Jun 5 2022, 6:14 AM

https://vtdigger.org/letters_to_editor/what-science-is-behind-this-kind-of-wildlife-management/

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We’re told Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department decisions are always based in science. What is F&W’s science behind:

• Opposition to a shortened hound hunting season in the Conte Refuge to protect ground nesting birds?
• Bear hound training when bears are still nursing cubs and need calories for their cubs’ care, not fleeing a pack of hounds?
• Trapping that does not discriminate what is caught, and can injure or kill protected and endangered species as well as family pets?
• Relying on killing moose as the best solution to fight winter ticks?

An inflexible position that sport trapping and hounding “traditions” cannot be challenged lock us into an outdated understanding of wildlife management. Culture changes; dogfighting is now banned in the U.S., and an increasing number of states ban some forms of hounding and limit or ban trapping due to public safety and…