Angie Craig: “as we work to pass Interior appropriations, of course, because this is a piece of legislation that is key to so many…”

“as we work to pass Interior appropriations, of course, because this is a piece of legislation that is key to so many important areas of our States, whether they be east or west, it is also an opportunity to attempt to change what is standard law or practice or belief in many of our States. The Torricelli amendment on trapping is just that kind of amendment. My guess is there are few Senators on the floor who have actually ever trapped. I grew up on a very rural ranch in southwestern Idaho, and at age 6 I began to run a trapline and I used legholding traps to catch coyote and bobcats. That was done largely for the purpose of raising money, but it was also to protect our domestic livestock herds in the springtime when our cows began to calve and would find themselves, oftentimes, having their baby calves harassed and killed by coyotes. I was taught how to trap, but I was also taught an important lesson in trapping. I will not dispute in any way what the Senator from New Jersey might try to suggest is an inhumane approach, but I will suggest it can be used in a right and responsible way. The thing I was taught by my father and by an elderly gentleman who lived on our ranch who taught me how to trap was that you check your trapline daily, so if an animal is caught, it will not suffer. Of course that is exactly what I did, and that is exactly what good trappers do throughout the West.”