Oregon trappers

I am doing a damage control job on a couple of beaver and my customer had talked to ODFW to get permission before he gave me a call. I hadn't met this guy before but he got my name and phone number from a previous client. One thing he told me that bothered me was that when he was talking to odfw it was implied that he should take care of the problem before the end of the year (i presume season) because the rules may be changing. Has anyone heard this also -- I know the commision is trying to kill beaver trapping (and all trapping), but is there something specific in the works that I should be concerned about?

get ahold of the nta , maybe they know something?

The scuttle butt I’ve heard is that a permit will be required in the future. As it stands now, if they are a problem, get rid of them!

I am sure they will have a fee attached to that permit. You have to wonder why as beaver keep showing up in places they never used to be - population is certainly not hurting.

Prolly another step in eliminating trapping , by making it harder , without actually needing votes to completely shut down trapping

Inch by inch

Your customer had no obligation to talk to ODFW about his beaver situation. Per the current Oregon statutes "beaver on private land are classified as predatory animals and no permission required to have them removed".

It would take new rules form the game commission to change that. They meet this June.

However there is a wrinkle about private forest land ownership and the deal with the devil they made. I'm unsure how that will play out.

Yeah -- he talked to them before he gave me a call - thatis what they told him. Our game commision is garbage thanks to our past and present gov. I do think we need to start pushing on some people before June because with this commision the writing is already on the wall.

End of the fiscal year for ODFW is in June I believe, that was probably what was referenced?

If any of you have recently been contacted by ODFW about where you caught your beaver last season (like I was last week) one of the questions was whether you took them off of private or public land.

I got my call today. I would have thought it a scam if I had not read it here first. Most of mine come out of the Johnson Creek system in creeks that are so small they do not show up on their maps. After a while she put me down as the Lower Willamette, land owner conflict.
I have to wonder if all the homeless camps along the creek and walking paths are pushing them up river.

Carl it’s written in that private forest accord that if they have beaver creating damage and they have marketable timber they cannot be removed. That’s my understanding

What’s sad to me as a Southerner is I read all these great articles and stories as a kid about the West and all its outdoors opportunities. Everything from trapping, hunting, and fishing. Go West young man wasn’t just for gold, it was an outdoorsman’s paradise.
Now, it seems it was all a lie, or they’ve changed everything completely. Can’t hunt certain things now. Can’t trap. Sounds like y’all ain’t got enough “Rednecks” to keep things rolling. Heck, Georgia just signed a law delisting coons and possums as furbearers and game animals so they can be trapped year round. Our turkeys are taking a hit and they saw the need to remove nest raiders besides just during trapping season. Coyotes, beavers, coons, and possums are now year round opportunities for us.

You might want to check that out further. I think it says they can be removed but the fur/by products cannot be utilized.

But the good thing is this, (at least for me): I can boat trap navigable streams through private forestland and trap to the mean high water mark- because that is actually public domain.

Got my phone call last week --- I had to ask why the info was being gathered -- didn't get an inteligent answer. Then I asked about the rumors of permits for damage control -- pretty much same response. She did offer to direct me to (can't remember the name -- biologist involved with the beaver trapping fiasco last time) - but I didn't have time at that point and just pointed out that I have absolutely no faith in our commision. Glad the situation is working for you BP -- it isn't for alot of us.

That because beginning in the 1970's all the fruits, nuts, and Marxists, from the rest of the Country moved to the west coast; Los Angeles, San Francisco, Eugene, Portland, Olympia, Seattle.
The far west's liberal voting blocks are isolated in just a few communities.

Idk why you or anyone else would answer any questions on any type of trapping survey…absolutely no reason to respond!!

Because it is being required by our regs. Actually responding to the survey can be helpful to our side. As it is the do-gooders claim all kinds of preposterous things about the Oregon beaver harvest. With carefully gathered data we can refute the BS.

Easier to make sound management decisions with accurate information than it is with no information. Get to know your furbearer biologist and have conversations with them. Give them feedback on what you think is going well and what is going poorly. Does your state trapper's association have a good relationship with your DNR and fur bearer biologist?

Easier to make sound management decisions with accurate information than it is with no information. Get to know your furbearer biologist and have conversations with them. Give them feedback on what you think is going well and what is going poorly. Does your state trapper's association have a good relationship with your DNR and fur bearer biologist?

You hit it on the nail JT. I had a nice conversation with the ODFW Furbearer coordinator. He's definitely on our side. One of the myths that the collected data will help dispel is that the beaver harvest is coming from wilderness areas and sensitive coho habitat areas.

It isn't, but some on the game commission have openly challenged that and told our coordinator that he has no proof of where the harvest is coming from.

I found a reference to what you're talking about Dave. This is from an interview on Oregon Public Broadcasting from May of 2023. HB3464 would require that jurisdiction over beaver control shift from ODA to ODFW and a permit would be required for damage issues. Under an amendment to garner republican support under emergency situations you could kill the beaver and get the permit after the fact.

I'm not sure what the status of the bill is but am pretty certain it will raise it's ugly head again.

Thank-you BP. looks like it passed house and senate --- just waiting on our pos govs signature so that she can make her minions on the (gov appointed) wildlife commision do the dirty work.I am sure there will be a fee associated with the permit to finance future like legislation. This state sucks.

Bill tracker shows that the Governor signed it into law on July 27th. New law goes into effect 1st of January.