Supporting agency regulated trapping and furbearer management programs

This project will have two primary objectives, each of which is designed to support and assist state fish and wildlife agencies with their regulated trapping and furbearer management programs.   First, the AFWA will contract with Responsive Management to conduct a national survey of trappers.  The survey will gather information on 1) characteristics (demographics, economics, motivations) of the public who participate in trapping, 2) trap types being used for the capture of various furbearer species, 3) trapper knowledge and use of Best Management Practices for Trapping, and 4) the number of trappers in the U.S.  Information gathered in this survey will be used to guide the national program to develop Best Management Practices for Trapping so AFWA can continue to provide our member agencies with trap type/technique recommendations on the most humane, safe, selective, effective, and practical traps to use for the capture of furbearers.  Agencies use trapping to achieve many wildlife management objectives, and all agencies want to make sure the “best” traps are used. AFWA  needs to know what trap types are currently in use so we can scientifically evaluate those devices against the International Organization for Standardization standards. Since 1997, the BMP program has tested over 725 trap types on 23 species of furbearers, conducted over 500 individual field projects to capture furbearers across 41 states, and conducted necropsies on over 10,000 animals to help evaluate the humanness of traps. We recently published some of these results in Wildlife Monographs. However, AFWA needs the information that will be collected in this survey to maintain the cutting-edge relevance of the BMP program and to support the desire of agencies to recommend the most humane/safe/selective traps for trappers to use.  In addition, this survey will provide information on the percentage of trappers who use BMP-approved traps.  This is important information because of the agreement (Agreed Minute and Annex) signed in 1997 between the U.S. and the European Economic Community allows the U.S. trade in wild fur to continue only because the U.S. developed a trap testing (BMP) program and encourages trappers to use the traps that meet the international standards. We need this information to help understand how US trappers are complying with the agreement in terms of trap use. We must provide information regarding BMP uptake in reports we provide to the E.U. that maintain the international agreement. AFWA, in partnership with Responsive Management, conducted a national survey of trappers in 1992, 2004, and again in 2014 to gather much-needed information on trappers and trapping activities. That information is now dated, so we need to conduct the survey again. In addition, by surveying similarly, we can make comparisons between the new survey data and previous data. The US FWS national survey of hunters, anglers, and outdoor recreation, conducted every five years, does not survey about trapping activity.  There is no other source for this information than for AFWA to collect it through our grant proposal.  Second, information from this survey will be used to continue supporting agencies by delivering high-quality education about trapping and furbearer management. Through this grant, AFWA will deliver Trapping Matters Workshops (TMW) and regional Wild Fur Schools (WFS).  These programs provide much-needed professional development to agency staff regarding trapping.  Most agency staff are not very well informed about trapping because they have little to no experience of the activity.  Since 2003, TMW and WFS have provided professional development about trapping to over 7,000 wildlife professionals, most of whom are state agency staff. AFWA delivered 21 TMWs and 6 WFSs during 2021-2022 at the request of agencies under previous MSCGs, and we already have numerous requests for TMWs and WFSs for 2024.  Both TMW and WFS can be taken for continuing education credit by The Wildlife Society. These programs are extremely important to agencies because having staff that are able to communicate about trapping effectively assists greatly in maintaining public support for trapping and its many uses in wildlife management. We have no funding to deliver these programs to agencies beyond this grant opportunity.