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by Dave Soulia on FYIVT.com
A recent op-ed by Brenna Galdenzi, president of Protect Our Wildlife Vermont (Stowe), criticized Senator Terry Williams, R-Poultney, for allegedly being dismissive and rude to a “constituent” who contacted him regarding trapping. The piece misrepresents key facts about the exchange and the broader issue of trapping in Vermont, and it unfairly casts a shadow over Williams’ professionalism.
Not a Constituent
The individual who contacted Senator Williams is not, in fact, a Vermont constituent but a resident of New Jersey who owns a second home in Tinmouth, Vermont. While they are welcome to voice their concerns, they cannot claim the same standing as Vermonters whose elected representatives serve their specific interests.
The op-ed described the email to Senator Williams as “polite,” yet a small sample of the message paints a different picture. The sender wrote:
“Allowing these traps is a stain on Vermont’s reputation, and it’s time for our leaders to take a stand. If you support this outdated and brutal practice, you are complicit in the suffering it causes.”
The message concluded with:
“A citizen who pays your salary!”
This accusatory tone undermines claims of civility. Furthermore, the assertion is inaccurate, given that the sender is a New Jersey resident. Senator Williams’ succinct response, “get over it,” was sent after realizing the emailer was not a constituent and reflects this distinction.
The Constitutional Reality
The issue of trapping is not new to Vermont. In the previous legislative session, the state engaged in robust, expensive debates over whether to ban trapping (H.191 [2023], S.111 [2023], S.258 [2024]). The effort was ultimately voted down, in part because Vermont’s Constitution guarantees the right to “hunting, fowling, and fishing.” This constitutional protection underscores the historical and cultural significance of these practices to Vermonters, including trapping, which has deep roots in the state’s rural heritage.
To criticize Williams for his position ignores not only this constitutional reality but also the extensive legislative process that already took place just a few months ago. Revisiting the issue so soon after the state spent significant time and taxpayer dollars debating it is understandably frustrating for lawmakers and taxpayers alike.
Cultural Sensitivity and Practical Realities
Trapping is often labeled as “barbaric” or “evil” by advocacy groups, but such sweeping judgments overlook its cultural, historical, and practical importance. For generations, trapping has provided Vermonters with a means of livelihood, wildlife management, and connection to their rural heritage. Overlooking the cultural and historical significance of trapping risks veering dangerously close to cultural insensitivity and alienating rural communities while dismissing deeply rooted traditions.
Criticism of trapping also ignores practical realities. Coyotes, for example, pose real threats to livestock, pets, and even humans. Farmers across Vermont routinely lose livestock to coyote predation, and it has been common knowledge for decades that outdoor cats are at significant risk of being killed by coyotes. These are not isolated incidents—they are a daily reality for rural Vermonters.
Survey Data and Fish & Wildlife Allegations
The op-ed also alleges that Vermont’s Department of Fish & Wildlife is complicit in promoting trapping through so-called “greenwashing.” However, the department’s efforts to regulate trapping through “best management practices” demonstrate a commitment to balancing humane treatment of wildlife with the realities of wildlife management. These efforts seek to minimize harm while addressing practical needs such as population control and nuisance management.
The op-ed cites several surveys to support its stance against trapping. However, a closer examination reveals selective interpretation:
VVMA Survey (2021): The op-ed notes 66% of veterinarians oppose BMP traps. However, only 74 members responded out of approximately 400, representing about 18.5% of the membership, limiting the survey’s representativeness.
Vermont Residents’ Attitudes Toward Furbearer Management (2022): The op-ed claims a majority disapprove of trapping, with only 26% approving when regulated. In reality, 60% approve of “regulated trapping,” indicating nuanced support for regulated practices.
UVM Center for Rural Studies Survey (2017): The op-ed states 75% support banning certain traps. This figure excludes undecided respondents; the unadjusted support is 62.8%, showing less overwhelming opposition.
Conclusion
Senator Williams’ response to the New Jersey resident’s email may have been brief, but it reflects a broader frustration with revisiting a contentious issue so soon after an exhaustive debate. It’s time to respect the constitutional rights of Vermonters, the cultural significance of trapping, and the practical realities of rural life.
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Categories: Commentary, Outdoors, State Government
Hear, hear – thank you, Dave, for stepping up. Some legislators may not deserve the Honorable title before their name, but Terry does. Thank you for defending his honor. I pray that others will take lessons and restore dignity and honor under our State House dome.
Thank you Mr. Soulia for pointing out the disingenuousity, if you will, of the POW people when dealing with our Fish and Wildlife Department, and others of differing lifestyle choices. I would point out where you state, “Overlooking the cultural and historical significance of trapping risks veering dangerously close to cultural insensitivity and alienating rural communities while dismissing deeply rooted traditions.” That does not matter a wit to them . I would also add that trapping is just a first step towards eliminating other traditional uses of the outdoors which humans have been exercising since we descended from the trees to hunt, and gather from the ground . Just because some people’s personal constitutions will not allow them to partake in harvesting their own food, or utilizing nature to supplement their income should not give them the right to target those differences, and yet these people attempt to belittle and shame people of differing beliefs, and cultural backgrounds to achieve their goal . In the words of Winston Churchill, “We will never surrender !”
Thanks for keeping the context correct, something that Brenna and her clan are notorious for not doing.
Brenna is not a Vermonter, she arrived with a “my way or the highway” attitude.
I had a very long, and cumbersome, phone conversation with her while she told me things like if beavers felled her trees and dammed her theoretical pond, she would move rather than trap them. When asked her opinion about “nuisance” trapping, she thought it was ok if the animal was released alive. When I suggested that removing the beavers from her property and releasing them down stream only caused problems for someone else, she had no reply.
She believes that wildlife management is a myth. You can’t even have a sensible conversation about it.
As long as humans are on the landscape, there will be habitat loss.
Disease or starvation is how nature manages population. I don’t think there’s anything humane about the long slow death of either of nature’s methods.
Trapping is an essential tool for population control of beavers and other fur bearers.
Thanks for setting things straight.
In my opinion, if you don’t like the way we do things, then LEAVE or at least LEAVE US (those who hunt and fish) ALONE.
Brenna is crazy. Responding to her trash only grows her power. Terry did nothing wrong. However, his response can help her. Dems are scared of her and see the results of following her craziness
I notice how VDC wasn’t quite genuine enough to publish an article on the recent case in Pownal wherein Police and F & W arrested a so-called trapper engaging in your socalled CULTURAL SENSITIVITY by laying out hundreds of barbaric trapping devices and randomly murdering literally hundreds of varying species of animals and birds whose carcases laid strewn for an unknown estimated weeks’ time on the property in question according to law enforcement.
Only discovered yet AGAIN after a Pownal man frantically called 911 to request assist after his companion dog was suddenly writhing in pain within a leg hold trap he could not extricate her from. Police at the scene document the dog wailing in pain and upon finally removing the metal trap, had to be rushed to a vet via police transport.
And for the usual gang of knuckle scrapers on VDC who are chomping at the bit to learn whether the dog owner in question here was one of those recent ” evil” taxpaying, law abiding VT residents who dared to relocate here as is any citizens’ constitutional right as an American …he was instead rather a ” native” born & raised Pownalite whose dog was nearly killed in cold blood by the archaic sport of setting traps to take the life of innocent creatures created by God all in the name of blood sport and cruelty to innocents and whose own pet was nearly added to the long line of beloved companions who were tortured and ultimately succumbed to these bloodthirsty barbarians who now consider killing wildlife for sheer pleasure and profit and profit selling furs and skins and organs to countries such as China a now “cultural” imperative.
In the end, this Pownal “native” and many others just like him now join forces with PETA to continue to their journey to protect wildlife across this nation and to support measures to better ensure the protection of both wild and domestic animals. As statistics demonstrate, the majority of Americans oppose trapping, including two thirds of those in VT.
As for these who pompously consider other species lesser than are they and who experience joy in brutally and torturously ending the lives of wild creatures who themselves support a environmental legacy through a healthy ecosystem, your supposed legacy is nothing less than telltale gnorance and barbarism & you remain as far from culturally relevant as a C.B. radio on a tricycle. Now, we are again reminded to make yet another donation to PETA for their unyielding efforts in ending cruelty to animals.
don’t think i got that story….