Madison County Commissioners consider fox hunting and trapping rules

Efforts led by a nonprofit dedicated to preserving and promoting wildlife trapping could change local and state rules protecting foxes. The Madison County Board of Commissioners plan to decide at their August 13 meeting whether to support the North Carolina Trappers Association’s aim to standardize state rules around fox hunting and trapping.

Currently, hunting red foxes is prohibited in Madison County at any time. In addition, there are no fox trapping or fox hunting with a weapon seasons inside the county’s borders. Across the state, 88 counties have fox hunting seasons and 51 have fox trapping seasons.

Three members of the North Carolina Trappers Association (NCTA) discussed the issue with commissioners during their July 9 meeting inside A-B Tech Madison. They argued that the state rules around fox trapping, which date back to the 70s, are overly complicated.

“The one thing we have about fox law in this county, you can’t even hunt foxes with a gun,” said John Caldwell, who serves as the NCTA’s district director in the region that includes Madison County. “If you’re using a dog to chase them, the dog is not supposed to chase a red fox, it’s only supposed to chase a gray fox.”

The group’s appeal to commissioners – which did not include any formal request to support a specific resolution - is part of their campaign to change state law around fox hunting and trapping. State rules currently classify foxes differently from fur bearing animals like the bobcat or raccoon. This leaves the General Assembly with control over rules governing fox hunting and trapping, not the Wildlife Resources Commission. The trappers believe that by securing the support of commissioners, the legislators representing Madison County in Raleigh will vote to change state fox trapping and hunting rules.

The board delayed making a decision on the issue until next month. Commissioner Craig Goforth said he’d like to speak with a Wildlife Resource Commission biologist before voting on any fox-related measure.

Public comment policy

The fox hunting and trapping issue brought the commissioners’ policy on public comment back into the spotlight. Back in March, commissioners changed the standard monthly meeting agenda to move the public comment period from the start to the end of meetings. The change was a direct response to citizen engagement on a potential asphalt plant.

In her three minutes addressing commissioners, Elaine Robbins expressed concern that had commissioners voted on the fox issue, it would have come before the public had any opportunity to review material or directly address the commissioners in public comment on the topic.

“If I did have something to say next time, I would sure like to say something before you vote,” Robbins said.

She suggested that commissioners “split the difference” and allow public comment at the start of meetings on any issue appearing on the agenda while keeping a second public comment period at the end of meetings for other matters.

News and notes

Jamie Stokes, who serves as town attorney in Marshall and Mars Hill, will add the Madison County Department of Social Services to her list of clients after commissioners voted unanimously to approve a contract with the attorney... Online applications for building permits are now available that allow applicants to send material directly to inspectors, according to County Manager Forrest Gilliam.