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History of the
Idaho Trappers Association -
The Idaho Trappers Association, Inc., was
founded in 1979, with the Certificate of Incorporation
being issued by Idaho’s Secretary of State on January
17, 1980. At that time of Incorporation there were three
(3) Board Members, George Sheppard, Dan Coons and Diane
Shepard, with George Shepard being the first President.
The nature of the business of the
corporation and its objectives then and now are to
promote sound conservation, legislation and
administrative procedures to save and faithfully defend
from waste the natural resources of Idaho; to promote
sound environmental education programs; and to promote a
continued annual fur harvest using the best tools
presently available for that purpose.The ITA further encourages sensible
"Legislation and Administrative" procedures pertaining
to the management of fur bearing animals, with
opposition of bad legislation pertaining to the
management of fur bearing animals.
The Association’s priority objective
is to educate young trappers in the harvesting and
management of Idaho’s resource and to better educate the
public on the consumptive use of wild animals as a
necessary wildlife management tool. In essence, the Idaho Trappers
Association was organized exclusively for charitable,
educational or recreational purposes.
The structure of the organization has
been efficiently designed with regards to the membership
(being the body) throughout Idaho. The board members
consist of President, Vice President, Secretary,
Treasurer, and five (5) Directors throughout the state
who correlate with Idaho's Department of Fish and Game.
These members constitute the ITA's Board of Directors
with a total of twelve (12) decision making votes for
the interests of the general membership. The
organization is affiliated with the National Trappers
Association, and currently obtaining information for
other future affiliates on a national level. Idaho is
represented "By Due Authority" to each affiliate by a
elected Representative from the membership. The
association has various standing committees and reserves
"Committee Appointment privileges", for special handling
of issues important to Idaho Wildlife and Trappers.
In 1990 the
association established a "Hall of Fame" to recognize
persons that have extraordinarily dedicated their time
and efforts to the organization. Nominations are
presented to the Hall of Fame Committee and a majority
membership vote obtained before the official induction.
John Hoel was the first induction with the proceeding of
John Smith, Willard Pollack, Jim Sanders, Mike Webb, Ade
Zanjac, Fred Moore, John Contour, Delane Kritsky,
Margaret Contor ,Warren Moore, and current President Dan
R. Clark. Recent membership induction for 2002 is Dan
Brown, previous Region 3 Director.
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The most previous outstanding
accomplishment for the association, was the procurement of the
"Otter Season" for Idaho. Approval and recognition for the
needed harvest of otter from the State Wildlife Commission was a
timely effort from the trappers, and even though the season was
constructed on a trial basis with close monitoring and a
upcoming review, the first season’s (2000-2001) harvest
indicated a good potential for a established season. Also, when
the association learned of the petition presented by the US
Dept. Of Interior Fish and Wildlife to list the Canadian Lynx
with the ESA (Endangered Species Act) in 1997, President Clark
immediately re-laid information to other states that were
unaware of the purposed listing, incorporating their input,
attended workshops, meetings and continued resistive
correspondence to the USFWS. As results; in 1998 the Canadian
Lynx was listed as a "Threatened" species
in the United States, not a higher degree "Endangered" species.
Again, the purpose of the Idaho Trappers Association is to
preserve a heritage of trapping with promotion of education and
sound conservation for balance of fur harvesting while
preventing waste of Idaho’s natural resources. |
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