An Act to Prohibit Coyote Snaring and Eliminate the Coyote Snaring Program (2003)
Would have ended the current coyote snaring program run by the Department of Inland Fish and Wildlife. The program is meant to reduce the coyote population to benefit deer, their prey. The problem is that snares don’t discriminate as to what they trap and kill. Bald eagles, classified as a threatened species by the federal government, have been found in snares, as have bobcats, snowshoe hares, and fox. Bear and moose have also been found with snares around their necks and the federally threatened Canada lynx is at risk. The program does little to benefit deer, because coyotes respond to population reduction by increasing their litter size. An amended version of the bill that put the current program rules into law, but did not eliminate coyote snaring, ultimately passed.
