Fur trapping is an 18th century craft trying to survive in a space-age world, and dedicated practitioners like Lebanon’s Clarence Dies are doing their best to preserve the heritage.

“It gets tougher every year,” says Dies, one of an estimated 2,500 semi-professional fur trappers in Tennessee, in addition to countless more who trap on a more limited basis.

“Trapping involves a lot of hard, cold work,” Dies says, “and as the price of fur keeps falling, more and more trappers are deciding it’s not worth it.”

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