President — Mike Seelman, PO Box 141, Prudenville, MI 48651; seelmanm@frontier.com
Vice President — Lloyd White, 2739 W M-28, Dafter, MI 49724; 906-632-6071
Secretary — Jim Neitling, PO Box 171, Kinross, MI 49752; 906-495-5233
Treasurer — Mark A. Spencer, N4552 Spencer Lane, Moran, MI 49760; 906-292-4779;
spenfurs@lighthouse.net
Membership Options:
• Individual membership including subscription to Trapper & Predator Caller — $22
• Junior (16 & under) with subscription to Trapper & Predator Caller — $17
Complete membership application on first page of association section and send dues to:
NGLFH Secretary
Jim Neitling
P.O. Box 171
Kinross, MI 49752
SECRETARY’S REPORT
I know I should not be saying this, but what the heck. I believe that maybe Spring is finally on its way. We have had some pretty decent days and the snow seems to be reducing in depth. The old saying that April showers bring May flowers does not hold true up here. It will be May showers and June, July or August flowers. The way it is going the snow in some areas will be here until the middle of May or longer. The lakes are still frozen over and I believe that we will be trapping beaver through the ice in November because they are melting very slowly.
There are petitions being sent around so that maybe we can counter the antis movement. This petition is so that we can have the DNR use scientific methods of determining the seasons and bag limits instead of politicians. Before you sign a petition make sure you read what you are signing. Several members have received them and are taking them around for signatures.
I believe that by the time most of you read this the deadline will be passed for people to sign one. I hope that there will be enough signatures gathered so that we will convince our legislature to enact legislation that will correct the loop in the last referendum that was passed and if they will not act it can be put on the ballot to stop the antis once and for all. I guess that this is asking for too much because these people are relentless in their pursuit to take away some thing that we enjoy doing.
We had a meeting in March and there was good attendance. We renewed our affiliation with the United Sportsman Alliance and donated $500 to their association. The petition drive as of the meeting has 60% of the required signatures. Mike Seeleman passed out petitions to the membership and explained the rules on obtaining signatures. Sounds like MTA is putting a bid in for the NTA Convention in 2016 in Kalamazoo.
We have decided to donate $600 towards the sending of a DNR officer and biologist to Fur Takers Trapper’s College. We also requested that we get some feed back from those who attend the college.
The NTA Convention this year will be held in Escanaba from July 24th to the 26th. Since it has been a very long time since we have had a convention in Michigan it would be great if we had a huge turnout of Michiganians and it will show our support for the sport of not only trapping but in all outdoor sports.
The trapping season is over for now and the swatting season will start sooner than we think.
I hoped everyone will have a safe summer and will be able to attend some of the upcoming conventions. Think of it this way. You be able to buy your supplies and maybe learn a few things and not have to pay shipping on the stuff that you buy. Our next meeting will be May 21st in Gaylord at the Sportsman’s Club. Hope to see you there. — Jim Neitling