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Last night, the Bozeman City Commission voted to ban trapping on Sourdough Trail. Thank you for making a difference!

 

After TV ads, public education at Sourdough Trailhead, a meeting with the Mayor and Deputy Mayor, communications with the City Commissioners, and supporting Tribal representation at those meetings, we got this issue on the Commission's agenda and they passed it!

 

Your support greatly influenced the Commission, which, as citizens with children and pets, also realized the importance of safe recreational spots in the Bozeman area.

 

As before, the vote was 4-1; unfortunately, Commissioner Douglas Fisher opposed child and pet safety by voting against this common-sense proposal. It would be favorable for future projects to continue emailing Commissioner Fisher to: comments@bozeman.net. By asking him to think more about the safety of people and pets in the area, be positive and courteous, and tell him how you feel about trapping.

 

WE HAVE JUST BEGUN! There are many other places in Montana that could adapt the same kind of protections!

 

We also want to thank you for your continued support! Without you, we would not exist! So, let’s take a moment to celebrate this victory for Wildlife and one more step in the fight to end trapping forever!

 

 

Many thanks,

Stephen Capra

Executive Director

Bold Visions Conservation




It seems at times that our efforts to save wolves and grizzlies are being devoured by ignorance. Why, after a wolf is tortured by one sick individual in Wyoming, is he not in jail? Why is the Wyoming legislature not banning in a special session the killing of any animal by snowmobile, something that does not resemble anything but cold, brutal torture and killing?

 

Why is Montana preparing to try once again to make trapping part of the state constitution this coming January? Why is Idaho doing all it can to kill more grizzlies while maintaining bounties and a 12-month killing season for wolves?

 

The answer, besides all the sportsmen’s groups and the Don Peary’s of the world, is the desire for Republican-led Governors and legislatures to empower their rural constituents. That is the core of their support, and the goal is to make wildlife fodder for votes.


Yet before I make this all about Republicans, the Biden Administration, likely on the advice of their horrible head of US Fish and Wildlife Service Martha Williams, and the panic of close Senatorial elections now are trying to delist wolves in the upper Midwest so that Democrat and wolf hater Tammy Baldwin can convince herself that rural farmers in northern Wisconsin will vote for her if wolves are slaughtered.

 

All of this comes back to how politics are killing wolves. We cannot allow this to continue. Much like the Civil Rights era, we are pushing back against ingrained thinking. We also are dealing with the propaganda machine that is the sportsmen industrial complex. But they are fools. Allowing and supporting children as young as 4 years old to kill wildlife is not tradition, it is indoctrination.

 

I have spoken to many people in rural parts of Montana and said, “You can make more money leading tours to see wolves than killing them. They see that as a betrayal of their neighbor’s trust. So rather than profit, they live to kill.


Increasingly, rather than finding common ground, they are ramping up their means of killing, and so far, no one has been able to stop the mass slaughter. Not that we have not tried.


There remains an anger and status in rural America, one that is self-reliant. Hunting is part of the manhood quest that is explored before one goes off to war. Hunting organizations looking for ways to attract younger hunters use wolves as an incentive, much as they will grizzlies.


Companies are cashing in with high-tech ways to kill, and it shows glamorization of such slaughter.


It’s ironic as species lay in peril, many want their chance to kill, rather than save critical species. Yet, the wolf has become the symbol of rural ressentiment and pockets of ignorance.


The answers are complex, but like any struggle, we need to consider the long term while achieving goals that move us forward. For us, that means creating a safe space for wildlife.


Closing Sourdough Trail from trapping and looking for more opportunities to close trails across the state will lead to safer communities and keep removing trapping's rotten heritage from our modern world, making life safer for wildlife and people.


It means creating a Monument FOR wildlife, one that bans trapping and killing of predators and gives these animals more than 1.7 million acres of protection. But I also have hope, maybe desire, that if we elect a woman President, perhaps we can have a new sensitivity to the wildlife that so inspires our lives. Perhaps we can get bolder, move these killers, and place them on defense.


Perhaps if rural America can be part of a real economy and education is improved, maybe we can find people more willing to co-exist, and like everything about our country these days, perhaps the anger and hate can be toned down.  But hunting and manhood must be erased. Thus, by allowing honest dialogue and thought, we could find common ground that allows wolves and grizzlies to live and prosper. Still, we must be prepared for any outcome and focus our hearts on joy while understanding the need to make that life-giving organism stronger for the years ahead.  We need a sea change. But nothing opens up dialogue more than winning, something we have been short of for far too long. It’s time that we move beyond Hillbilly and evolve into a kinder, more sharing nation, something I remember in times past.

 

One thing you can count on is that we will never stop fighting for the very species that need our voice.

 

THE FINAL SOURDOUGH VOTE IS THIS TUESDAY, SEPT. 24TH!!

 

TO CONTACT THE BOZEMAN MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL.


Last night, our years of hard work culminated in a significant milestone: the City Council of Bozeman voted to consider a ban on trapping on Sourdough Trail later this month. This is a crucial step towards our goal of creating trap-free trails in the Bozeman area.

 

Led by our Bozeman director, Michael Stoerger, we purchased TV ads, educated people at Sourdough Trial, met with the Mayor and Deputy Mayor, and brought Tribal representation to those meetings to get this on the agenda and voted on. Your support has been instrumental in this journey.

 

It is great to start, and we are making significant progress. There will now be a final hearing on September 24th, and we want to thank the Mayor, Deputy Mayor, and City Commission for moving Bozeman towards our continuing goal of trap-free trails in the Bozeman area so we can enjoy the outdoors without fear.

 

The vote was 4-1, and we were surprised that Councilman Douglas Fisher voted against advancing this common-sense proposal. Commissioner Emma Bode did vote with us but was somewhat conflicted. We must continue to reach out to those representatives and ask them to vote with us on September 24th. We will meet and work with the Commission to earn their votes, but your emails would help.

 

We also want to thank you for your continued support! Without you, we would not exist. So, let’s take a moment to celebrate a victory for Wildlife and one more step in the fight to end trapping forever!

 

Donate if you can, so we can continue to fight trapping and the killing of wolves and other vital wildlife.

 

Many thanks,

Stephen Capra

Executive Director

Bold Visions Conservation

 

Please send your comments to:  comments@bozeman.net

Contact Us:
406-370-3028
stephen@bvconservation.org

Bold Visions Conservation
PO Box 941
Bozeman, MT 59771​
Registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit
Federal Tax ID Number
46-1905311

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