Pittman-Robertson, Trapping, and Furbearer Conservation

Fur trappers inspecting their goods

Trapping is highly regulated by the state fish and wildlife agencies; biologists set harvest rates, trapping seasons, bag limits, and restrict trap types. Pittman-Robertson dollars, the federal excise taxes paid by firearms, ammunition, and archery manufacturers on select goods, fund furbearer management.

Gila Trout Conservation and Sport Fish Restoration

Gila trout craig springer usfws

James Ohio Pattie by our best reckoning was the first to record catching Gila trout.  The man led a beaver trapping expedition from Kentucky that traversed today’s American Southwest shortly after Mexico achieved its independence from Spain.

Research on the Rapidan WMA: Brook and Brown Trout Interactions Revealed

Brown Trout

To learn more about how brook trout fare over a long span of time in the presence of brown trout, biologists John Odenkirk and Mike Isel with the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (VDWR) examined a large amount of data—nearly 25 years’ worth of information—on brook and brown trout in the Rapidan and Conway rivers of northern Virginia.