Facts don’t add up in support of trapping
Keith Kubista (guest column, Oct. 24) possesses two attributes which make him challenging in the forum of public debate. He writes fairly well and he has a total disregard for the facts.
His approach to the trapping issue goes something like this: Kubista wants to trap. That’s his starting point. He then begins a long journey of fact-twisting, omission and outright lies to convince the reader that trapping is good for Montana…
Subtract the state budget estimate for maintaining FWP’s trapping division. Then subtract financial estimates for the negative impact on tourism revenue and the staggering loss of Montana groundwater due to beaver trapping.
That’s right. This is an op-ed from Montana saying that trapping beavers robs the state of its groundwater. I’m just trying to wrap my head around this, although it’s an idea whose time has come. This is from the smart non-profit ‘Foot Loose‘ which is opposed to trapping on public lands. They’ve been featured on this website before. I wrote them an excited welcome to the beaver club letter back then, but never heard anything back. Not sure whether they were too busy or too afraid that a bunch of ‘beaver huggers’ would ruin their image. Still, it’s nice to be reminded they’re out there, fighting the good fight.
And speaking of the good fight, Predator Defense launched this documentary sunday based on the work of Tom Knudson at the Sacramento Bee. 
If you were on the fence about Wildlife Services before, you soon will understand that there is no fence at all. I was happy to see the faces that we’ve been reading about for years. One of them is Gary Strader who you learned about on this website in 2009 when the USDA harvested wood peckers from Rossmoor. Remember that?
It’s a pretty effective but grisly documentary. Consider yourself warned and never ever ever let your city contract with Wildlife Services. Tell your friends who don’t believe the horror stories to watch it all the way through to the end, and for those of us who know better, just be happy it’s out there.
