A proposed ban on regulated beaver trapping in (of all places) “the beaver state” has pitted wildlife officials against animal activists, and science against social discourse. Beavers have long been associated with the early history of Oregon’s settlement, bringing commerce and trade to the region during settlement, and their pelts today still hold value to a determined sector of the state’s citizenry.
Popularity Contest: MA hunting contest ban is latest “societal” quagmire
Despite the immense benefits regulated hunting promotes, concern over protections for the natural world become more polarized as society drifts farther and farther away from these subsistence activities. This includes any perceived “perversion” of natural resources - backing both the greater hunting community and wildlife management professionals into a corner with regard to what should or should not be tolerated.
Two weasel-like creatures vying for forest turf in the Northeast
Both members of the weasel family, fisher and marten tend to inhabit similar areas within their habitat range while competing with one another over valuable resources and food within that habitat. However, while the larger Fisher has managed to adapt immensely well to agricultural, suburban, and slightly more southern expanses of its home range, the marten is far more fickle with regard to altered habitat impact.
Trappers assist biologists with Wolverine ecology insight
Amid the technology age of satellite mapping and swelling popularity of trail cameras, wildlife experts are still tapping the fur trappers’ knowledge to seek out important data on elusive predators. In Alberta, for example, biologists are looking to gain a better understanding of wolverine distribution across the Canadian province, and reaching back through decades of trapper reports and observations to do it.