For generations, trapping in Alberta was primarily about one thing: fur.

Today, the province’s trappers still harvest and sell fur, but Alberta Trappers Association president Bill Abercrombie says the practice has taken on a much broader role — from wildlife management and conservation to teaching people how to live sustainably on the land.

“Trapping is still an important source of income,” Abercrombie said. “Fur is still traded.”

But the reasons people take up trapping have changed.
Historically, trapping was closely tied to the fur trade, with trappers competing for territory and harvesting animals for their pelts.

That remained the dominant purpose into the early 20th century.
During the Great Depression, trapping took on renewed economic importance as fur prices surged.

Abercrombie said some trappers were able to earn more from their traplines than they could working as farmers or labourers.
While the economic component remains, Abercrombie said many modern trappers are drawn to the independence and connection to the land that trapping provides.

“It’s the last stronghold of bush culture,” he said.

That culture, he said, is built around sustainability, respect for the land and habitat, and a responsibility toward other people who depend on the same environment.

Interest in that lifestyle has also been boosted by television and social media, where content focused on living off the land has introduced a new audience to trapping, hunting and other aspects of bush life.

The COVID-19 pandemic provided another push.

“During COVID our phones were ringing off the hook,” Abercrombie said.

The pandemic caused some people to reconsider how dependent they were on modern supply chains and whether they could provide more for themselves.

“What if you went to the store one day and there was no food on the shelves?” he said.

The Alberta Trappers Association has responded by putting more emphasis on public education and outreach, including work with schools and young people.

“We don’t pressure people, we just create opportunities,” Abercrombie said.

One of those opportunities is provided through the Alberta Centre for Trapping and Bushcraft, which is intended to give people a practical introduction to trapping and traditional bush skills.

“We create a path for people based on reality,” Abercrombie said.

Wildlife management

Trapping is also an important part of how Alberta manages its wildlife populations, according to Abercrombie.
The province has a highly regulated trapping system, and trappers require permits even when operating on private land.

In return, trappers contribute information to provincial wildlife management and help regulate populations of fur-bearing animals and predators.

Abercrombie said trappers often have an intimate knowledge of the land and the animals living on it, providing information that government agencies and municipalities would have difficulty gathering on their own.

That role is becoming increasingly important as people and wildlife come into closer contact.
Trapping can also help manage animals that damage roads, drainage systems, utilities, agricultural land and other infrastructure.

Beavers, for example, can block culverts and create dams that flood roads and industrial sites. Other animals can damage buildings, utilities, agricultural operations and other infrastructure through burrowing, chewing or digging.

Abercrombie said trappers’ ability to manage these populations is therefore about more than harvesting fur.

“It’s a conservation tool,” he said.

For Abercrombie, responsible trapping and conservation are closely connected. Trappers, he said, have a vested interest in maintaining healthy animal populations and functioning ecosystems because their livelihoods depend on the land continuing to support wildlife.

That also puts trappers in a position to advocate for the ecosystems they work in.

A changing relationship with the land

Abercrombie said public attitudes toward trapping remain one of the challenges facing the industry, which is one reason the association has invested heavily in education and public engagement.

He also identified irresponsible resource development as a threat to trappers and the ecosystems on which they depend.

“You can’t plant an ecosystem,” he said.

The comment reflects one of the central arguments behind the association’s approach: an ecosystem is more than a collection of individual animals or trees that can simply be replaced after development.

Trappers, Abercrombie said, spend much of their time observing those ecosystems firsthand.
That experience gives them a perspective on changes in animal populations, habitat and the broader landscape that can be difficult to obtain from an office.

As Alberta grows and development brings people into increasing contact with wildlife, Abercrombie believes that knowledge will become more valuable.

For a practice once primarily associated with the fur trade, trapping has consequently evolved into something broader — a livelihood, a source of traditional knowledge, a method of wildlife management and, for some, a way of maintaining a direct connection with the land.

And as a new generation becomes interested in self-sufficiency and life in the bush, Abercrombie believes there is still a future for the practice.

The association’s approach is simple, he said: introduce people to the possibilities and let them decide for themselves.
“We don’t pressure people,” Abercrombie said, about the association’s public engagement work. “We just create opportunities.”

William Hetherington
Lakeside Leader