Clark Fork woman calls for trapping law changes

By Cameron Rasmusson
Reader Staff

Trapping regulations are back in the public eye after a Clark Fork woman’s dog was injured by a wolf snare.

A wolf caught in a snare. Image by www.trapperspost.com.

A wolf caught in a snare. Image by www.trapperspost.com.

The Associated Press reports that Mary Franzel was cross-country skiing just off the side of Lightning Creek Road earlier this month when her dog, Morgan, had her foot caught in a baited wolf trap. According to the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, the trap was legally set and maintained. Idaho requires traps to be set at a minimum five-foot remove from a maintained public trail.

Morgan wasn’t seriously hurt in the incident. However, Franzel is urging Idaho Fish and Game to reexamine its trapping oversight, which lately has emphasized education over stricter regulation.

“Honestly, I wouldn’t have thought that in the ditch of the road, I would have to worry about a trap,” Franzel told the Associated Press. “I understand if I’m blasting through the woods hiking and my dog is running. But if I’m on a marked, maintained trail and my dog is within five feet of me, he could step in a trap. And I don’t think that’s reasonable for all public land users.”

While we have you ...

... if you appreciate that access to the news, opinion, humor, entertainment and cultural reporting in the Sandpoint Reader is freely available in our print newspaper as well as here on our website, we have a favor to ask. The Reader is locally owned and free of the large corporate, big-money influence that affects so much of the media today. We're supported entirely by our valued advertisers and readers. We're committed to continued free access to our paper and our website here with NO PAYWALL - period. But of course, it does cost money to produce the Reader. If you're a reader who appreciates the value of an independent, local news source, we hope you'll consider a voluntary contribution. You can help support the Reader for as little as $1.

You can contribute at either Paypal or Patreon.

Contribute at Patreon Contribute at Paypal

You may also like...

Close [x]

Want to support independent local journalism?

The Sandpoint Reader is our town's local, independent weekly newspaper. "Independent" means that the Reader is locally owned, in a partnership between Publisher Ben Olson and Keokee Co. Publishing, the media company owned by Chris Bessler that also publishes Sandpoint Magazine and Sandpoint Online. Sandpoint Reader LLC is a completely independent business unit; no big newspaper group or corporate conglomerate or billionaire owner dictates our editorial policy. And we want the news, opinion and lifestyle stories we report to be freely available to all interested readers - so unlike many other newspapers and media websites, we have NO PAYWALL on our website. The Reader relies wholly on the support of our valued advertisers, as well as readers who voluntarily contribute. Want to ensure that local, independent journalism survives in our town? You can help support the Reader for as little as $1.