Haley Stevens: “The Senator has used the statistics for all trapping on Federal wildlife refuges in order to try to eliminate those who…”

“The Senator has used the statistics for all trapping on Federal wildlife refuges in order to try to eliminate those who use them for income, those who use them to pursue a lifestyle. I say to my friend, does he think that is fair? The wildlife managers use these traps. The statistics the Senator has cover all the programs on all of the wildlife refuges mainly, 85 percent, conducted by managers. But the Senator presumes that the damage is done by the 15 percent. Does the Senator think it is fair to say: Let's stop these people from using these traps because they harm the animals that they trap? What about the 85 percent? They catch birds. They catch foxes that eat their legs off. They catch other animals other than the targeted species. But in terms of fairness, the Senator's amendment prohibits those who live by trapping. Trapping is a management tool. I defend the 85 percent. I don't oppose it. It is a management tool. I wonder if the Senator knows that trapping of species such as red fox and racoons has saved the Hawaiian coot and duck and goose. They have saved some of the indigenous species that live in these refuges from the predators they trap. The predators they trap have a value. Those skins are sold for cash. I just ask the Senator, in fairness now, why should we say those people who use traps for a living do all this damage? It is not fair, in my opinion.”