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UPDATE! House Bill 1504 has a committee hearing scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 18, at 2 p.m. in the New Hampshire Legislative Office Building, Rooms 305-307.

New Hampshire State Representative Kathyrn Stack has introduced legislation, House Bill 1504, to establish a committee to study a ban on recreational trapping. The committee would be required to begin meeting within 45 days of the enactment of the law and to submit its recommendations to the legislature by Nov. 1, 2020.

Take Action Today! New Hampshire sportsmen should call their state representative and ask them to vote NO on HB 1504. Sportsmen can contact their Representative by using the Sportsmen’s Alliance Legislative Action Center Directory.

Committee members will be made up of two senators and three representatives. The panel will be empowered to seek information from any individual or organization with information relevant to the committee’s objective. Sportsmen and women can expect to see a flood of animal-rights and anti-trapping propaganda if this is enacted. The New Hampshire Fish and Game Department was created to study and implement the best wildlife management practices to conserve wildlife and habitat while providing recreational opportunities to New Hampshire sportsmen. It employs the state’s top wildlife biologists who have consistently found that recreational trapping is of public benefit. House Bill 1504 would circumvent this process.

“The management of fish and wildlife should remain in the hands of New Hampshire’s wildlife experts,” said Bruce Tague, vice president government affairs for Sportsmen’s Alliance. “House Bill 1504 will provide a public forum for extreme views on trapping and wildlife management and set a terrible precedent that would inject politics into wildlife management. This bill should be rejected.”