CHANGES IN BEAVER SEASON FOLLOW MANAGEMENT PLAN
To comply with the recently adopted Beaver Management Plan, the Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners today gave final approval to two regulatory changes regarding the placement of traps statewide and the number of traps used in certain Wildlife Management Units (WMUs).
The first regulatory change expands the 15-foot trap placement restriction near beaver dams and lodges across the state, which simplifies regulations and helps protect juvenile beavers in the colony. This change impacts beaver trapping in WMUs 3B, 3C, and 3D, where trappers previously did not have to abide by this restriction.
The second regulatory change limits the number of body-gripping traps used to 10 in WMUs with high relative harvest/complaint density and with bag limit of 40 beavers per season. The purpose of this change is to lift the two body-gripping trap limit only in WMUs with high beaver harvests and complaint densities.
“Because of the high efficiency of body-gripping traps, these devices are being limited to two in WMUs with medium to low beaver harvest and nuisance complaint densities,” said Matt Lovallo, Game Commission Game Mammal Section supervisor. “Limiting body-gripping traps also creates beaver trapping opportunities for the maximum number of trappers.”
