California anti trapping/hunting activists expand target after bobcat ban.
No surprises here.
They won't rest until ALL consumptive uses of wildlife are outlawed and with Gavin Newsom being the next governor of California, that day is coming very SOON!
http://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/Wildlife-advocates-expand-target-after-bobcat-ban-6440726.php
SACRAMENTO ? California wildlife advocates, celebrating the state?s decision to ban bobcat trapping, are setting their sights on protecting other animals killed commercially in the state for their fur.
The plan is to eliminate commercial trapping by pushing the California Fish and Game Commission to enforce a law already on the books.
That law requires the commission to set licensing fees so that the state recovers all reasonable costs associated with allowing commercial trapping, something officials at the California Department of Fish and Wildlife acknowledge is not being done. The $117 annual licensing fee currently required to trap and kill muskrats, raccoons, coyotes and other animals for their fur falls short of covering the state?s cost of overseeing the programs.
?Any program that turns wildlife or other natural resources into a commodity for the private profit of a few should not be subsidized by California taxpayers,? said Brendan Cummings, senior counsel for the Center for Biological Diversity. ?In the not-too-distant future, we will look at whether other programs in the state aren't compliant with the law.?
The funding shortfall in the bobcat trapping program played a key role in the commission?s decision last week to ban commercial trapping of bobcats in the state. Following the 3-2 vote, California became the first state in the country to prohibit bobcat trapping.
Up until the ban, bobcats were the third-most-popular animal legally trapped in the state. In 2013-14, there were 1,292 bobcats killed by trappers. Muskrats are the most commonly trapped animal, with 5,593 killed in 2013-2014.
In that same period, trappers killed 1,338 gray foxes, 246 raccoons, 176 striped skunks and 169 coyotes. Badgers, beavers, minks, opossums, weasels and spotted skunks are also allowed to be legally trapped for their furs.
While wildlife advocates have opposed the practice for decades, it was bobcat trappings near the Joshua Tree National Park that ignited a firestorm that caught the attention of state lawmakers.
Landowners began finding traps and luring techniques on their private property near the Mojave Desert park?s boundaries, where it is illegal to catch and kill bobcats.
Neighbors objected
?There was a sense that it was an attack on the park and community,? said Cummings, who lives in Joshua Tree. ?There were feelings of grief and loss and anger in the community.?
Cummings said they successfully channeled their anger into banning bobcat trapping.
The Bobcat Protection Act, which Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law in 2013, prevented trapping around wildlife refuges, national and state parks and wildlife areas in the state.
But wildlife advocates said it didn't go far enough and lobbied the Fish and Game Commission to do more. Their efforts paid off with the vote last week to ban bobcat trapping throughout California.
The ban was approved despite opponents and some lawmakers saying the state should first study how the bobcat population is faring before limiting or banning trapping. California pegs the number of bobcats in the state at 70,000, but that estimate is three decades old.
In his signing message with the Bobcat Protection Act, Brown asked the Legislature to work with his department to find money for a survey on the bobcat population, which could then be used to consider setting limits on trapping the animal.
That survey was never requested, leaving opponents to question why a ban is necessary when it has not been determined that bobcats have been negatively impacted by trapping.
?This was nothing based on science,? said Hector Barajas, spokesman for the California Trappers Association. ?This was nothing based on facts. On the contrary, it seems to be a political agenda for animal rights extremists.?
Price for furs jumps
The bobcat trapping ban comes as the price of a cat's fur has skyrocketed, going from $78 in 2008-09 to $390 in 2013-14, according to a state Fish and Wildlife report.
However, trapping in the state remains a niche industry. Last year, 267 trappers were licensed in the state. That was up 24 percent from the year before. About 100 trappers reported successfully capturing a bobcat last year.
The Fish and Wildlife Department brought in $27,500 in licensing fees and tags required to sell bobcat fur in 2013-14, while the department spent about $161,000 in enforcement and oversight to implement the program. Much of the cost of running the program comes from enforcement efforts during the 69-day bobcat trapping season.
A similar analysis for the cost of running other trapping programs has not yet been done, but there are plans to do the analysis as required by statute, said Craig Martz, manager of the regulations unit at the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
That state statute was created by a 2012 law introduced by Sen. Fran Pavley, D-Agoura Hills (Los Angeles County), that requires the state to set hunting, trapping and other licensing fees so that they pay for all reasonable ?administrative and implementation costs? of running the programs.
Adjusting those fees for trapping licenses could mean a significant ? and potentially cost prohibitive ? increase for trappers.
?There is a strong desire to see that statute fully implemented,? said Jennifer Fearing, a lobbyist with the Humane Society. ?I wouldn't be surprised if more legislation is brought to force them to deal with that.?