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Furbearer Management and
Best Management Practices for Trapping Program

The Furbearer Management and Best Management Practices (BMPs) for Trapping Program is a product of the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (AFWA). Its goals are to improve regulated trapping by:

  1. Scientifically evaluating trapping devices and techniques used to capture furbearers
  2. Educating trappers, researchers, wildlife managers, and the public about the most humane, safe, selective, efficient, and practical trapping devices

The Importance of Trapping

Regulated trapping is used by State, Federal, and Tribal agencies to manage wildlife and their habitats, and it provides many benefits to people. Trapping is highly regulated through scientifically-based laws, rules, and regulations that are enforced by wildlife conservation officers, and it is supported as a method for wildlife management by wildlife biologists, The Wildlife Society, the American Association of Wildlife Veterinarians, and the American Veterinary Medical Association. Only abundant species of wildlife are trapped and the BMP for trapping program is helping ensure that the traps used to capture furbearers are the most humane.  To learn more about regulated trapping watch the Trapping Matters video. 

Regulated trapping is used in:

  • Species Restoration
  • Species Protection
  • Population Management
  • Research
  • Species Monitoring
  • Habitat Management
  • Resolving Human-Wildlife Conflict