Other Activities > Trapping
HB 1775 Prohibiting the production of fur products
Frank The Tank:
This is (one of)my response...I also emailed Rep Engell, my 7th district rep who happens to sit on the Ag committee. CCed my other rep and State Senator Short. I focused on how this would target the Tribes as shutting down any fur related business would by default give them no outlet for their furs. I'm having lots of support from both Colville and Yakima Nation. Whether they contact the committee is another story. One hopes...
Response to HB 1775
In reading the proposed bill to stop all fur farm as well as production of fur related products, I have found so many errors, fallacies, and untruths to make this bill a proposal of ideology than are real legislative production. To those actually open-minded and willing to listen, I will stick to one main point: To be anti-fur and anti-trapping is to be Anti-Native American. There is a poor attempt in the proposed bill to use the Native community as an unwitting pawn to achieve the goal of destroying the economies of fur related businesses. However any basic understanding of the Native community in relation to the culture of fur and trapping, or the negative impacts economically as well as socially would show that this bill is in fact an ATTACK on the Native communities.
(b) A fur product used for traditional tribal, cultural, or spiritual purposes by a member of a federally recognized Native American tribe…
This sounds like it is protecting the Native communities, but as mentioned before, any basic understanding of the Native communities’ gathering and uses of fur and fur related products would see the truth. I work closely with Native tribes, mainly the Colville Confederated Tribes and the Yakima Nation. I am a second-generation fur buyer. This means I am dealing with multiple generations within the same communities. These Natives trap furbearers as a part of culture, just like their non-Native neighbors. What this proposed bill will do is destroy these Natives’ ability to trade, sell, or process their harvests. The vast, vast majority of fur taken by Natives leaves their respective tribes and reservations. One Native customer shared a picture of her great, great grandfather of the Moses Lake band proudly displaying his furs across his horse on his way to sell them to a non-Native fur buyer. This continues to this day.
As a fur buyer, I see Natives almost daily bringing in their harvests to sell or trade. Many work seasonally so they can trap during the fur season and depend on the sale of their furs for their home economics. As a fur buyer I grade the fur, offer a price, then find a way to use the fur in a variety of ways. Many people in the craft and manufacturing industry actively seek out Tribal furs. Other Natives will trade one species for another. Many a native has traded a recently trapped bobcat for tanned otter pelts. These pelts, tanned under strict US EPA guidelines within the USA, may come from a variety of places, such as the Native majority owned Fur House in Canada. Otters are used in headwear due to its long, black silky fur. Other Natives may trade for porcupine hair or quills. These porcupine will regularly be bought by me from non-Natives off reservation specifically to supply these Tribal members. Other Natives will seek me out to have fur headbands or hats made by one of my skilled textile workers on the East Coast. In short, the fur trade is an appropriate term. Furs move in and out of Tribal and non-tribal persons and businesses. Even the ranch furs are sought out by Natives due to their quality that the wild cannot reproduce. These ranch furs usually come from the same Native owned fur house in Canada I mentioned earlier. Any negative legislation regarding furs or trapping will end up targeting the Native community and hurt them economically and culturally. It will target Native owned businesses internationally. In conversation with my Native customers and neighbors, I explain that if this bill passes I and any other fur buyer will be out of business. It only takes a few seconds before they realize the negative effects. “What would you do?” I ask. “Well, I guess I will just have to stop trapping. So much for tradition.”
Katalla:
Sent comments to all committee members.
Elkaholic daWg:
--- Quote from: trophyhunt on February 01, 2025, 07:07:12 AM ---
--- Quote from: Cougartail on February 01, 2025, 06:19:55 AM ---
--- Quote from: big wood on January 31, 2025, 07:37:40 PM ---What a bunch of pussies
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You have hunters in this State who actually vote for these "ussies". Be sure to thank them. :bash:
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100% and on this site! The dems have lost their minds!!
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But you don't usually find them on posts like this.
Commented to all 3 but mine are all from the sensible side
dwtraut7:
Wouldn't a bill like this even effect certain fishing flies? Sometimes this state feels like a prison the way it is run
Humptulips:
--- Quote from: dwtraut7 on February 09, 2025, 11:20:27 AM ---Wouldn't a bill like this even effect certain fishing flies? Sometimes this state feels like a prison the way it is run
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Yes it would.
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