The Sourdough Creek drainage is a vital habitat in a key wildlife migration corridor that extends from YNP to the Gallatin range to the Bridger range and beyond. It is a core linkage area that connects the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem to the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem and has been officially recognized as such by the US Forest Service. It also serves as the primary watershed that provides the Gallatin Valley with its drinking water and is one of the most popular recreational trailheads where citizens of Bozeman spend their outdoor time.
The land ownership in Sourdough Canyon is a mosaic of federal public land along with municipal land. Approximately seven sections of the City of Bozeman deeded land abutted against US Forest Service land. The city-owned land starts at the trailhead and comprises multiple blocks that run alongside Bozeman Creek, which runs parallel to the popular trail. This high-use area at the wildland-urban interface, where the public routinely recreates with family, friends, and pets, is currently open to trapping and snaring.
The public safety issues this raises are clear: small children who wander away from a distracted parent can get their foot caught in a trap, and our beloved dogs who legally run off-leash can also get caught in traps. Multiple incidents have occurred where our pets have been caught in a trap. The lucky ones survive with brutal soft tissue or bone injuries. Some are forced to become tripod dogs who must hobble for the rest of their lives due to amputation. Others less fortunate do not survive the trauma endured.
Trapping is indiscriminate and non-target animals are often victims. Our pets are not the only victims. Sourdough Canyon is part of the core habitat for many protected species, including lynx and grizzly bears. Traps are baited and hidden from view so they are effectively land mines for anyone, human or animal, to step in. Animals routinely suffer for days and are forced to endure an agonizing death from either hypothermia, hunger/thirst, blood loss, or psychological trauma. All the regulations that guide trapping, as written in the policies administered by Fish Wildlife & Parks, favor trapping as a “recreational pursuit” in the context of the state’s cultural heritage. Less than half of 1% of Montana citizens are trappers and yet they hold the rest of us hostage on our public lands. Please consider breaking from this historic tradition of 18th-century barbarism. The cruelty and suffering of trapped animals is significant and the public should not be forced to recreate in fear.
Please help Bold Visions Conservation urge the Mayor and the City Commission of Bozeman to ban all recreational trapping and snaring on city-owned land in Sourdough Canyon. We strongly encourage you to contact them and tell them you support our Sourdough Canyon campaign.
It's easy! Please send your comment to:
If you prefer to call them directly, their phone numbers can be found here:
