get bills out of Committee, but this can be extend. This isn’t a one and done thing so we will continue to watch everything closely. I will continue to keep everyone updated. Please continue to be respectful in all your comments, emails, and calls. We have done an awesome job with that so far and are very grateful for it.

The Assembly hearing that was set for tomorrow (April 12 -- the last day for a bill to make it out of first committee) has officially been cancelled. Keep a sharp eye out for any other movement on similar legislation. As soon as we get word officially that this thing is dead, Cat Trapper will post it. Thanks again for all the hard work from all involved.