Bobcat trapping season proposed by ODNR

Instead of following professional wildlife management practices, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources has instructed their Division of Wildlife to prematurely propose a bobcat trapping season in 23 southern and southeastern Ohio counties.Just taken off of the endangered species list in 2014, many feel that rushing to allow trapping so soon is simply a ploy to curry favor with members of the Ohio State Trappers Association, who were openly critical of last July's ODNR coup of Division of Wildlife professional leadership.A season is premature because only last summer, the DOW contracted a four-year research study to Dr. Viorel Popescu, Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences at Ohio University, to determine the status of the bobcat population, numerical trends and rates of their range expansion.Some of the objectives of the study will include identifying ideal environments with higher populations vs. those with lesser quality habitat; evaluating the densities of bobcats in their core populations; and predict population trajectories and possible sustainable trapping levels using Spatial Population Viability Analysis.This will help the DOW make sound decisions regarding which counties could support a trapping season on this fur-bearer; which ones should remain closed until they reach suitable populations; and where the habitat will not likely provide surplus animals to harvest.Graduate student Heidi Bencin and one half-dozen assistants have already been collecting data using trail cameras, hair traps and road kills, but it will be at least this summer before the data can be fully analyzed.Field work this summer will include obtaining more DNA material through scat analysis using dogs to locate samples. These scat samples will augment hair sample DNA collected to date to document specific animals present and estimate total bobcat populations in the study areas.Bencin has already determined that vehicle collisions in March during their mating season and in October while raising kittens currently represent the biggest mortality threat to bobcats. Interstate highways were found to be 50 times more deadly than smaller road types, regardless of adjacent landscape type.By allowing trapping before the data has been collected, pre-trapping densities and populations will be poorly documented, complicating efforts to determine the effect of additive mortality from trapping.The Athens County commission and the City of Athens council passed resolutions on March 10 and March 19 respectively in opposition to the ODNR proposal to trap or kill bobcats.Also, "Save the Bobcat" crowds formed, bolstered by Ohio University activists anxious to defend their University's mascot. Most of this crowd are opposed to trapping in general, offer little expertise to the discussion and will oppose bobcat trapping no matter how large the population becomes.Nonetheless, on May 17 the Ohio Wildlife Council should vote to delay opening a bobcat trapping season until after the research is completed. Then, if the data supports it, a season could be defended with solid scientific justification.I trapped and have been a dues-paying member of the Ohio State Trapper Association for decades; and support the addition of bobcats to the list of legal fur-bearers — but not before it has been determined to be biologically sustainable, and not because of lobbying or political pressure.Recent Ohio DOW decisions to set minimum turtle harvest size restrictions and continue to allow commercial netting of yellow perch were not popular, but they were biological justified.Once Fisheries and Wildlife management is turned into a popularity contest instead of using solid biological justification, sportsmen are doomed to hunting only the species and using methods that the majority allows.ODNR ignores other expert adviceIn other news, the ODNR convinced the Ohio Senate to approve multi-year hunting and fishing licenses; combination licenses; remove the four-year cap for apprentice licenses; allow non-electric ATVs/UTV's for disabled hunters; create apprentice fur-bearer and non-resident, seasonal Lake Erie fishing permits.Unfortunately, it also allows lifetime hunting and fishing licenses, which have been regretted in most states that have offered them and in some cases discontinued.Once sold, they can no longer be adjusted for inflation; are an accounting nightmare for federal matching dollar purposes, prove difficult to enforce residency requirements; and cost the wildlife agencies millions of dollars of special stamp and tag revenue annually.Ignoring the expert advice of the leading wildlife economists, Southwick Associates, front-end windfalls from licenses valid longer than three years are often spent too soon, deplete future revenue and are coveted by legislators to borrow for other purposes.Please contact your State Representative and ask them to oppose the lifetime license option and not to discount the other multi-year licenses more than five percent in House Bill 518.