Has anyone out there heard when the repeal to open up trapping again is supposed to be decided?

Josh,
this should give you the skinny on what is happening. Today would be a great day for contacting your State Reps. and reminding them the importance of this bill and asking that they vote yes for it.

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By PAUL QUEARY
The Associated Press
3/6/03 2:59 PM


OLYMPIA. Wash. (AP) -- The state Senate voted Thursday to drastically loosen Washington's voter-approved ban on most animal trapping.

Senate Bill 5179 would allow the use of body-gripping taps to address animal problems, for scientific research and for population control. The fur of animals trapped for those reasons could be sold.

That repeals most of Initiative 713, which banned the use of such traps to capture any mammal for recreation or commerce in fur. The initiative's backers -- mostly the Humane Society of the United States -- argued the traps were cruel and inhumane. Nearly 55 percent of voters agreed, passing the initiative in November 2000.

Since then, farmers, ranchers, the Department of Fish and Wildlife, and owners of mole-infested lawns have complained of widespread damage to livestock, crops and property.

"The use of a mole trap in the state of Washington could cost you $5,000 or a year in jail," said Sen. Bob Oke, R-Port Orchard, the bill's sponsor. "We're out of balance. There's a lot of good honest citizens in the state of Washington who are protecting their property."

The bill passed 37-12. Twenty-four Republicans and 13 Democrats voted yes. Eleven Democrats and one Republican voted no.

Opponents argued that the vote flouts the will of the people.

"This takes away the guts of that initiative," said Sen. Adam Kline, D-Seattle. "If we don't like the will of the people, we go ahead and violate it."

The bill now goes to the House. The Senate voted to repeal the initiative last year, but the bill died in the House, short of the two-thirds vote required to appeal an initiative within two years of its passage. This year, Oke's bill would require only a simple majority.


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On the Net:
Legislature: http://www.leg.wa.gov
Governor: http://www.governor.wa.gov
Humane Society of the United States: http://www.hsus.org/
Citizens for Responsible Wildlife Management: http://www.responsiblewildlifemanagement.org/

REPUBLICANS VOTING YES

Don Benton (Vancouver)
Dale Brandland (Bellingham)
Don Carlson (Vancouver)
Alex Deccio (Yakima)
Bill Finkbeiner (Kirkland)
Patricia Hale (Kennewick)
Mike Hewitt (WallaWalla)
Jim Honeyford (Sunnyside)
Jim Horn (MercerIsland)
Stephen Johnson (Kent)
Bob McCaslin (SpokaneValley)
Bob Morton (Orient)
Joyce Mulliken (Ephrata)
Bob Oke (PortOrchard)
Linda Evans Parlette (Wenatchee)
Pam Roach (Sumner)
Dino Rossi (Sammamish)
Dave Schmidt (MillCreek)
Larry Sheahan (Rosalia)
Val Stevens (Arlington)
Dan Swecker (Rochester)
James West (Spokane)
Shirley Winsley (Fircrest)
Joseph Zarelli (Ridgefield)

REPUBLICANS VOTING NO

Luke Esser (Bellevue)

DEMOCRATS VOTING YES

Lisa Brown (Spokane)
Mark Doumit (Cathlamet)
Rosa Franklin (Tacoma)
James Hargrove (Hoquiam)
Mary Margaret Haugen (CamanoIsland)
Ken Jacobsen (Seattle)
Jim Kastama (Puyalllup)
Erik Poulsen (Seattle)
Marilyn Rasmussen (Eatonville)
Aaron Reardon (Everett)
Debbie Regala (Tacoma)
Tim Sheldon (Potlatch)
Harriet Spanel (Bellingham)

DEMOCRATS VOTING NO

Tracey Eide (FederalWay)
Darlene Fairley (LakeForestPark)
Karen Fraser (Olympia)
Karen Keiser (DesMoines)
Adam Kline (Seattle)
Jeanne Kohl-Welles (Seattle)
Rosemary McAuliffe (Bothell)
Margarita Prentice (Seattle)
Betti Sheldon (Bremerton)
Paull Shin (Mukilteo)
Pat Thibaudeau (Seattle)

This just in Josh, sheds a little more light on the issue.
==============================
Our Views: Overturn the ban on traps
The Olympian
March 17, 2003


The state Senate has passed a bill to nullify most of Initiative 713, an ill-conceived ban on the use of body-gripping traps.

The initiative was approved by 54.6 percent of Washington voters in November 2000. But all it takes is a simple majority in the Legislature to overturn the citizen-passed initiative.

The House should follow the Senate's lead. The initiative appealed to the animal lover in all of us, but was seriously flawed from the outset. Those flaws have led to confusion and the destruction of golf courses, parks, gardens and lawns by moles, gophers and other burrowing animals that are protected by the ban on body-gripping traps.

The statewide ballot proposition before voters in 2000 asked simply: "Shall it be a gross misdemeanor to capture an animal with certain body-gripping traps, or to poison an animal with sodium fluoracetate or sodium cyanide?"

The Human Society of Washington, a prime sponsor of Initiative 713, engaged in an emotional, yet deceptive, campaign to push the initiative to the ballot box. A photo of a kitten with its paw caught in a trap topped each petition that was circulated for signatures. In their voter pamphlet statement, supporters of I-713 said, "For every 'target' animal killed by a trapper, studies indicate there are up to 10 'non-target' victims."

The math didn't add up. In the two years prior to adoption of the initiative, trappers took 20,000 beaver, fox, otter, raccoon, muskrat, mink, coyote and other fur-bearing animals in Washington state. Using the math of initiative proponents, that meant up to 200,000 cats, dogs, sheep and other "non-target" animals had been snared in traps. Yet the Humane Society could only document 60 cases of pets caught in traps in the last 20 years.

From the outset, there was confusion over the language of the initiative. Proponents said the ban did not extend to mole and gopher traps. Opponents disagreed. Fish and Wildlife officials have consistently said mole and gopher traps are body-gripping and are thus banned.

"The use of a mole trap in the state of Washington could cost you $5,000 or a year in jail," said Sen. Bob Oke, R-Port Orchard. "We're out of balance. There's a lot of good, honest citizens in the state of Washington who are protecting their property."

But private property owners haven't been the only victims. Sen. Tim Sheldon, D-Hoodsport, noted a year ago that cemetery managers are unable to manage moles leaving unsightly mounds of dirt and disrupting the final resting place for loved ones. Large landowners, especially timber companies, have a legitimate need to get rid of nuisance pests -- like mountain beavers that chew on young trees and can devastate entire crops of new trees. Farmers say they have suffered serious damage caused by coyotes, beavers and otters.

Oke has introduced Senate Bill 5179, which allows the use of body-gripping traps to address animal problems, for scientific research and for population control.

The bill passed the Senate on a lopsided vote of 37-12. Sheldon and two other South Sound senators, Marilyn Rasmussen, D-Eatonville, and Dan Swecker, R-Rochester, supported the bill. Sen. Karen Fraser, D-Olympia, was one of the 12 "no" votes.

Initiative 713 was ill-conceived and poorly drafted from the outset. It hasn't worked.

Members of the House should join the Senate in repealing the trapping ban. Let's manage animal resources through the Department of Fish and Wildlife, not through emotion-packed initiatives that have unforeseen consequences.

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You wont see anything like that inthe P.I.

Wow, thanks for the updates. I'm not into politics at all, so what did it mean when the article said that the bill was passed to be nullified? Does that mean it if now going to be on a ballot, or is the senate itself able to overturn it?

The senate bill that was passed was to loosen up the trapping ban, not completely overturn it. It will now go to the state house of representatives where it will probably pass (only needs a simple majority of 51% since the initiative is 2+ years old).

It doesn't need to go up for voter approval. 713 was a clear example of the tyranny of the majority.

Here it goes,, This is our chance to help make our Reps make the right choice!

below is a note explaining what your Reps need to hear from you, and cross your fingers this is going to be close!

Please do not hesitate and call and send emails ASAP

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Everyone....
The trapping bill, SSB5179 is scheduled to move to the House floor for a vote tomorrow morning, where amendments will be considered before the final vote.
IT IS CRITICAL that each of you and everyone else you can get in touch with contact your own district representatives and urge them to vote for the Hatfield/Buck amendment - NOT THE COOPER AMENDMENT.
Also, don't hesitate to contact legislators other than your own. As many as possible must hear from us.
The Hatfield/Buck amendment addresses most all of the problems statewide that passage of I713 created.
The Cooper amendment is very narrow and doesn't do anything to help with the majority of problems folks are having.

To determine who your representatives are:
1. Go to the search engine you use.
2. Type in "Washington State Legislature"
3. Left click on "Find out who represents you"
4. Type in the requested information

The Email formula for members of the Legislature is: 1st eight letters of the last name followed by the underline symbol (_); 1st two letters of the first name followed by; @leg.wa.gov

As always, if this is a duplicate posting, be
patient...our individual Email lists often partially
duplicate each other.

Currently the trapping bill has passed both the House and the Senate. Now it goes before the Governor to be signed or veto'd. The animal rights groups are geared up for massive email and calling parties to flood the Governors office with requests to veto this.

Your help is needed to keep this from happening! Call or send in a simple letter requesting he sign this bill into law. Keep it short, keep it simple, and let him know that the "informed" will of the people has spoken the second time around... not the "emotional" will of the people.

How to contact Governor Locke:

Email: (fill out the web form) www.governor.wa.gov/contact/govemail.htm

Telephone: 360-902-4111
Toll Free 1-800-562-6000.
Fax: 360-753-4110

Letters

Governor Gary Locke
Office of the Governor
PO Box 40002
Olympia, WA 98504-0002