By Jim Magowan
Turnagain Times Correspondent
The Alaska Board of Game will consider a proposal to ban trapping in Portage Valley on the south side of Portage Creek at its Southcentral Alaska meeting, scheduled for March 26-30 at the Coast International Inn in Anchorage.
The period for written comments on the proposal has closed. The deadline to sign up for oral testimony at the meeting is 10 a.m. on Sunday, March 27.
The proposal has generated strong feelings both in favor and in opposition to it.
In an email, Randall Zarnke, President of Alaska Trappers Association said, “We are opposed to the proposal. We feel that trapping can be conducted in the Valley in a responsible manner. At a public meeting last spring, local residents expressed their support for trapping in the Valley. They indicated that coyotes were numerous and posed a potential threat to pets in the area. Trapping would keep the coyote population under control.”
Joe Malone, owner of one of the largest private tracts in Portage Valley, said he also opposes the ban.
“I don’t believe our traditional rights should be forfeited because of their (United States Forest Service) overspending (a reference to the $4 million Trail of Blue Ice),” he said. “I don’t think the Forest Service should take over more traditional rights – trapping is a traditional right.”
Malone also said that a majority of property owners in the Portage Valley area oppose the trapping ban.
Henry Tomingas, a Portage resident, told the Turnagain Times in a previous article on the subject of trapping in Portage Valley that he favored continued trapping in the Valley and related that he had lost a dog to coyotes that roam in the Valley.
Supporters of the ban are concerned about the safety of their dogs, citing instances of dogs being caught in traps while hiking in the Valley.
“I was parked in a pull out posting signs in the Valley to warn the public that trapping season was open and there was trapping in the area,” said Girdwood resident Allison Rein, who also works at the Glacier Ranger District. “I had my dog with me. While I was posting the signs, my dog got caught in a trap not 20 feet from my truck. This was an area where people frequently stop to let their kids and dogs get out to stretch their legs. It could easily have been a child that stepped into the trap.”
Rein added that the next day the signs she had put up had been torn down, and it was not until they had been replaced a third time that they were left up.
Girdwood resident Kate Sandberg, who often uses Portage Valley for recreation, is in favor of the trapping ban. She feels it is a high recreation area for local residents and people from around Anchorage.
“I do believe Portage Valley is one of the most urban-use places in Turnagain Arm,” she said, expressing a common theme among supporters of the trapping ban.
Most supporters of the ban feel that with a road running the length of Portage Valley and over 400,000 people visiting the area per year for recreational use, the risk from traps is incompatible.
Retired biologist Carol Sanner, who lives in Girdwood, is a strong supporter of the ban. Sanner currently trains and works Avalanche Rescue Dogs in the area. One of her dogs made a remarkable ‘find’ when snowmachiner Alan Gage was buried 10 feet deep in an avalanche on Grandview Glacier.
“Several dogs have been caught in traps set by recreational trappers a few feet off of trails,” she said, referring to traps set in Portage Valley.
“These are not people who depend on trapping to make a living and this is in conflict with the trapper’s code of ethics. The traps being used in the area include connibears, leg holds, lynx sets, rabbit snares, etc. I have found a skinned wolf carcass.
“I used to trap myself so I am not anti-trapping,” she continued. “The proposal is for a limited closure area. I just don’t think this is the time and place to trap.”
One of Sanner’s Search and Rescue dogs was caught in traps. There were three traps close together and both the dog’s front legs were caught. Fortunately the dog did not struggle and injure itself, she said. It stopped and waited to be released, and did not suffer any serious injuries from the trap hold; however, subsequently, the dog developed arthritis and had to be retired.
“Because of this,” she said, “I am reluctant to search in an area where trapping is permitted. In addition, it could just as easily be a little kid that gets caught in a trap.”
Trapping rules and restrictions are in place on two areas adjoining Chugach National Forest – Chugach State Park and Kenai National Wildlife Refuge.
Chugach state Park fronts on the Seward highway in Turnagain Arm from the western boundary of Chugach National Forest to Anchorage. People may not be aware that the rules at McHugh Creek do not apply to Portage Valley.
Some relevant park trapping regulations include: prohibiting trapping within a quarter-mile of the Seward Highway, trapping is prohibited within a quarter-mile of trailheads, and trapping is prohibited within 50 yards of developed trails.
Trappers are also required to register with the park and their traps must have tags identifying who they belong to.
Kenai National Wildlife Refuge has extensive rules for trapping including the following:
“All traps and snares will be identified by their owner by a refuge-approved mark or tag...Trapping is prohibited within one mile of public roads, campgrounds, road accessible trailheads, and within Skilak Wildlife Recreation Area (SWRA) – including the Kenai River within this area...All trappers must attend a mandatory training class (offered by the refuge once each Fall) at least once before receiving a refuge trapping permit.
The intent of the class, and refuge trapping permit conditions, is to decrease the number of non-target wildlife caught; provide information important to managers; address public concerns over ethics, safety, and animal suffering; improve trapper understanding of refuge management objectives, and provide for a sustainable and compatible refuge use...”
Pete Buist is a retired state forester and former Board of Game member and trapper. He said he is in favor of a ban.
“The reason we often oppose blanket closures and setbacks is because some trapping, such as underwater beaver sets, does not pose a threat to people or dogs even if it is close to a road or trail,” Buist said.
“We realize that increasing numbers of people and recreational use of lands will impact trapping,” he said. “I had to give up about half of a 150-mile trap line because of increased recreational use. We are making presentations and putting on programs to inform the public so we can better share the land. When we find out about someone not doing things right we try to contact him and get him to correct what he is doing”
One proposal for implementing a trapping ban in Portage Valley suggests setting up a quarter-mile no-trapping buffer from Portage Road and trailheads (450 feet from trails) as is enforced in Chugach State Park.
Banning trapping in Portage Valley would be closed to trapping at the Portage Valley floor south of Portage Creek, eliminating small pockets to trapping, while leaving trapping open by the mountains, which would leave the north side of the creek open because recreational use there is light.
Supporters of a trapping ban say that the proposed ban narrowly addresses the problem of conflicts of trapping and recreational use in Portage Valley with minimum additional costs, if any, to administer and enforce.
Rein pointed out that Juneau has quarter-mile no-trapping buffers for trails on the road system, “so there is precedence for this sort of idea.”
At the time of this writing, the Forest Service does not appear to have a formal position on the ban, and some Chugach Forest Service personnel were attending a leadership conference and were not available for comment.
