[MCN] Please oppose HB 138!!

[Connie Poten]

TRAPPING BILL ALERT!!

 

HB 138

 

 

HB 138 <https://leg.mt.gov/bills/2021/billhtml/HB0138.htm> revises trapping 
and snaring law on private land, making it easier to trap on private 
property by removing the requirement for “written” permission. The trapper 
can simply claim he talked to ‘someone’ on the ranch. The trapper’s phone 
number would no longer be required, making him harder to find if livestock 
is injured. HB 138 also makes a Conservation License optional. A 
Conservation License is a legal requisite for all resident and non-resident 
licenses to hunt, fish and trap, and costs a mere $8.00. Why should 
trappers on private land be exempt? To make it harder to identify them. 

These changes protect trappers from liability and culpability, with access 
to lands they have no right to be on. 

 

Please Voice Your OPPOSITION TO H*B 138!*

 

*HB 138 removes the requirement for written permission from a landowner or 
landowner’s ‘agent’ to trap on private land. Written permission can be a 
phone text. The only reason for this is to cover illegal trapping on 
private land. The trapper can simply say he asked ‘someone’ who said it’s 
ok. *

 

*HB 138 protects trappers from liability for injuring people and animals on 
private land by making the trapper harder to identify and contact.*

 

*HB 138 removes the requirement for a Conservation License for no reason 
except further protecting trapper’s identity and making it harder to 
contact him.*

 

*HB 138 undermines the rights of property owners.*

 

*A hearing on this bill will be on Thursday, Jan. 21, in the House Fish, 
Wildlife and Parks Committee, Room 172, Capitol Building.*

 

*HOW TO VOICE YOUR OPPOSITION:*

 

*      •  **Call 406-444-4800* and leave a message for the entire ouHHHouse 
Fish, Wildlife and Parks Committee.

 

            *•  **By noon, Wednesday, Jan 20, send an email or sign up to 
testify by phone to committee members. Here’s how: *

            1.Go to leg.mt.gov Home Page <https://leg.mt.gov/>

 

            2. Scroll down and click on “Send A Web Message to a 
Legislator/Committee”

 

            3. Fill out Form and Choose committee button, then choose 
committee

 

            4. Fill in bill number and click on *for* or *against.* 

 

            5. Write email (1250 characters max)

 

            • *Go in person to Room 172, Capitol Building, 3 p.m. Thursday, 
Jan. 21*

 

We must stop Rep. Paul Fielder’s attempts to make trapping even more 
unregulated than it is. Traps endanger public safety, torture and destroy 
our wildlife and harm habitat. Private lands are not trappers’ killing 
fields. A trapper must have written permission. 

 

 Connie and Your Friends at Footloose Montana

-- 
Constance J. Poten
rattlefarm at gmail.com

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://bigskynet.org/pipermail/missoula-community-news_bigskynet.org/attachments/20210119/30c2c88d/attachment.html>