Page 10 - 2019 NOV/DEC Outdoor Oklahoma

YOUTH CAMPS FOCUS ON TRAPPING HERITAGE

By Kelly Adams, Information and Education Specialist

EDITOR’S NOTE: Parents probably don’t think of sending WAde Free/odWC
their children to outdoor youth camp in the middle of winter. But
the Oklahoma Fur Bearers Alliance holds an annual youth camp
in December to educate youth about one of Oklahoma’s oldest
traditions: trapping. The main activity is trapping furbearers as
youths learn how to conserve and protect Oklahoma’s wildlife her-
itage through trapping. And this season, the Alliance has added
a second camp, providing more opportunity for youths to learn
about this important outdoor tradition.

Although European colonists originally trapped furbear-
ers as a means to protect livestock, gardens and food stores,
harvesting furbearers for their fur soon became a lucrative
business. Furbearer pelts were traded for goods and com-
modities not readily available in North America. Soon the
fur trade played a key role in the development of the region
that became Oklahoma.
Many fortunes were made trapping in the West, but
furbearer populations began to suffer. Wildlife resources
had been seen as inexhaustible, and unregulated harvests
soon resulted in great reductions and extirpations of many
once-common species.
Soon, conservation efforts to regulate trapping began to
take shape. Today, regulated trapping remains an important
component of modern furbearer management and wildlife
conservation, a fact lost on many people, even hunters. Youths get to learn about furbearers and management through trapping
Trapping plays a critical role in finding an ecological balance at youth camps operated by the Oklahoma Fur Bearers Alliance.
as furbearer populations affect many other wildlife popula- beavers damming up the natural streams, to the badgers and
tions, their habitats, human health and property. coyotes leaving big, hazardous holes.”
Michael Taylor, Game Warden based in Cotton County, As wildlife habitat continues to be fragmented and elim-
has experienced this dilemma firsthand. inated by development, wildlife managers are confronted
“Trapping helps balance our ecosystem and is a popular with new challenges: coyotes killing pets, beavers cutting
management tool at many of Oklahoma’s camping areas. ornamental trees and flooding roads, raccoons invading
Specifically around Waurika Lake and its camping areas, buildings and threatening public health with diseases and
there are nuisance animals that constantly cause problems, parasites. These kinds of human-wildlife conflicts reduce
from the raccoons and opossums scattering the trash, to the public tolerance of and appreciation for furbearers.
Taylor reached out to R.C. Edgar, president of the Okla-
homa Fur Bearers Alliance, which holds an annual furbearer
WiLdLiFedePArTMeNT.CoM youth camp. Taylor asked whether a second youth camp

could be held at Waurika Lake.
The Alliance is dedicated to teaching and passing on the best,
most ethical practices when it comes to wildlife management.
Its roots go back more than 60 years, and the focus is the same
as it has always been: helping conserve and protect Oklahoma’s
wildlife heritage.
“We put on a youth trapping camp during Christmas break
in December. This is when youths get to learn and run a real
trap line during the season. We were excited to learn of another
opportunity to teach kids about trapping and wildlife conser-
vation,” Edgar said.
This vintage photo illustrates how unregulated trapping and exploitation The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at Waurika Lake agreed
of furbearers contributed to the disappearance of many furbearers in
parts of the nation. and stepped up to help provide the best experience for the youth

8 Off the Beaten Path

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