Update: This bill did not pass.
Bill description: House Bill 1137 would greatly undermine 2000’s Ballot Initiative 713, which banned the use of body-gripping traps for recreation and commerce in fur.
[teaserbreak]Specifically, the bill would allow body-gripping traps to be used as long as persons complete a trapper education course and the traps follow guidelines approved by the Department of Fish and Wildlife. The bill also allows the state’s Fish and Wildlife Commission to approve use of body-gripping traps for species who pose an “animal problem” (a term it expands to include animals who have “the potential to cause an animal problem”), and allows leghold and Conibear traps to be set within 1,000 feet of public trails and occupied dwellings under certain conditions.
Note: The text and status of Washington bills is available here.