Speak Up for Trapping

I seem to be in the minority, as someone who grew up in a town smaller than most Upper Valley towns in central Massachusetts. I can say with pride that I did trap in the late ’70s and early ’80s when I was in high school, and I did enjoy it, along with hunting and fishing. Unfortunately, because of too many unknowledgeable people, pretty much all trapping is illegal in Massachusetts now except a box trap.

I am surprised to notice that not too many Upper Valley sportsmen write in to praise an article that pertains to them (“Carrying on a Vermont Trapping Tradition,” March 26). Maybe they will come forward when all hunting, trapping and fishing is gone by the wayside. I just hope that it does not happen in my lifetime.

By the way, thank you for a very good article on trapping

Joseph R. Krasnecky

Hartland

Don’t Legitimize Trapping

Please don’t help to legitimize the barbaric, cruel and shameful practice of trapping and skinning our wildlife as you did in printing the March 26 article “Carrying on a Vermont Trapping Tradition.”

To me this practice constitutes state-sanctioned violence, torture, brutality and murder of animals that are supposed to belong to all taxpayers in Vermont.

There have been too many traditions to list that thankfully have been stopped over the years as people have learned of the harm and horror that these traditions seek to uphold. Some of these shameful and obsolete traditions include trapping as well as hunting of animals such as bobcats, otters and crows, to name a few.​

Trappers, may I suggest you get a camera and instead of ending the lives of these innocent creatures, vie to outdo one another with the best picture.

Mark Chute

Strafford

Not What I Will Remember

Last week, a local educator was taken from us way too soon. I had the opportunity to work with her in Hartford, and stayed friends with her when she moved on. 

JoAnne Ladd made her mark in the Upper Valley, working hard in three different school districts and touching so many lives in the process. I was so pleased to see the article about her life in Wednesday’s paper (“Mascoma to Honor Late Educator,” March 29). However, bringing up the unfortunate incident from last spring was unnecessary and cruel.

It is a shame that the Valley News decided to make this piece a part of her legacy. It is not what I will remember about this remarkable woman.

Kristin Burch

White River Junction