DON’T LET ANIMAL RIGHTS GROUPS CONTROL MONTANA
VOTE NO ON I-177
ANIMAL RIGHTS GROUPS are again trying to prohibit trapping on all public lands in Montana using ballot initiative I-177 regardless of the damage it will cause to Montana’s wildlife populations, farmers, ranchers, sportsmen, and local economies.
Scientists and professional wildlife managers support the use of regulated trapping as a management tool to control problem wildlife populations, such as wolves and coyotes, to protect wildlife, livestock and public safety.
How Would I-177 Hurt Montana?
I-177 pushed by radical ANIMAL RIGHTS GROUPS would cause significant problems for wildlife, people and livestock.
I-177 would remove the most effective methods to control wolves and coyotes that prey on Montana’s deer, elk, moose, waterfowl, upland game birds and livestock including sheep and cattle.
I-177 would remove the best method to control exploding wolf numbers. From 2012 – 2016, roughly 40% of the all wolves harvested in Montana were taken by trapping and about half of those wolves taken on public lands. Without trapping on public lands, wolf numbers will skyrocket causing damage to other wildlife, livestock, and even posing a safety risk to pets and people.
I-177 will cost Montana a whole lot more than just the lost trapping license revenue. The Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks will have to use taxpayer money to pay government contractors to do the same things that trappers currently buy a license to do. The “Fiscal Statement” for I-177 specifies that “costs associated with wolf monitoring and hiring additional full-time employees at the DFW&P” will result in a minimum cost to Montanans of $422,000 annually.
I-177 would waste taxpayer and sportsmen dollars by forcing public employees to conduct all of the basic pest, predator, and wildlife damage control on public lands which licensed trappers now pay a fee to provide.
I-177 is a first step by ANIMAL RIGHTS GROUPS to ban all trapping in Montana, and then bear hunting, then hound hunting, and finally YOUR HUNTING! Don’t let Animal Rights Groups get a foothold in Montana.
Trapping protects elk, deer, moose, antelope, nesting waterfowl and upland game bird populations from predation, thus providing more abundant wildlife and game animals for sportsmen and local economies that rely on sportsmen.
Trapping reduces property damage and livestock losses, reduces rabies in wildlife populations, and is a proven method used to protect livestock and even people from an out-of-control and rapidly expanding wolf population.
Regulated trapping by licensed trappers enables wildlife managers to maintain control of wolves, coyotes and pests that can attack pets, spread disease, damage property, impact other wildlife populations, and kill livestock.
Trapping in Montana is strictly controlled and enforced by the wildlife professionals at FWP with a detailed booklet of harvest regulations updated annually with input from biologists and the general public during public meetings.