For the trappers that may read this page, I am not against trapping or hunting, I am just against being negligent.
The photographs above and below were taken during 2006 and 2007 by a Nevada BLM Site Steward when making routine inspections of petroglyph sites. The trapping of bobcats is not the issue here, but the dangerous placement of the traps is an issue. The traps were found directly under rock art panels, as well as on trails near the rock art. Both are places where they could have been easily be encountered by hikers or their pets. Trap placement in areas like these is becoming more common place, so watch your step when hiking.
Please Note: The photograph above is not at a public rock art site such as you would find in Valley of Fire or Red Rock Canyon in Nevada, but is a known rock art site that is visited by hikers on a regular basis near Alamo, Nevada. The photograph below is from the White River Narrows Archaeological District which is a "Public Rock Art" site and is on our list of sites to visit. A total of three traps were removed from this area because they proved to be a danger. Also, several years ago traps were removed from The Shooting Gallery, which also is "Public Rock Art" site.
Most of the time the traps are not as obvious as the one in the middle of the picture below
A couple other bobcat stories from Nevada newspapers
TRAPPED: Has Northern Nevada's population outgrown state trapping laws?
JEFF DELONG
RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL
Posted: 2/11/2007
ANDY BARRON/RENO GAZETTE-JOURNALA Nevada Department of Wildlife warden holds a steel trap that caught a dog recently in the Galena Creek area. Investigating a smell, Duke the dog lowered his snout into trouble. A steel trap snapped shut, pinching the folds of flesh on the retriever's face. Owner Carol Grigus heard her pet's yelps of pain and rushed to his side, horrified. "It was very frightening," Grigus said of the Feb. 1 incident in the Jones Creek drainage, just outside Galena Creek Regional Park south of Reno. Duke was freed unharmed, but that event, along with two others in the same area in previous weeks, has called into question policies regarding animal trapping near popular recreation areas and growing neighborhoods.
Gary Schiff, district ranger for the U.S. Forest Service, recently wrote the Nevada Department of Wildlife asking that trapping regulations be reviewed to ensure the public's safety. "We're concerned for the safety of the recreating public," Schiff said. "Human safety is paramount."
The string of incidents in the Galena area began in early December when another dog was caught in a trap on national forest land in the Whites Creek drainage. It continued in January in nearby Jones Creek, when a dog owner saw his pet sniffing around a trap but was able to keep the animal from tripping the device. Then came Duke's misadventure.
The incidents were linked to the same trapper, who did nothing wrong, said Dave Patula, a warden who investigated the matter for the Department of Wildlife. The trapper -- who voluntarily removed his traps from the area -- was properly licensed and followed state trapping regulations, Patula said. "There wasn't anything illegal," said Patula, who was given the trap that snared Duke by a Washoe County ranger who helped Grigus free her pet.
Lack of snow cover has made this winter particularly attractive to trappers across the state, Patula said. Trapping season lasts from Nov. 1 through February. Most trappers are going after bobcats, which have pelts valued at an average of $300, Patula said. The demand of pelts for fur coats is high, particularly overseas.
But this year's busy trapping season has led to a record number of complaints, usually involving mishaps with dogs. Patula couldn't provide the number of complaints but said it's impressive. "This has been the worst year I've had for complaints about trapping in my 28 years with the agency," said Patula, a former trapper himself.
The Galena-area incidents led to efforts by some residents to change regulations they say put people and pets at risk. "This is deeply troubling to me," said Trish Swain, who is forming a citizens group, TrailSafe, to address the issue. Swain, like Grigus, said she's worried trapping is allowed in places like Jones Creek and Whites Creek where so many people and pets like to hike and play. "We care very deeply for our trails and our hiking and our pets," Swain said. "This alarmed me very, very much."
Fallon resident Jim Curran, a member of the Nevada Trappers Association, said the organization hasn't taken a position on whether traps should be banned near trails. Lack of snow cover has resulted in people taking pets for walks this season where traps often are placed, especially in the urban areas around Reno, Curran said.
"In this situation, if people are letting their dogs loose, that's an increased potential for problems," he said. "Generally in the Sierra foothills, there is normally 2 or 3 feet of snow." Trapping, like hunting, hiking, bird-watching and other activities, is one of the many "multiple uses" allowed in national forests.
But in his letter to the Department of Wildlife, Schiff suggested that some limited changes in state regulations regarding trapping might be in order. For one, existing regulations prohibit trapping within 200 feet of a public road or highway but make no mention of hiking trails.
"We would ask if it would not be prudent to review current 'separation' regulations to assure they are still adequate to protect the recreating pubic as well as area residents," Schiff wrote to Russ Mason, administrator of the department's game division. Department of Wildlife officials said addressing the issue statewide would be difficult. "We don't think we can do something as specific as they want," said Chris Healy, department spokesman. "It's best done on a local basis."
Residents concerned about the Galena trapping incidents said they may approach Washoe County with a request to adopt local trapping regulations. County officials are already considering the issue. "We have our own concerns regarding the setting of traps near trails," said Doug Doolittle, county parks director.
Doolittle said the county will be working with both the Forest Service and Department of Wildlife on the matter. One possibility under discussion is the possible amendment of an existing ordinance regarding target shooting to make it pertain to trapping, said Kim Evans, county spokeswoman. As more homes are built near the forest, problems such as the one now revolving around trapping are bound to increase, Schiff said. "What you get is a rapidly expanding population right up to the forest," Schiff said. "Issues that weren't issues even a decade ago are becoming ones today, and that's going to increase." Patula agreed an expanding population is central to the problem. "The population is growing and people are living in more rural areas," Patula said. "You just have a lot more people in what five or 10 years ago was considered the boonies."
Gazette-Journal reporter Carla Roccapriore contributed to this story.
THE ELY TIMES
Utah man sentenced for poaching Nevada bobcats
A Utah man was sentenced Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Reno for illegally taking 124 Nevada bobcats and violating the Lacey Act, a Federal law that prohibits trade in wildlife, fish, and plants that have been illegally taken, possessed, transported or sold.
Cole Steele, 34, of Santaquin, Utah, pled guilty to the misdemeanor violation on March 5. He was ordered to pay a $7,500 fine and forfeited 106 bobcat pelts valued at approximately $38,000.
According to the guilty plea memorandum, during the 2004 Nevada trapping season, Steele claimed to be a resident of Nevada and obtained a trapping license. Trapping licenses for bobcats are only issued to Nevada residents per state law. Steele had purchased a house in Nevada, which he used as his address, but he actually maintained his residence in Utah, thus disqualifying him for a Nevada trapping license. Steele did comply with the law by having the pelts properly sealed by state officials prior to removing them from Nevada. The defendant's father, Alan Steele, operates a legitimate fur trading business in Utah and was buying from his son.
According to investigators, the bobcat pelts were seized as they were in the process of being shipped to lucrative fur markets across Europe.
I have never seen a person create such a complicated scheme to validate the unlawful commercial exploitation of wildlife and take animals that belong to the people of Nevada, said Rob Buonamici, chief game warden at the Nevada Department of Wildlife (NDOW). If we hadn't stopped this scheme, it would have led to the illegal deaths of hundreds of more bobcats and realized hundreds of thousands of dollars of illicit profit for this criminal enterprise.
The conviction was the result of a joint investigation by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), NDOW and Utah Division of Wildlife Resources. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Ronald C. Rachow. "The successful culmination of this investigation was entirely due to the investigative cooperative efforts by all of the agencies involved," said Ed Dominguez, Resident Agent in Charge, USFWS.
This was the culmination of several hundred hours of investigation by more than a dozen agents and game wardens across the country, said Joe Maslach, a game warden and one of the key investigators on the case. The size and complexity of this illegal operation was very unusual, and it took a lot of effort and coordination to stop this illegal commercialization of wildlife.
NDOW reminds sportsmen to report poaching to Operation Game Thief at 1-800-992-3030.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The agency enforces federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts.
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