South Dakota instates new regulations for beaver trapping

Published: Jul. 22, 2021 at 10:53 AM MDT
Email This Link
Share on Pinterest
Share on LinkedIn

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KOTA) - Last week South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks Department have instituted a change to beaver hunting and trapping regulations.

The move expands the hunting season, which is historically held between November 1, and April 30, to all year round.

Officials say that beavers have no recreational value and are not worth anything so the only time people really go after them is when the animal is causing damage to property.

Regional Terrestrial Resources Supervisor, Trenton Haffley, said the off-season, people would have to go through a permitting process to remove a beaver from their land. Opening the hunting season will streamline the process. ”I mean ecologically, beavers are really important. The things that they can do in a watershed are pretty beneficial, so we try to work with landowners and with county highway departments so that beavers are able to stay on the landscape so that we can keep them there.”

Haffley says that opening up the hunting season will not affect the species population.

Copyright 2021 KOTA. All rights reserved.