HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-11-26 Public Comment - C. Nagel - Request to be Considered by Mayor, Deputy Mayor, and CommissionersFrom:Clint Nagel
To:Bozeman Public Comment
Subject:[EXTERNAL]Request to be Considered by Mayor, Deputy Mayor, and City Commissioners
Date:Thursday, June 11, 2026 4:47:32 PM
Attachments:20260611.Letter to City of Bozeman on Trapping.pdf
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Dear Mayor, Deputy Mayor, and City Commission:
Please consider and address the issue below in the attached letter.
This issue is of consequence for the future betterment of our community and
needs serious consideration. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Clinton Nagel, President
Gallatin Wildlife Association
June 11, 2026
Subject: Request to Ban Trapping on U.S. Forest Service lands in and around
the Bozeman Community
Attn: Mayor, Deputy Mayor and City Commission
P.O. Box 1230
Bozeman, MT 59771
Dear Mayor, Deputy Mayor, and City Commission:
It has come to the attention of the Gallatin Wildlife Association that Bold Visions
Conservation along with fellow conservation organizations have made an appeal
to the City of Bozeman’s Mayoral Office and the City Commission to ban trapping
on specific, popular lands managed by the Custer Gallatin National Forest. The
specific lands in our appeal are those contained within the Bridger Range,
Hyalite Canyon, and lands along Sourdough Canyon of the Gallatin Range.
This issue has obviously arisen before and was voted upon in favor by the City
Commission in the not-too-distant past. Our organization along with others
advocated for its enactment at that time. For it has been stated by former officials
within the Custer Gallatin National Forest that if the local community would call
upon the National Forest to ban trapping on specific widely used public lands,
the national forest would try and follow the community’s input. That was the
rationale then and it is our rationale now.
The Gallatin Wildlife Association (GWA) is a local, all volunteer wildlife
conservation organization dedicated to the preservation and restoration
of wildlife, fisheries, habitat and migration corridors in Southwest
Montana and the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, using science-based
decision making. We are a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization founded in
1976. GWA recognizes the intense pressures on our wildlife from habitat
loss and climate change, and we advocate for science-based
GALLATIN WILDLIFE
ASSOCIATION
P. O. Box 5317
Bozeman, MT 59717
(406) 600-1792
www.gallatinwildlife.org
management of public lands for diverse public values, including but not
limited to hunting and angling.
We believe this is a necessary step on multiple fronts. The obvious being the
demand for safety and peace of mind by pet owners and parents over the hazards
of dogs and children recreating on our public lands, only to become ensnared in
a private trap. In fact, we surmise that most people aren’t even aware of the
dangers existing and therefore go innocently forward enjoying the purpose of
their day. People and our society should expect nothing less in the 21st century,
which is why the practice of trapping should be restricted to certain landscapes.
The rights of the innocent need to be heard equally as well as those who are
compelled to trap. Yet so often they are not, because they remain silent. We at
the Gallatin Wildlife Association speak for them.
But our organization also speaks for those who cannot speak for themselves, our
iconic wildlife. Wildlife are caught in the middle between our entrenched society
and those of our society who invade theirs, their way of life, allowing them only
a few spaces in which to roam. The pressures are real and they are increasing.
It is often stated that both city and county want to live in a manner that preserves
our natural beauty and wildness, that it is all part of what it means to enjoy life
in Bozeman and Gallatin County. We agree with that philosophy, but we must
take steps to make it manifest itself. It will not happen on its own.
So again, we urgently request that the City of Bozeman make the wants and
wishes known of the Bozeman community to restrict trapping from the popular
landscapes of the Bridger Range, Hyalite and Sourdough Canyon.
A copy of this letter will be sent under separate cover to the Forest Supervisor of
the Custer Gallatin National Forest.
Sincerely,
Clinton Nagel, President
Gallatin Wildlife Association