Sponsors (14)
The bill reduces lethal-trap use on national wildlife refuges to better protect visitors, wildlife, and tribal subsistence, but it limits control tools for landowners and some managers and creates criminal penalties and regulatory/implementation challenges that may impose costs and confusion for rural communities and governments.
Visitors to national wildlife refuges and non‑target wildlife will face fewer lethal traps, reducing accidental injury or death.
Residents near refuges and the public will benefit from stronger refuge biodiversity protections because limiting lethal capture methods helps recover sensitive and non‑target species.
Federally recognized tribal members who rely on subsistence trapping will retain their exemptions, preserving tribal subsistence practices.
Hunters, trappers, landowners, and some refuge managers will lose access to certain lethal trapping tools, which could make controlling invasive or dangerous animals harder and increase property or agricultural damage if nonlethal methods are ineffective.
Individuals who violate the ban may face criminal penalties and forfeiture, imposing significant legal and financial burdens—especially where refuge boundaries or rules are unclear.
Users traveling between refuges and refuge managers in Alaska and the lower 48 will face inconsistency because Alaska refuges are exempt, complicating enforcement and expectations across jurisdictions.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Prohibits possession and use of body‑gripping traps across the National Wildlife Refuge System, with limited exceptions and penalties for violations.
Introduced June 24, 2025 by Jerrold Lewis Nadler · Last progress June 24, 2025
Prohibits the possession or use of body‑gripping traps anywhere in the National Wildlife Refuge System, while allowing limited exceptions for Federal agencies (for invasive species control or to protect listed/sensitive species after nonlethal options are documented), for dismantling, for the System in Alaska, and for members of federally recognized tribes for subsistence. Violators face civil fines (up to $500 per trap per use, adjusted for inflation), possible imprisonment (up to 180 days), forfeiture of traps and wildlife taken, and court costs. The Interior Secretary must issue implementing regulations within 120 days, and the prohibition becomes effective 120 days after enactment.