Earlier this month, the Edmonton Journal released an article featuring Alberta trapper and Fur Institute of Canada (FIC) Board Member Gordy Klassen. The piece is a profile on Gordy, who shares his love of trapping and the Canadian wilderness.
Gordy came from a family of hunters, but was always interested in trapping and started to save the money for his own traps at just 10 years old. He gathered knowledge from other local trappers and his father, who did a small amount of weasel trapping as a child.
In the video published by the Edmonton Journal, which follows Gordy as he is pulling his marten traps for the season, Gordy comments on positive changes in the trapping business.
“The two biggest changes are that we’ve got way better tools to work with than when I started, considerably better tools, and we have the science and research to support them, [so] that they’re considerably more humane than when I started back in the late 60s.
“And then trapper education,” he continues. “It makes people aware of what the issues are, makes them aware of what’s going on and it makes trappers more aware of their own role in wildlife management.”
Gordy loves being so in touch with nature and explains that trappers are extremely valuable to both wildlife management and to researchers, because they know every inch of their traplines and where there are animal dens situated.
Gordy continues to explain that fur is big business, especially in Canada where there is a high demand for clothing due to the cold climate, and a high demand for the management of populations of fur-bearing animals.