Come to Grand Island Town Hall on March 7 at 8 PM for a public hearing on the issue of lethal trapping on public land! The Town of Grand Island, NY, along with many surrounding communities, has no animal trapping restrictions on any of its public property. This means that "recreational" and for-profit wildlife trapping is currently legal on all municipal owned property, including any parcels of land, public access areas, parks, trails, paper roads, and ditches and culverts of paper and public roads. Traps are by nature concealed hazards and pose a serious safety threat to the users and neighbors of public land, both people and pets.

The issue of trapping on Town public land came to our attention in October 2015 when our dog almost stepped into a concealed leg hold trap set on a Town paper street. We were fortunate to have discovered the traps before an incident happened but during trapping season, this could be occurring on any of the multiple parcels of Town lands that are located next to residences and neighborhoods across the Island. Many adults, children and pets routinely access and use public lands—independently of whether they are designated as parks or trails—across the Island for walks, playing outside, or even just enjoying them for their natural beauty. But once a trap is set in a location on the property, no one else can safely (or legally!) utilize that space. That location becomes the domain of the trapper for as long as that trap is placed, in spite of the fact that the land belongs to the municipality and its citizens and is intended by law for common public use.

Our request to the Town to ban for-profit and “recreational trapping” on Town properties started with the logical premise that it is the right thing to do for a community that should be able to access and use Town public lands without fear of hazardous traps. To build our case, we provided research on the practice of trapping to capture and kill wildlife.

The extensive research we provided on nature and ecosystems and on the practices of wildlife trapping included NYS Department of Conservation (DEC) information,wildlife trapping practices, and research specific to predator management and wildlife management and control. There are coyotes on Grand Island and people often claim that they need to be trapped and culled to protect pets. Scientific research has provided overwhelming evidence that the lethal management of wildlife, especially killing predators, harms the natural balance of the ecosystem. Data on coyotes actually shows that lethal management of coyotes leads to increased litter sizes: more trapping leads to more coyotes. More generally, the literature is consistent in demonstrating the negative and locally destructive consequences of trapping due to the disruption of local biological ecosystems. As target and non-target species are killed, habitats are placed off balance, resulting in fewer or more of the species that are endemic to their natural territory and resulting in changes to local vegetation. As a result, nonlethal management and control of wildlife has been shown to be the most effective in maintaining a natural ecosystem balance.

With regard to the inhumane aspect of using wildlife traps, the American Veterinary Medical Association, the Humane Society of the United States, the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Born Free USA, the Sierra Club, and other national organizations have made official position statements regarding the cruelty and suffering that all body-gripping traps cause for animals and the need to eliminate the use. Family pets are also often victims of traps set for wildlife. With such potential dangers to people and pets, and the cruel treatment of animals, we asked the Town to take proactive and preventative actions to adopt forward-reaching legislation that protects the community, respects wildlife, and values all life.

Our proposed legislation is backed by a significant outpouring of local, state, national, and international support! We have over 1,000 total signatures in both hard copy and online Change.org petitions; we have received invaluable guidance, support and encouragement from Animal Advocates of WNY and Born Free USA; we have received public endorsement of the trapping ban by the Sierra Club Niagara Group, the Riverside Salem Church of Grand Island, and the Grand Island Parks and Recreation and Conservation Advisory Boards. Despite the citizen support we have presented to the Town Government, the Supervisor and Board members are currently taking the position that a limited trapping ban on selective properties is sufficient, and represents a good “compromise.”

In the February 12 issue of the Grand Island Dispatch, Supervisor McMurray encouraged the public to research trapping issues and to join the conversation in a public hearing scheduled for March 7 at 8 PM. McMurray cites the DEC (who receives money from trappers in exchange for permits) and AgriLife—Wildlife Services as his two main sources to permit trapping. The National Geographic’s Wildlife Watch section actually just published a scathing expose on the USDA’s Wildlife Services agency for its inhumane, indiscriminate and ineffective methods of slaughtering animals, stating: “…in most cases… killing predators is not a scientifically sound wildlife control method… And as for coyotes—an ecologist found that where coyotes are culled, more pups in a given litter are likely to survive. That’s why even though Wildlife Services has killed nearly a million coyotes in the past decade, their numbers always bounce back.” The article goes on to interview former trappers for Wildlife Services and wildlife experts who all discredit their methods. Harper’s also concludes that Wildlife Services is beholden to special interests, and is a secretive agency that intentionally withholds information that would accurately assess their effectiveness.

As the Town officials are not listening to the researchwe invite you to call and send letters to Town of Grand Island officials, to sign the online petition, and to come on March 7 at 8 PM to the Public Hearing to speak against lethal wildlife trapping!
Thank youfor caring!

https://www.change.org/p/supervisor-town-board-of-grand-island-end-trapping-on-public-lands-in-grand-island-and-western-new-york
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Grand Island Supervisor Nathan McMurray
Email: nmcmurray@grand-island.ny.us
Phone: 716-328-7381

BOARD:

Ray Billica
Email: rbillica@grand-island.ny.us
Phone: 716-864-9055

Chris Aronica
Email: caronica@grand-island.ny.us
Phone: 716-510-8302

Beverly Kinney
Email: bkinney@grand-island.ny.us

Michael Madigan
Email: mmadigan@grand-island.ny.us