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Photo by David Johnson
Under a federal judge’s ruling issued on February 21, 2023, trappers in northeastern Minnesota must refrain from using leg traps large enough to capture a Canadian lynx and are banned from using most snares in northeastern Minnesota.
A lawsuit filed over two years ago by the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) was the impetus for the judge’s ruling. The CBD filed a lawsuit in December 2020 against the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources for allowing trapping that harmed Canadian Lynx.
When asked what kinds of resources both financial and timewise it took to win this lawsuit Collette Adkins, Carnivore Conservation Director, Senior Attorney for the Center of Biological Diversity said,
“We filed this lawsuit in 2020 and worked solidly since then. The money we spent on the case is not something I can share publicly but our primary investment was in the hundreds of hours of time spent by staff. We did have some help from volunteers, including an expert witness who volunteered much of his time.”
In 2008 a federal court found the state liable for “harm to Lynx caused by trapping.” In that ruling, the state of Minnesota Fish and Wildlife Service was ordered to apply for a permit to cover its trapping program, which it never did. The 2008 ruling also ordered the state to protect the Lynx by regulating trapping in the lynx core habitat.
According to a press release from the Center of Biological Diversity, “This is a big win for Minnesota’s Canada lynx and all of us who care about them,” said Collette Adkins, the Center’s Minneapolis-based carnivore conservation director. “These commonsense reforms of Minnesota’s trapping program will prevent needless, agonizing deaths of these rare cats, as well as other unintended victims like dogs.”
The recent court order bans most uses of strangulation snares in the “Lynx Management Zone,” which covers the arrowhead region of the state, northeast of U.S. Highway 53. In that same area, which is the core lynx habitat, the order also bans most uses of leghold traps with a jaw spread larger than 6.5 inches. The court order also requires Minnesota officials to take steps to educate trappers about the new reforms.
“Like so many Minnesotans, I’m sickened by the senseless cruelty of trapping,” said Adkins. “Very few Minnesotans still trap, but those that do will now need to stop using indiscriminate neck snares where they could strangle and kill Canada lynx. This makes good sense and it’s long overdue.”
Adkins said she takes winter trips to Cook County and drives the back roads in the morning and evening hours with the primary goal of spotting lynx.
Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis) are distinguished from bobcats by their tufted ears, hind legs that appear longer than front legs, and a pronounced goatee under the chin. Their large paws work like snowshoes enabling them to walk on top of deep, soft snow. These cold-loving cats feed predominantly on snowshoe hares but may also eat birds and small mammals and scavenge carcasses.
The Lynx was listed as a threatened species under the federal Endangered Species Act in 2000. Its federally designated critical habitat includes northeastern Minnesota.
Trapping, habitat destruction, climate change and other threats continue to harm the Canada lynx. Although once more widespread, Lynx currently reside in small breeding populations in Minnesota, Idaho, Montana, Washington and Maine. A reintroduced population also lives in Colorado.
Every year in Minnesota, a small number of trappers kill thousands of bobcats, pine martens and other wildlife, primarily to sell their furs.
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