Haley Stevens: “I have placed in the Record the statement prepared by the Fish and Wildlife Service and a letter they sent to me on July…”

“I have placed in the Record the statement prepared by the Fish and Wildlife Service and a letter they sent to me on July 20. In there is a statement about which I want to ask the Senator, my good friend from New Jersey, a question. It says: As background, during the period 1992 to 1996, a total of 281 refuges conducted one or more trapping programs, a total of 487 programs. Eighty-five percent of the mammal trapping programs on refuges were conducted for wildlife and facilities management reasons--85 percent. The remaining 15 percent occurred primarily to provide recreational, commercial, subsistence opportunities to the public, as portrayed by the following table. The Senator's amendment exempts all of the 85 percent. It affects only those who are not government, those who live on the land. I ask the Senator, what about the 85 percent of the trapping programs using the same traps that will continue to be conducted by Federal and State managers? They have the same effect as the Senator complains of concerning those that are private. Why should the Senator allow any trapping if he believes as he does? The Federal managers, State managers are not prohibited from conducting 85 percent of the trapping in the wildlife refuges. This only prohibits those of the people who live there, who reside there. Why would the Senator pick out those who earn money from trapping and say they cause more damage than the 85 percent of the trapping by Federal and State agencies?”