WILDLIFE
Ninety-five percent of Oklahoma land is privately owned, and much of it is affected by wildlife and the regulations protecting animals and their habitats. The ODWC has a number of land-assistance programs to support landowners and their interactions with wildlife and help foster “successful habitat and wildlife management.”18 Nels Rodefeld, chief of the ODWC’s Information and Education Division, explains that although the “people of Oklahoma still have a strong, cultural connection to outdoors” the assistance programs help ensure the long-term protection of wildlife.19
Hunting and Fishing
State fish and wildlife laws are contained in Oklahoma Statute Ann. tit. 29 § 5-402, 412, 412.1, and 7-801.20 Following statute regulations, the ODWC annually publishes Oklahoma Hunting and Oklahoma Fishing, which explain the current hunting and fishing seasons, licensing requirements, fees, and prohibited hunting and fishing methods. All native wildlife species have a designated hunting season, licensing requirements, and bag limits (the number of animals that can be caught by each hunter). FIGURE WILDLIFE 2 outlines ODWC licensing requirements and the number of ODWC licenses issued in 2013.21, 22 Popular wildlife species hunted in the state include deer, wild turkey, geese, ducks, foxes, raccoons, bobcats, and sandhill cranes. Deer hunting is the most popular hunting sport in Oklahoma, with approximately 250,000 registered deer hunters each year. According to the ODWC, deer-hunting revenues and other secondary economic benefits that service the hunting industry, such as sporting-goods stores and restaurants, total $600 million in revenue per year for the state.23 The ODWC offers in-person and online hunter education courses. Hunters younger than thirty must obtain a Hunter Education Certification or hunt with an apprentice-designated license.24 Nels Rodefeld of the ODWC reports that approximately 20,000 individuals complete hunter education classes each year.25 Operation Game Thief is an ODWC program designed to help stop poaching, the illegal killing of fish and wildlife in the state. The program encourages the public to anonymously report information concerning poaching and other wildlife crimes such as animal abuse. Tax-deductible dona-
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tions are used to help finance rewards given to callers who report poaching.26 The ODWC law enforcement also recognizes the Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact. This agreement between state wildlife department allows for member states to share information about hunting, fishing, and trapping license suspensions. As a member of the compact, Oklahoma agrees to enforce suspensions of individuals from other states within the borders of Oklahoma.27
Trapping
In 2013, the ODWC sold 776 trapping licenses. Legal traps used in Oklahoma are box traps, smooth-jawed, single-spring leg-hold steel traps with a jaw spread no greater than eight inches, double-spring offset jawed leg-hold steel traps with a jaw spread of no greater than eight inches, and enclosed trigger traps. Box traps typically lure an animal into an enclosed cage or box and then trap the live animal until retrieved by the trap owner. Leg-hold traps are commonly used for coyotes, bobcats, foxes, raccoons, skunks, and other furbearing animals. This type of trap is triggered by the weight of an animal stepping on the trap, causing the jaws of the trap to snap shut around the animal’s leg.28 In Oklahoma, it is illegal to set traps in areas commonly used by humans, dogs, or other domestic animals. Under ODWC regulations, all traps must have the owner’s name attached, except when they are placed on the trapper’s private property, and trappers are required to check their traps at least once every twenty-four hours.29 In Oklahoma, landowners cannot set more than twenty traps on a single property; however, residents who hold lifetime hunting licenses have no limit on the number of traps they can set. The Oklahoma Fur Bearers Alliance (OFBA) is a nonprofit trapping organization with the mission to promote ethical and effective furbearer trapping in Oklahoma. The organization’s Web site states that trapping helps control high populations of certain species such as beavers, skunks, and muskrats that are not controlled through any other methods.30 OFBA hosts two conventions each year and sponsors a trapper camp for Oklahoma youth. The economic value of furs has gone down drastically since the 1980s and 1990s.31 In spring 2014, the KanOkla Fur Company reported the following fur prices:32