ST. PAUL, MN—The U.S. Sportsman’s Alliance’s Sportsmen’s Legal Defense Fund (SLDF) has filed to intervene on behalf of sportsmen in a case it says could ban trapping in Minnesota and set a far-reaching precedent regarding hunting, fishing and trapping across the country.
Animal-rights groups have filed suit against the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources claiming that since Minnesota holds a population of Canada lynx—a species protected under the Endangered Species Act (ESA)—all trapping should be stopped in order to prevent the “incidental catch of lynx.”
“This is a backdoor attempt by animal-rights groups to not only ban trapping in Minnesota, but to establish legal precedent to ban a wide range of taking of wildlife,” said Rick Story, senior vice president for the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation, which manages the SLDF. “This lawsuit is less about Canada lynx and more about the animal-rights groups’ desire to end all animal use, including trapping.”
The SLDF filed to join the case as a party defendant, along with the Minnesota Trappers Association, Fur Takers of America, the National Trappers Association and Minnesota trappers Todd Roggenkamp and Cory Van Driel.
“This case could set a precedent that affects how the ESA can be applied throughout the nation,” Story said. “If trapping can be stopped to avoid catching a lynx in Minnesota, then what’s next? Banning all fishing in the Mississippi River, Great Lakes or any other body of water that holds endangered sturgeon?”
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www.ussportsmen.org.
Has anyone heard if anything like this is going on down here in Georgia? I never know.