President — George Finch, 100 Allen St., Groton, CT 06340; phone: 860-445-2514
Vice President West — Fred J. Becker, 23 Riverside Dr. Apt. B2, Clinton, CT, 06413; phone: 860-669-2847; e-mail: FKMBecker@comcast.net
Vice President East — Mike Cote, 50 Hopevalley Rd., Hebron, CT,.06231; phone: 860-228-2404
Treasurer — Herb Sobanski Jr., P.O. Box 2183, Manchester, CT 06040-2183; phone: 860-741-0728; e-mail: trapper43@hotmail.com
Secretary — Herb Sobanski Jr., P.O. Box 2183, Manchester, CT 06040-2183; phone: 860-741-0728; e-mail: trapper43@hotmail.com
NTA Director — George Finch, 100 Allen St., Groton, CT 06340; phone: 860-445-2514
Membership Options:
• 1-year membership including subscription to The Trapper & Predator Caller — $30
• 2-year membership with subscription to The Trapper & Predator Caller— $48
• 3-year membership with subscription to The Trapper & Predator Caller — $64
• 15-years and under — $10
• Lifetime — $350
Complete membership application on first page of
association section and send dues to:
CTA, Secretary/Treasurer
Herb Sobanski, Jr.
P.O. Box 2183, Manchester, CT 06040-2183
PRESIDENT’S REPORT
What a year; a lot of positives and we are all a little wiser! We had a great 2008-2009 trapping season and then were threatened with losing our trapping rights in Connecticut with the introduction of SB#994 and associated amendments. We had a great fur harvest and tremendous turnout at our March fur sale and partnered with the Connecticut NWCO’s in defeating ALL legislative threats. We are now fortunate enough to have new, accepted Trapping Regulations that provide us an extended beaver season (March 31), the removal of the beaver limit AND the change in the fisher season to December with a limit increase to four!
Wow!
Lots of lessons’ learned from the SB#994 battle. The CTA Executive Committee has introduced a number of changes to prepare us for the next battle. We now have a viable, secured and owned Web site, www.cttrappers.com. We have found that the Internet was a great tool in communication, data resources and national organizational outreach. We’ve created the CTA Legal Defense Fund, and we’ve realized the importance of maintaining a clear and open channel of communication with our fellow CT NWCO organization.
The Connecticut Trappers Association Fall Rendezvous was a great success. We had a beautiful day to hold our event. I was very pleased with the turnout of our membership. We had Ray Madore (our new Public Relations Director) selling the newly, updated CTA logo t-shirts with 2009 Rendezvous limited t-shirts. He was also handling membership updates for his wife Danielle (our new Secretary/Treasurer) who was unable to make the event. George Finch handled the in-house raffle with many items donated by himself, John Larkin and Randy Stevens. Ernie Mosher was on hand from NAFA presenting skinning/fur handling demonstrations. Fred Becker Sr. and Jr. along with Tom Hart presented excellent muskrat/mink and beaver trapping demos. We had Bill and Rosemary Spears on hand selling their wares along with Al from Wildlife Control Supplies and Don from D&D Wildlife Control.
Our membership meeting was well attended by our membership along with Dale May and Paul Rego from the Department of Environmental Protection, Bob Crook from the Coalition of Connecticut Sportsmen and John Horne from the Connecticut Nuisance Wildlife Control Operator association.
We presented the following awards; Trapper of the Year to Randy Stevens, Jr. Trapper of the Year to Chris Sanzaro, Jr. and the Trapper Hall of Fame was awarded to me. We presented an award to Dale May and Ed Parker (was unable to attend) who have both recently retired from the CT DEP along with lifetime membership to the CTA due to their continual support of Connecticut fur trappers and assisting us in maintaining our heritage. We also presented an award to Representative Brian Hurlburt and Representative Craig Miner (was unable to attend) for their support in defeating SB#994.
Executive committee nominations and voting occurred with one change. I was elected as your new President. We gave George a standing ovation for his eight years of dedicated service as our President. Thank you George! George will stay on as our National Trappers Association Director.
Paul Rego said a few words about our upcoming season and the new regulation changes. The DEP still requires otter and fisher carcasses, please continue to drop them off at the applicable Wildlife Management Area offices or bring them to the annual fur sale for Paul and his staff to pick up. Paul also reminded us about the annual state land permits and also verified that the permit cost will remain as $60 per parcel. The DEP has listed number of parcels that currently have beaver issues, please focus on these parcels; they need our assistance to manage the beaver population!
Bob Crook discussed the Connecticut Legislatures passing of the Licensing fee increases. Our trapping license has now increased from $25 to $50 per year and our Jr. Trapper license has increased from $3 to $15 per year. There wasn’t any way to prevent this increase during this legislative session. One of the biggest concerns for all of us Connecticut Sportsmen is the change in flow of our licensing fees obtained to go directly to the General Fund. We need auditing of these funds to ensure monies are going to the DEP for Wildlife Management!
Please stay tuned for future strategies and requests for contacting our state representatives and senators before the next session to ensure all of our concerns are addressed.
I do have a request for ALL CTA members. The DEP has listened to us and increased the beaver season and removed the limit. They stated a few years ago that we (Connecticut Fur Trappers) were not harvesting enough beavers. It is time for us to meet their goal. If you are not signed up as a Volunteer Beaver Trapper, please do so. Contact Carrie Pomfrey at 860-295-9523 for further details. We need to support beaver trapping within our realm. It is vital to protecting our fur trapping heritage and supporting a healthy ecosystem.
Finally, as your new President, I will continue my energy, enthusiasm and dedication to protecting our right to fur trap in Connecticut. We need to continue our focus on increasing the public knowledge on what we do, our ethics along with our skills, and we also need to determine the best method on ensuring that our trapping heritage is being passed along to the younger generation.
If you are not on my e-mail distribution, please send me an email to trapper43@hotmail.com and I will add you to my list.
As my Dad would say, may your plews be prime and your boots stay dry. Thanks Dad!
— Herb Sobanski Jr.
