Sponsors (14)
Official title: To amend the National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act of 1966 to prohibit the possession or use of body-gripping traps in the National Wildlife Refuge System, and for other purposes.
Introduced June 24, 2025 by Jerrold Lewis Nadler · Last progress June 24, 2025
The bill reduces harm to people and wildlife and protects biodiversity while preserving tribal subsistence, but it removes a lethal wildlife‑control tool for some users and creates criminal penalties, geographic inconsistency, and administrative strain in implementing and enforcing the ban.
Visitors to national wildlife refuges (and their pets) and non‑target wildlife will face fewer lethal traps, reducing accidental injuries and deaths.
Refuge ecosystems and local communities will see better protection and recovery of sensitive or non‑target species because lethal capture methods are limited.
Federally recognized tribal members trapping for subsistence are exempted, preserving tribal subsistence practices and respecting tribal rights.
Hunters, trappers, refuge managers, and some landowners lose a lethal tool for controlling invasive or dangerous wildlife, which could increase property or agricultural damage if nonlethal methods fail.
Individuals who violate the ban risk criminal penalties and forfeiture, creating significant legal and financial burdens—especially where refuge boundaries or rules are unclear.
Exempting Alaska refuges creates geographic inconsistency that complicates enforcement and user expectations when traveling between refuges.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Prohibits possession and use of body‑gripping traps on National Wildlife Refuge System lands, with narrow exceptions and penalties for violations.
Prohibits possession or use of "body‑gripping traps" anywhere in the National Wildlife Refuge System, with limited exceptions for Federal agencies (when narrowly needed for invasive-species control or to protect endangered or sensitive species after nonlethal methods are tried), for dismantling, for operations in the Alaska Refuge System, and for federally recognized Tribal members acting for subsistence. Violations carry civil fines (up to $500 per trap per use, adjusted for inflation), possible criminal penalties (up to 180 days imprisonment), forfeiture of traps and animals taken, and payment of court costs. The Interior Secretary must issue implementing regulations within 120 days; the ban becomes effective 120 days after enactment even if regulations are not finalized.