I went to the Sierra Club website and read the policy and read some of the comments. I was surprised at how many of the comments were negative on the Sierra Club taking on this policy statement. Some had the same concern that bothered me...if they take on this trapping issue now, what is next; fishing, hunting?
I was encouraged to see that there does not appear to be (at least not in the website) a rabid anti-hunting position already predisposed in the Sierra Club policy. From the website:
"As a matter of Club policy, the Sierra Club has not opposed to killing animals for hunting or meat consumption (although we do encourage eating a more plant-based diet). Some maintain that death from trapping isn't necessarily more cruel than death from hunting or commercial meat production. Making defensible policy distinctions about what kinds of wildlife deaths or suffering are acceptable, what kinds aren't, and why is difficult. "
I am not a trapper, nor do I have interest in it, so I don't really have a dog in this fight. I just can't help but be a bit suspicious of the motives of this policy since it appears to be a change in direction from other Sierra Club policies.
What isn't clear to me is this. What if this policy is accepted? Then what?
