For years trapping has been a contentious issue in Skagway. Public safety concerns about trapping near residences and high traffic recreation areas led the borough assembly to create municipal regulations. But local trappers say that the rules are overly restrictive.
Now the Alaska Department of Fish and Game has raised questions about whether the municipality’s trapping restrictions are legal.
At a meeting of the state’s game board in Petersburg last month, Alaska Assistant Attorney General Cheryl Brooking said that Skagway can’t implement its own trapping regulations.
“They don’t have the authority to regulate trapping. That authority is constitutionally given to the state and has been delegated by the legislature to the board of game to set regulations,” Brooking said.
Brooking has been working with the municipality to help them figure out the process for changing the state’s trapping regulations within the borough. The municipality brought its trapping regulations to the state’s game board for consideration last month, but its proposal was rejected.
Alaska Game Board Member Larry Van Daele said that while he appreciated the effort to change the regulations the right way, the proposal lacked support from local trappers and fish and game advisory committees.
“They’ve worked toward a compromise on this, but the fact that this has been opposed by all the advisory committees that have weighed in on it and we had opposition from the public—I think there’s still more work to be done,” Daele said.
In 2013, trapping became a public debate when Skagway resident Bruce Webber noticed traps set near his property on Naku Road. Webber says he didn’t oppose trapping in principle, but placing traps so close to a residence seemed unreasonable. When he found out there weren’t any restrictions on where traps could be placed he approached the borough assembly.
What followed was over a year of arguments at city hall over trapping. Supporters of trapping regulations said they wanted to make trails safe to walk with pets while opponents accused the city of trying to ban trapping.
Ultimately, the assembly voted to prohibit trapping within 50 yards of a public road or marked trail. In more remote areas of the borough, traps must be set at least 25 yards away from roads and trails.
Skagway resident Luke Rausher is a trapper who serves on the Upper Lynn Canal Fish and Game Advisory Committee, a group that provides feedback to the state on hunting and fishing regulations.
He believes the restrictions created by the municipality have been overly restrictive. According to Rausher the steep terrain around town means that most trapping areas are only accessible around existing trails.
“By creating buffer zones on trail systems and road systems you create quite a huge buffer zone on accessible areas that you have in Skagway. The reality is game isn’t going to be running on the most steepest, gnarliest terrain. They’re going to take the accessible routes as well,” Rausher said.
Trapping in Skagway is open during the winter months, from mid-November until February. Trappers commonly target martin, river otter, wolverines and sometimes wolves.
It’s not the borough’s most popular activity. Rausher estimates that there are less than a dozen active trappers in the Skagway area.
But he worries these restrictions prevent more people from learning how to trap.
“It impacts future generations of people that want to go exploring and get into trapping. A lot of those areas are limited to people who are really physically fit. Taking my kids to accessible areas, they would have a hard time going with me to accessible areas,” Rausher said.
At this point, it is unclear whether Skagway’s regulations will face any challenges. When reached for comment Skagway Vice Mayor Tim Cochran said that the municipality is still figuring out what the state game board’s decision means for local trapping regulations.
