Minnesota Trappers Association
Scholarship Program
Information & Application
Minnesota Trappers Association Scholarship Program
The Minnesota Trappers Association (MTA) was organized in 1959 for the primary purpose of “helping to perpetuate the nation’s oldest industry- the fur trade” as the Association approaches its sixtieth anniversary we proudly reflect on our long history. Consequently, our ongoing obligation is to practically educate the public on the rich heritage of our sport as well as the importance of continuing to practice the trade for the health of both human and animal populations across our great State. To that end, the Association continues to promote a strong conservation ethic in all we do and to work closely with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources in order to accomplish shared wildlife management goals in addition to maximizing opportunity for those interested in participating in fur harvesting activities here in Minnesota.
- The MTA stands head-and-shoulders above other State trapping organizations in its total commitment to public education in all facets particularly regarding the development and guidance of first time trappers.
- The Minnesota Trapper Education Program was developed with the cooperation of the MN DNR Wildlife Division with the initial funding provided by MTA in the early 1980’s.
We, as an organization understood that such an investment in the future would help ensure that first time trappers had a working understanding of state game laws regarding trapping, practical trapping techniques that treat furbearers respectfully as well as understanding the importance of ethical conduct in the field when interacting with other citizens and fellow sportsmen.
Beginning in early 2000’s MTA advocated legislation requiring trappers seeking to be licensed for the first time in Minnesota to complete what was previously a strictly voluntary program in order to legally purchase a Minnesota trapping license. While elected officials applauded our commitment to such a goal, we were not surprised to learn that sufficient funding necessary for the State to administer and staff such a worthwhile program was simply not available in the State budget.
Undeterred, the MTA agreed to shoulder sole responsibility for the funding and administration of the Program and in 2007 entered into an agreement with the Commissioner of Natural Resources which became state law fully implemented in 2008. Since that time MTA has certified (free-of-charge) nearly five thousand first time trappers for licensure here in Minnesota without a dime of taxpayer money spent This milestone was accomplished exclusively by volunteer trapping instructors certified through the Association in cooperation with MN DNR.
Our primary source of revenue for administering this Program is through our annual MTA Gun Raffle in which the Association gives away more than a dozen firearms, an ATV, wild fur clothing and other useful prizes all for the benefit of our statewide Education efforts. In accordance with our MN Charitable Gaming License (which governs raffle activities) all profits must be spent on Education. For the past twenty plus years, MTA has annually offered college scholarships to individuals who understand the importance of the role modern fur trapping plays in attaining wildlife management goals, the depth of the outdoor experience and keeping alive the proud traditions of our ancestors that explored and settled what would one day become the Great State of Minnesota that we know and love.
In keeping with our long-standing commitment to education, we are proud to offer college scholarships to deserving students. If you are an individual that understands the importance of what we do, you are strongly encouraged to apply as a candidate for scholarship consideration.
We wish you the best in your higher education goals.
Application and instructions below:
MTA Scholarship Application/Narrative Instructions
Greetings Students,
The MTA Scholarship Committee is looking forward to reviewing your application and personal narrative for scholarship grant consideration. By following the guidelines provided below, you will greatly increase the odds receiving one of our scholarship awards.
NOTE: Applications and accompanying narratives must be received/postmarked between June 20 and July 1st annually.
You may choose to submit these by regular mail or electronically, but handwritten narratives will not be accepted. However, the application itself may be filled out legibly by hand and reproductions of application are completely acceptable. Be certain to identify your scholarship application as such by including “MTA Scholarship Application” on the subject line if submitting electronically or writing “MTA Scholarship Application” or similar wording on envelope if submitting application to MTA Secretary by traditional mail service:
Shawn Johnson
6122 McQuade Road
Duluth, MN 55804
(218) 525-4970
mcquaderoadfur@msn.com
Please take this opportunity seriously! Regard the scholarship application and the narrative as a two part job application. Be mindful that this is a competitive process. Consequently, detail and content are extremely important. Follow directions provided and make every effort to present yourself as someone who desires to be seriously considered.
Share yourself with the Committee and give us a brief glimpse into your life as this will be the only means we have to get to know you at some personal level since there is no follow-up person to person interview in our review process.
Although identifying an MTA member by name on the application itself is required to verify membership status, resist the urge to “name drop” in the narrative portion and diligently guard against doing so unintentionally. We don’t solicit references or recommendations from MTA members on behalf of candidates so substitute member names for neighbor, teacher, wife/husband etc. Your narrative should be an autobiographical short story and not simply a list of personal accomplishments and awards received. Although some of these items may be part of your narrative, it shouldn’t read like a formal resume or an informal open letter to an individual or organization. Either extreme defeats the intention of the narrative portion.
In contrast to most organization’s scholarship programs, awards are not based on previous academic performance but rather on the presentation of the individual. Your narrative should give the Committee a sense of who you are as an individual, where your interests lie and what you view as important in life. Feel free to tell us a story about an experience your life, the outdoors, trapping etc. What did this experience mean to you? Any life lessons? Personal stories give the Committee a better sense of you as an individual and what kind of impact life experiences have had on your formation as an adult.
Last of all, have others read/review your application/narrative for accuracy, clarity and overall content before submitting. Misspellings, typos, missing words, wrong words etc. can negatively add up in the final evaluation between you and other candidates also under consideration.
If you’re serious about landing the job you’re applying for, take the time to do it to the best of your ability.
Note to previous applicants/award recipients: If reapplying for award consideration, be certain not to simply submit a narrative from a previous year. Take time to reflect and write an original narrative for consideration this cycle. You may obviously include some of the same information but the narrative needs to be fresh and original in overall content.
Those that simply forward previous submissions will be evaluated accordingly.
Hunter Kasprowicz
Shaelyn Predmore
Abigail Blazevic
Jeremiah Johnson
Hunter Kasprowicz
Hunter Kasprowicz- Warren MN – $2000
The first experience that pushed me to pursue into the Natural Resource field was with my father when I was ten years old. He took me out on my first deer hunt where after waiting two days and only seeing a single doe, out walks a spike buck. Taking what I have learned while shooting my .243 cal at the rifle range, I laid a perfect heart shot on him. I was hooked after this! I started with fishing earlier in my childhood then deer hunting and I tried goose hunting with my grandfather, which I found to be super exciting, and unpredictable. The fact that wildlife is unpredictable and living their lives the best they can really set in for me at a young age. I was not always into the outdoors. I was sucked into the video gaming age where that is what was new and cool. Spending hours in front of a TV made me realize that this is not the way to spend my free time.
My grandfather always talked about how he wanted to get back into trapping as this is something he did quite often when he was younger. Therefore, I decided I would like to try it and see how I would enjoy it. I started with the pocket gopher as these critters were always along our country roads. I had to teach myself how to do this because I did not know of anyone else that could teach me the ways. After a lot of misses and sprung traps, I thought it was terrible and pointless. I told my grandfather about how I failed to trap any gophers. When he heard this he set out to learn himself and a couple of weeks later, he came to me, took me out on his short trap line, and showed me what he has learned to work and what does not. He contributed to my learning experience with fox and coyote trapping too by getting his friend to take me out on his trap line and show me a few different foothold sets he uses and how to properly set a snare to target your target animal. This experience helped me turn my whole life to focus on the outdoors and all the different wildlife out there.
When I turned sixteen and bought my first truck, I was super excited to expand my trap line farther than one square mile around my father’s house. Every day I was learning more and more about how the coyotes move and how the fox shares the area with these more dominant critters. Doing this helped me become more successful but also appreciate how the wildlife can live in the crazy Northern Minnesota weather. Trying new things as they came was my favorite thing to do. Now that I am through my first year of college and working for the USDA Forest Service, I know this is the field I want to spend the rest of my life. Working with my professors and peers helped me realize these are my kind of people and being able to talk about wildlife all day is just amazing to me. Always being sucked into my Natural Resource classes and not as interested in my general courses made me realize this is what I want to do with my life. Now working for the Forest Service and being outside all day every day, identifying trees I learned in class and birds I learned from my friend, the outdoors is the place for me. With all my early outdoor experiences, I have had and with my Natural Resources club, The Student Chapter of the Wildlife Society, and the Conservation Federation, I found wildlife to be my passion. One of my long-term goals is to get a summer internship every summer through college with a natural resources agency. Federal would be best like I am now, but the state would also be a great opportunity. Another long-term goal of mine is to be financially stable through college. So far, I have been doing a decent job but need to keep working on it. My third long-term goal is to keep a 4.0 GPA through college. This I know will take a lot of work and that is why I want to do it. Pushing myself to do the best is what makes me happy and become successful in my career. Some short-term goals I have are to be more active in clubs on campus this fall. Getting more leadership opportunities would help me put my name out there. Another short-term goal is to stay in better contact with my family while I am away. I live in Blackduck at the Forest Service Ranger Station, which is about three hours from both my parents’ houses. Doing this helps me feel less lonely and keeps my family close to me, which is important to me. My third short-term goal is to learn everything I can about the Chippewa National Forest to come back to school and teach my peers about it and hopefully impress my professors with what I have learned. I see myself in five years at a job in the middle of nowhere where I am studying a big game species and probably soaking wet from the rain or snow. That is what I find so great about this career is that it can take me anywhere.
My definition of conservation is to make use of the natural world not for ourselves but the future. This means that what we do now with our natural resources should not be for us in one year but for our grandchildren and their children to enjoy. Conservation is our way of taking what we have now and finding ways to make it last as long as possible. Being smart about our decisions is important to conserve our natural resources to work with the growing populations of humans as well as the fluctuating populations of wildlife. Managing the environment is one thing I have found to be the most difficult because of people that do not appreciate the wildlife, vegetation, and what they all do for us that most of the public does not know. However, by working together with different groups and agencies and by researching and studying the impacts of human environment co-existence this world of conservation will be what saves us all from early death and overpopulation. I find that the consumptive wildlife activities we do help our society in more than one way. First, it regulates the population, which helps lessen the amount of disease that can be carried from a wild animal to a human or other wild animal. It also keeps the native wildlife in their habitats and keeps out the non-native species that could wipe out a native species very quickly. Another reason for a consumptive wildlife activity like trapping is to make a living. Not so much anymore but there are still people out there that the fur market is all they have for an income and whatever garments or art they can make with the wildlife to up the value to get the most out of the animal. Trapping in urban areas has been the most successful way of removing the wildlife that does not belong in that area and moving them to another area that is better suited for their natural needs. Hunting and fishing are other consumptive wildlife activities that most of the world uses to have meat in the freezer and as a way to get the family together for a fun time in the great outdoors. I hope this letter finds its way to your heart about my passion for the natural resources field and my love for wildlife and the environment that surrounds us all.Sincerely,
Hunter Kasprowicz
Shaelyn Predmore
Shaelyn Predmore- Pine Island MN – $1000
I chose the biology field because I have always had an interest in the way the human body works. Since I was three years old, I knew that I wanted to be a doctor. I have always loved helping others as it brings me an abundance of joy. Through school, I have gained a deeper interest in the human brain and how all the systems work together to keep us functioning. From my freshman year of high school and having the opportunity to take Biomedical Science class which opened the doors to the medical field, to my recent college Biology classes, I have been able to dissect a sheep brain, pig heart and fetal pig. I found it very fascinating how similar they were to those of a human. I remember being amazed by the fact that the different parts of the organs that we learned about in class were right there in front of me physically. I knew from the first moment that I needed to be in the medical field in some way. I continue my exposure to the world of biology through the two biology courses I took in college this year, specifically getting done first and being asked by my professor to show others my way of how it worked. Due to my experience in trapping and hunting and learning the life cycle of animals, I naturally did not have the distaste that others were showing during this, often a barrier to being successful in a biology lab environment. These classes have broadened my perspective on the natural and physical world, and next year will advance that even further once I take a course on genetics. Another aspect of my life that influenced my career choice was my father and grandpas. Ever since I was a young girl, my father and grandpa took me out hunting, fishing, and trapping. Through these experiences, I was able to learn so much about the natural world around me.
No matter what kind of action we had, my father would always make a point to teach me something while we were out there. Many times, we would stop on the way to our tree stand so he could show me an animal track and teach me about that animal. Now, as a young adult, I find myself doing the same thing, as when I am out hiking, I often find scat and tracks from animals. Thanks to my father, I can identify them and be curious about the world around me. I am very thankful that my father taught me how to trap. He took me out every year and taught me how to trap. My grandpa also made an impact on me. Before he passed, he was a medic in the war. I can recall my father telling me stories about how my grandpa had a dream of becoming a doctor. Unfortunately, he was never able to. From hearing these stories, I was inspired to live out my grandpa’s dreams. When I was a young teen, my grandpa had a kidney transplant. Miraculously, he was able to receive his kidney from my father. Following them through their journey of the transplant, doctor appointments, and surgery, I saw first-hand how amazing the human body and medical field is. These components influenced my choice in biology because of both the human and natural world elements that it has to offer. I am extremely fascinated by how nature works and how the human
body works. By studying biology, I will be able to learn a little bit about both and am intrigued by how parallel human and animal behavior can be. I also feel these men were and are leaders in this world, which I strive to be through being a leader in my classes, joining the Biology Club at the University of MN Duluth where I can volunteer at the local hospital, making blankets for the children in the hospital and approaching a professor to start some research projects.
My first long term goal is to graduate from college with my Bachelor of Science degree in Biology, with a minor in Psychology. I am already halfway through this journey. I came into college with many credits from post-secondary during high school, and I now have my first full year of college under my belt. I am currently taking three summer courses and will be able to graduate a year early. I have been selected to take a master’s level Psychology class this Fall, called Cognition and Emotion, which I am elated for this experience and challenge. My second long term goal is to graduate from medical school. I have had this vision since I started as it entails not only knowledge, but experience. This summer, I have been working at Cottagewood Senior Community and have completed the training to become a Resident Assistant, working in cottages with those that have Alzheimer’s and Dementia. My third long term goal is to become a neurologist. After taking psychology courses in high school and several this past year, I have grown fascinated with the brain and how it works. Given my interest in neurology, my employment at Cottagewood has been a very comfortable transition for me and I continue reading about the brain and dementia as well as hands on learning with residents at this wonderful facility. My first short term goal is to lose fifteen pounds. Through hiking, working out and yoga, I will become healthier and begin to see improvements. My second short term goal is to raise my GPA by getting an A in Genetics. Although I had good grades in high school and school always came easy to me, college proved to be more challenging than I expected. My first semester threw obstacles at me that were hard to overcome. I worked harder in the second semester and saw improvements. With continued determination and hard work, I believe that I can get an A in Genetics in the fall and boost my GPA. My third short term goal is to become more confident with myself. Through continued college presentations, group work and volunteering, I will continue growth in my confidence, as I did during my first year already. I am a leader in many things and so proud of it. In five years, I ideally see myself healthy and deep in my journey in medical school. I hope to attend medical school in Florida, or somewhere down south, which will give me diversity, variety of knowledge and fulfill my love of traveling.
My definition of conservation is protecting the world around us. It is important to conserve and manage the environment because it is the only home we have. If we do not protect our world, we ultimately will not survive. Eventually, our environment will be ruined, and this will in turn kill off our wildlife. Without wildlife, we may not have any food or water. Our ecosystem will be ruined. If we do not protect our environment, then we cannot protect ourselves. I feel that part of protecting our environment is also educating others, modeling, and showing others how we can take care of the environment. For example, when I go shopping, I bring my own reusable bag instead of using the provided plastic ones. This helps the environment by limiting the amount of plastic and waste in our landfills and waters. I have also grown a deeper love for plants and nature through the biology courses I have taken this year and visiting the greenhouse on campus to learn more. We learned so much about plants, their life cycles, and how they impact and contribute to our ecosystem. We also learned how to reduce our carbon footprint and contribute to a healthy impact on our world. I now have many plants and have introduced my roommates to the fun of caring for plants as well! This is another example of how nature lives in my everyday life, no matter what the season may be. In a spring psychology class, I studied how the earth grounds you, and how animals in the wild have a sense of belonging and soundness, unlike many humans who are under stress and rigorous timelines. I learned that on a stressful day, I walk barefoot through the grass, on the earth, gaining my connection to nature, and feeling my purpose.
I have attended the MN Trappers Association Convention every year with my family since I was a baby. I took for granted what was instilled in me as a trapping family, until I realized that others did not know or fully understand. As I think about it and teach others about trapping, I know that trapping contributes to our society by keeping the ecosystem healthy. The past few years at the MTA Convention, I have helped with demos and kids’ activities, and these experiences have raised my awareness that these kids are our future, are eager to learn and it has given me gratification in being a part of that. By managing the population of animals, it keeps their worlds healthy and thriving. If we did not maintain the animal population, they would be killed off by lack of food or the human world. For example, trapping coyotes helps the farmers produce more milk by limiting the number of cows killed, or of chickens killed who were laying eggs. This helps the economy by increasing the number of dairy products used by the whole world. By buying and selling furs, this helps the economy. It also helps those who own trapping businesses. By having this knowledge, I educate others about the positive aspect of trapping. This will help me to advocate for the trapping community and aim for it to stay strong and alive. Another example of wildlife activity in modern society is managing the deer population, with the DNR making available additional deer tags and seasons, adding in-city bow hunts, and youth hunts, which is effective in avoiding deer getting hit on the road by cars.
Coming from a trapping family has shown me hard work, dedication, and positivity. I have learned that a trapline may not always produce, and may not always be easy due to weather, terrain or environment, but that then I need to try harder and never give up. This is much like life each day, taking classes, finding a job, having relationships, and learning and growing. I feel I will always have trapping and hunting in my life as a root, not only to do throughout each year, but to talk about memories, be with family, ask questions and share stories. As I have a family of my own someday, I will carry on this tradition of trapping and hunting animals.
This past year has brought many changes and growth. I have finished my first year of college, lived on my own for the first time, and met many new life-long friends. I sensed right away when I moved into my apartment with a tree-lined view, that I would be right at home. I saw deer daily and was able to spend time walking the nearby woods and trails, showing others the signs and sounds of wildlife. I learned maturity, accountability, and responsibility. I now feel more confident in myself. I have grown to look at Duluth as my home, and I feel so comfortable and happy here! I look forward to continuing my education in the biology and psychology fields. I also look forward to learning more about Lake Superior and its surrounding area along with all the hunting, fishing, and trapping that is alive in this area. I will forever take my passion for the outdoors wherever I go in life and for this I am thankful.
Shae
Abigail Blazevic
Abigail Blazevic- Esko MN – $1000
My past consisted of my dad always telling me “you get what you give.” and it took me up until halfway through high school to realize what that meant. Growing up going to private schools and public schools, with all the dumb cliques was definitely a struggle for me. I never felt like I was really associated with a specific group. You had to be super athletic, wear the most expensive clothes, be super smart, have the most perfect body, or even the most money to even come close to “fitting in”. I never really knew who I was until maybe 11th grade when I realized there was no point in fighting the teenage lifestyle anymore. Just to be seen by society and be popular. As I kept to myself not only did my grades begin to excel but my mentality and reputation grew with it. I was named the so-called mom in high school. Everyone would look up to me and come to me with questions and concerns they had about their personal lives. I poured my heart into helping others and being kind, which made me realize that my love for caring could turn into a lifelong career. Life was going great for me at the end of junior year I joined the volunteer fire department in Esko and started working as a CNA on the medical surgery floor at Community Memorial Hospital in Cloquet. Responding to calls and helping out people on their worst days made me feel invincible and I became better for it. Although with time a lot of bad came from it too. I earned the title of a “people pleaser” and nearly forgot what was in my own better interest. I never had time to stop and think about what I wanted. But I knew that as long as everyone else was happy, everything would be okay. March of 2021 rolled around and that’s when I hit my lowest point. I worked all summer long and bought a super clean 1997 cherry red GMC Sierra 1500 which I ended up wrapping myself around a tree in driving home one night and woke up in the hospital hours later barely being able to spell my own name or remember anything that had happened. The school became a struggle with my memory loss. I had tried going to four different kinds of therapy for it and it all became too overwhelming for me. For a while, I gave up on everything. It felt like everything I had ever worked hard towards was all ripped away from me in just a few hours. My parents and teachers had to hold my hand and help me finish out my senior year. I was enrolled in PSEO classes at the time and my college professors were very understanding and did their best to help me finish as well. I have never been the type to ask for help so this just made it feel worse on me.After graduation, I spent my summer working and trying to find myself again. I
loved the idea of making my own money and having freedom. I got accepted into college at Fond du Lac in Cloquet and started working on my undergraduate classes for my RN degree. I soon realized I had pushed myself too far with my brain injury and ended up flunking out that semester. So, I quit school. My family pushed me and constantly reminded me of all the good that could come out of going back to school, so I registered for fall classes starting August 22nd and am beyond excited to finally finish what I had started before. As I stated a while back “you get what you give.” I am prepared to give my heart out to the world and heal as many people as I can. During these times we need more positivity than anything. Covid hit everyone hard not only health-wise, but our economy affected a lot financially. Leaving many people stranded, unable to pay bills and make ends meet. I find it easier to fall asleep at night knowing I made a difference in someone’s life today. I chose nursing because of my love for people. Starting as a CNA I just knew I was in it for life when I would wake my residents up smiling every single morning. Regardless of how bad my day was going. Being a first responder gave me a love for adrenaline and working in the unknown. That’s my favorite part about working in the medical field. You see different things every single day. New patients, different illnesses, and injuries. I love the way I feel knowing I put all my effort in and made someone feel better. Truly that is my purpose in life, and if it wasn’t… I would not have walked away from the accident the way I did the night of March 2nd. I used that pain to make me stronger. And because of that pain, my patients get better care, and I have become a better person. Ideally three long term goals I have would first be to finish out nursing school, secondly buy my own house, and thirdly work as a flight nurse based out of Minneapolis.
loved the idea of making my own money and having freedom. I got accepted into college at Fond du Lac in Cloquet and started working on my undergraduate classes for my RN degree. I soon realized I had pushed myself too far with my brain injury and ended up flunking out that semester. So, I quit school. My family pushed me and constantly reminded me of all the good that could come out of going back to school, so I registered for fall classes starting August 22nd and am beyond excited to finally finish what I had started before. As I stated a while back “you get what you give.” I am prepared to give my heart out to the world and heal as many people as I can. During these times we need more positivity than anything. Covid hit everyone hard not only health-wise, but our economy affected a lot financially. Leaving many people stranded, unable to pay bills and make ends meet. I find it easier to fall asleep at night knowing I made a difference in someone’s life today. I chose nursing because of my love for people. Starting as a CNA I just knew I was in it for life when I would wake my residents up smiling every single morning. Regardless of how bad my day was going. Being a first responder gave me a love for adrenaline and working in the unknown. That’s my favorite part about working in the medical field. You see different things every single day. New patients, different illnesses, and injuries. I love the way I feel knowing I put all my effort in and made someone feel better. Truly that is my purpose in life, and if it wasn’t… I would not have walked away from the accident the way I did the night of March 2nd. I used that pain to make me stronger. And because of that pain, my patients get better care, and I have become a better person. Ideally three long term goals I have would first be to finish out nursing school, secondly buy my own house, and thirdly work as a flight nurse based out of Minneapolis.
Three short term goals for me are first to save money for tuition, keep working my way up at my current job no matter how hard it gets, and keep my family close because I know they are my biggest supporters. But I have also learned that life doesn’t always go how you planned so I am learning to be more flexible as I go along. My definition of conservation is maintaining balance throughout different ecosystems. For example, in previous summers we have had a family of muskrats living in our pond in our yard and they dig tunnel systems so when my mom goes to mow the lawn, the ground collapses, and the lawn mower gets stuck, and it damages the grass. To alleviate the problem, we got rid of the muskrats (at least we thought we did because they seem to come back every year.) Being raised in a family that traps, I see lots of benefits from it. Not only does it help keep the predator and prey affect balanced, but it also decreases damage to property and wild ecosystems, allows plant and animal species to flourish, provides food for our family, and provides an income with the value of all the fur we harvest in a season.Abby Blazevic
Jeremiah Johnson
Jeremiah Johnson- Duluth MN – $1000
Trapping was a prevalent topic throughout my youth, coming from a line of trappers that face the wild head-on. Some of the best memories from that childhood involve the aspects of trapping, from the preparation of setting up the traps, with the help of my father of course, to the joy of catching the elusive critter and being dubbed the family supreme squirrel trapper. As a child the outdoors was my primary place of play, from running around in our yard to exploring the woods behind our house. Until I began preschool, I can guarantee that I was outside far more than inside, and despite the constant scratches and scrapped knees that I worried my mother with, I absolutely loved it out there. For trapping, I was never as invested in it as my siblings or parents were, but it still influenced me greatly. One of the best lessons that I learned from my experience and observation of trapping was the importance of patience and diligence, though I didn’t learn the patience portion until I had grown a bit older. My father was out just about every day, constantly checking both the set traps and the baits he had put out. As a child, it had astounded me how this man was always able to go out and check what fruits his labor had borne, even if he had slaved away at his job for the whole day. Eventually, I came to realize that there was one main reason why he did it: he loved it. He loved being out in the wilderness and being at one with nature when he was out there. That implanted one idea in my young mind. It’s not work if you love it, and that’s the attitude I have kept with me since. It’s the reason I have chosen to go into the computer science. I haven’t chosen it because of the pay, my father is paid well, but it breaks his body and he doesn’t want that for his children. I didn’t choose it because it’s easy, as there are a multitude of stories of people spending hours upon hours struggling with their coding projects. I choose it because I truly like it. I like the way it can be a struggle to create a relatively simple program, like entering a recipe and getting out the ingredients you need. The sense of achievement from fixing a minor error that had been screwing up your whole project is immense. One of the first experiences I had with this was in my senior year of high school, in a coding class that had us develop some simple programs, like a quadratic equation solver. I spent hours upon hours trying method after method to get it to work and growing more and more frustrated. Persevering throughout projects like that made the completed project worth it even more. Additionally, the wide application of the field makes it even more appealing. You can apply it from small things, like data entry for a small general store, to expanding and improving a vast streaming network like YouTube and Netflix.For myself, I want to help create a full sensory immersion technology. Such
technology would allow to fully experience someplace they are not normally able to go. A person in the urban Midwest could simply put on some sort of headgear and be allowed to experience the beauty of Alaska without the expenses of travel and accommodation. This type of technology cannot replace the real experience of being in those places, but it can offer a substitute for those cannot experience the reality for whatever reason, be it monetary reasons, physical disabilities, or obligations. It is with this hope that I am going for a Computer Science degree, to further develop this tech. These experiences helped reveal what I wanted in my future. The ability to make improvements to a multitude of programs and problems is a dream to me, and something that I will be striving for now. It’s what has led me to choose the University of Minnesota–Twin Cities for the College of Science and Engineering, and switch from Engineering, my previous declared major, to Computer Science. I am a person that tends to focus on the present rather than the future, which sometimes has some problems, namely procrastination in the form of assignments that always end up being pushed until later, but there are some goals that I want to achieve.
technology would allow to fully experience someplace they are not normally able to go. A person in the urban Midwest could simply put on some sort of headgear and be allowed to experience the beauty of Alaska without the expenses of travel and accommodation. This type of technology cannot replace the real experience of being in those places, but it can offer a substitute for those cannot experience the reality for whatever reason, be it monetary reasons, physical disabilities, or obligations. It is with this hope that I am going for a Computer Science degree, to further develop this tech. These experiences helped reveal what I wanted in my future. The ability to make improvements to a multitude of programs and problems is a dream to me, and something that I will be striving for now. It’s what has led me to choose the University of Minnesota–Twin Cities for the College of Science and Engineering, and switch from Engineering, my previous declared major, to Computer Science. I am a person that tends to focus on the present rather than the future, which sometimes has some problems, namely procrastination in the form of assignments that always end up being pushed until later, but there are some goals that I want to achieve.Firstly, for the short-term, I want to build a strengthen the connections I have built through my freshman year here. Additionally, I also want to continue to be a pillar of support for those around me, to be someone that they can place their trust in and someone they can have in their corner no matter what. I also want to make sure that I can take the experience of living in the city and use that to treasure the countryside that I grew up in even more whenever I return. In the long-term I want the focus of my future career to be on developing full sensory immersion technology. This type of technology can have a massive effect in a multitude of fields, both professional and recreational. If there was a way for a person to essentially enter a virtual world that feels just like the normal world, the possibilities are literally only limited by our imagination. We can have medical students performing complex surgeries with no one at risk. Paraplegics could leave their limitations behind and experience freedom of movement once again, or in some cases for the first time. Recreationally, we could have people explore underneath the ocean without the need of complex gear, or have hikers climb mountains for sights they might never see. We could even be able to bring back things that would no longer be around, such as extinct species that no longer roam around in the wild or captivity. For me, this could be a paradise.
To do that, I need to graduate in good standing, and lastly continue to let my curiosity drive my passion That dream is still far off though, and in the meantime, we must stay within the limits of reality. That includes the limited resources we have on the planet, such as wilderness and wildlife, which need to be managed so we can enjoy them for far more generations. That is my idea of conservation, using our resources without exhausting or eliminating nature’s bounty. In the past decade, over 450 species have been declared extinct. This rate of extinction is not sustainable, and without careful management of our natural resources, we may see many more in the coming decades. That doesn’t mean we should not touch the resources at all. After all, this country was built by our predecessors using the resources of the land. I believe we should follow their example and be a steward over the natural resources in a sustainable way that is more interactive than simply leaving the land alone. Some of the first people that explored North America were trappers, seeking the rich furs that came from here. They were able to go head-to-head with the wilderness and come out on top, taking the resources that were here and applying them to further the economy. Their efforts led to more and more people coming to North America and provided a connection between these sportsmen who harvested the furs and the worldwide demand for them. Being an owner of furs was a great symbol of wealth back in the day, and the profits from these trades helped advance our culture. Nowadays, it’s different, as a consumptive wildlife activity like trapping isn’t a staple of profit to most people, but it holds a different meaning. Now, it can teach others about their history, what their ancestors went through, as well as showing the grace and beauty of the wild. As current trappers, we have a responsibility to educate those who will implement the legislation, who often don’t have the same hands-on experience as current sportsman. Even though the lessons these wildlife activities teach have changed, they are no less important than they were before.Jeremiah
2021 MTA Scholarship Awards Committee Comments
Sadly, although I spoke to several people over the course of the year regarding scholarships only seven individuals ultimately applied to be considered for grants. One applicant has won MTA scholarships previously as well. Please encourage anyone attending or planning on attending college/university or trade school to apply for MTA scholarship consideration. Applications and directions for completing them are always available on the website www.mntrappers.org under the Education tab. However, applications are only accepted between June 20 and July 1st annually and I anticipate the BOD will approve a similar award structure as in recent years. Please encourage all interested individuals to apply. In spite of the turmoil experienced last year MTA awarded four scholarships to applicants. The top four scoring individuals were: $2000. Samuel Juidici- Hibbing MN, $1000. Shaelyn Predmore- Pine Island MN, $1000. Cade Predmore- Pine Island MN $1000. Bridget Bazile- Tigerton Wisconsin
Committee Members Brian Fischer, Andy Shoemaker, Brad Wobbrock, Gary Nelson, Steve Phalen and Wayne Thompson. However, Steve and Wayne did not participate in this year’s selections/scoring.
Our 2022 MTA Scholarship Award Recipients
MTA Scholarship Award Bios and Letters
2022
2021
2020
2022
Hunter Kasprowicz
Hunter Kasprowicz- Warren MN – $2000
The first experience that pushed me to pursue into the Natural Resource field was with my father when I was ten years old. He took me out on my first deer hunt where after waiting two days and only seeing a single doe, out walks a spike buck. Taking what I have learned while shooting my .243 cal at the rifle range, I laid a perfect heart shot on him. I was hooked after this! I started with fishing earlier in my childhood then deer hunting and I tried goose hunting with my grandfather, which I found to be super exciting, and unpredictable. The fact that wildlife is unpredictable and living their lives the best they can really set in for me at a young age. I was not always into the outdoors. I was sucked into the video gaming age where that is what was new and cool. Spending hours in front of a TV made me realize that this is not the way to spend my free time.
My grandfather always talked about how he wanted to get back into trapping as this is something he did quite often when he was younger. Therefore, I decided I would like to try it and see how I would enjoy it. I started with the pocket gopher as these critters were always along our country roads. I had to teach myself how to do this because I did not know of anyone else that could teach me the ways. After a lot of misses and sprung traps, I thought it was terrible and pointless. I told my grandfather about how I failed to trap any gophers. When he heard this he set out to learn himself and a couple of weeks later, he came to me, took me out on his short trap line, and showed me what he has learned to work and what does not. He contributed to my learning experience with fox and coyote trapping too by getting his friend to take me out on his trap line and show me a few different foothold sets he uses and how to properly set a snare to target your target animal. This experience helped me turn my whole life to focus on the outdoors and all the different wildlife out there.
When I turned sixteen and bought my first truck, I was super excited to expand my trap line farther than one square mile around my father’s house. Every day I was learning more and more about how the coyotes move and how the fox shares the area with these more dominant critters. Doing this helped me become more successful but also appreciate how the wildlife can live in the crazy Northern Minnesota weather. Trying new things as they came was my favorite thing to do. Now that I am through my first year of college and working for the USDA Forest Service, I know this is the field I want to spend the rest of my life. Working with my professors and peers helped me realize these are my kind of people and being able to talk about wildlife all day is just amazing to me. Always being sucked into my Natural Resource classes and not as interested in my general courses made me realize this is what I want to do with my life. Now working for the Forest Service and being outside all day every day, identifying trees I learned in class and birds I learned from my friend, the outdoors is the place for me. With all my early outdoor experiences, I have had and with my Natural Resources club, The Student Chapter of the Wildlife Society, and the Conservation Federation, I found wildlife to be my passion. One of my long-term goals is to get a summer internship every summer through college with a natural resources agency. Federal would be best like I am now, but the state would also be a great opportunity. Another long-term goal of mine is to be financially stable through college. So far, I have been doing a decent job but need to keep working on it. My third long-term goal is to keep a 4.0 GPA through college. This I know will take a lot of work and that is why I want to do it. Pushing myself to do the best is what makes me happy and become successful in my career. Some short-term goals I have are to be more active in clubs on campus this fall. Getting more leadership opportunities would help me put my name out there. Another short-term goal is to stay in better contact with my family while I am away. I live in Blackduck at the Forest Service Ranger Station, which is about three hours from both my parents’ houses. Doing this helps me feel less lonely and keeps my family close to me, which is important to me. My third short-term goal is to learn everything I can about the Chippewa National Forest to come back to school and teach my peers about it and hopefully impress my professors with what I have learned. I see myself in five years at a job in the middle of nowhere where I am studying a big game species and probably soaking wet from the rain or snow. That is what I find so great about this career is that it can take me anywhere.My definition of conservation is to make use of the natural world not for ourselves but the future. This means that what we do now with our natural resources should not be for us in one year but for our grandchildren and their children to enjoy. Conservation is our way of taking what we have now and finding ways to make it last as long as possible. Being smart about our decisions is important to conserve our natural resources to work with the growing populations of humans as well as the fluctuating populations of wildlife. Managing the environment is one thing I have found to be the most difficult because of people that do not appreciate the wildlife, vegetation, and what they all do for us that most of the public does not know. However, by working together with different groups and agencies and by researching and studying the impacts of human environment co-existence this world of conservation will be what saves us all from early death and overpopulation. I find that the consumptive wildlife activities we do help our society in more than one way. First, it regulates the population, which helps lessen the amount of disease that can be carried from a wild animal to a human or other wild animal. It also keeps the native wildlife in their habitats and keeps out the non-native species that could wipe out a native species very quickly. Another reason for a consumptive wildlife activity like trapping is to make a living. Not so much anymore but there are still people out there that the fur market is all they have for an income and whatever garments or art they can make with the wildlife to up the value to get the most out of the animal. Trapping in urban areas has been the most successful way of removing the wildlife that does not belong in that area and moving them to another area that is better suited for their natural needs. Hunting and fishing are other consumptive wildlife activities that most of the world uses to have meat in the freezer and as a way to get the family together for a fun time in the great outdoors. I hope this letter finds its way to your heart about my passion for the natural resources field and my love for wildlife and the environment that surrounds us all.Sincerely,
Hunter Kasprowicz
Shaelyn Predmore
Shaelyn Predmore- Pine Island MN – $1000
I chose the biology field because I have always had an interest in the way the human body works. Since I was three years old, I knew that I wanted to be a doctor. I have always loved helping others as it brings me an abundance of joy. Through school, I have gained a deeper interest in the human brain and how all the systems work together to keep us functioning. From my freshman year of high school and having the opportunity to take Biomedical Science class which opened the doors to the medical field, to my recent college Biology classes, I have been able to dissect a sheep brain, pig heart and fetal pig. I found it very fascinating how similar they were to those of a human. I remember being amazed by the fact that the different parts of the organs that we learned about in class were right there in front of me physically. I knew from the first moment that I needed to be in the medical field in some way. I continue my exposure to the world of biology through the two biology courses I took in college this year, specifically getting done first and being asked by my professor to show others my way of how it worked. Due to my experience in trapping and hunting and learning the life cycle of animals, I naturally did not have the distaste that others were showing during this, often a barrier to being successful in a biology lab environment. These classes have broadened my perspective on the natural and physical world, and next year will advance that even further once I take a course on genetics. Another aspect of my life that influenced my career choice was my father and grandpas. Ever since I was a young girl, my father and grandpa took me out hunting, fishing, and trapping. Through these experiences, I was able to learn so much about the natural world around me.
No matter what kind of action we had, my father would always make a point to teach me something while we were out there. Many times, we would stop on the way to our tree stand so he could show me an animal track and teach me about that animal. Now, as a young adult, I find myself doing the same thing, as when I am out hiking, I often find scat and tracks from animals. Thanks to my father, I can identify them and be curious about the world around me. I am very thankful that my father taught me how to trap. He took me out every year and taught me how to trap. My grandpa also made an impact on me. Before he passed, he was a medic in the war. I can recall my father telling me stories about how my grandpa had a dream of becoming a doctor. Unfortunately, he was never able to. From hearing these stories, I was inspired to live out my grandpa’s dreams. When I was a young teen, my grandpa had a kidney transplant. Miraculously, he was able to receive his kidney from my father. Following them through their journey of the transplant, doctor appointments, and surgery, I saw first-hand how amazing the human body and medical field is. These components influenced my choice in biology because of both the human and natural world elements that it has to offer. I am extremely fascinated by how nature works and how the human
body works. By studying biology, I will be able to learn a little bit about both and am intrigued by how parallel human and animal behavior can be. I also feel these men were and are leaders in this world, which I strive to be through being a leader in my classes, joining the Biology Club at the University of MN Duluth where I can volunteer at the local hospital, making blankets for the children in the hospital and approaching a professor to start some research projects.
My first long term goal is to graduate from college with my Bachelor of Science degree in Biology, with a minor in Psychology. I am already halfway through this journey. I came into college with many credits from post-secondary during high school, and I now have my first full year of college under my belt. I am currently taking three summer courses and will be able to graduate a year early. I have been selected to take a master’s level Psychology class this Fall, called Cognition and Emotion, which I am elated for this experience and challenge. My second long term goal is to graduate from medical school. I have had this vision since I started as it entails not only knowledge, but experience. This summer, I have been working at Cottagewood Senior Community and have completed the training to become a Resident Assistant, working in cottages with those that have Alzheimer’s and Dementia. My third long term goal is to become a neurologist. After taking psychology courses in high school and several this past year, I have grown fascinated with the brain and how it works. Given my interest in neurology, my employment at Cottagewood has been a very comfortable transition for me and I continue reading about the brain and dementia as well as hands on learning with residents at this wonderful facility. My first short term goal is to lose fifteen pounds. Through hiking, working out and yoga, I will become healthier and begin to see improvements. My second short term goal is to raise my GPA by getting an A in Genetics. Although I had good grades in high school and school always came easy to me, college proved to be more challenging than I expected. My first semester threw obstacles at me that were hard to overcome. I worked harder in the second semester and saw improvements. With continued determination and hard work, I believe that I can get an A in Genetics in the fall and boost my GPA. My third short term goal is to become more confident with myself. Through continued college presentations, group work and volunteering, I will continue growth in my confidence, as I did during my first year already. I am a leader in many things and so proud of it. In five years, I ideally see myself healthy and deep in my journey in medical school. I hope to attend medical school in Florida, or somewhere down south, which will give me diversity, variety of knowledge and fulfill my love of traveling.
My definition of conservation is protecting the world around us. It is important to conserve and manage the environment because it is the only home we have. If we do not protect our world, we ultimately will not survive. Eventually, our environment will be ruined, and this will in turn kill off our wildlife. Without wildlife, we may not have any food or water. Our ecosystem will be ruined. If we do not protect our environment, then we cannot protect ourselves. I feel that part of protecting our environment is also educating others, modeling, and showing others how we can take care of the environment. For example, when I go shopping, I bring my own reusable bag instead of using the provided plastic ones. This helps the environment by limiting the amount of plastic and waste in our landfills and waters. I have also grown a deeper love for plants and nature through the biology courses I have taken this year and visiting the greenhouse on campus to learn more. We learned so much about plants, their life cycles, and how they impact and contribute to our ecosystem. We also learned how to reduce our carbon footprint and contribute to a healthy impact on our world. I now have many plants and have introduced my roommates to the fun of caring for plants as well! This is another example of how nature lives in my everyday life, no matter what the season may be. In a spring psychology class, I studied how the earth grounds you, and how animals in the wild have a sense of belonging and soundness, unlike many humans who are under stress and rigorous timelines. I learned that on a stressful day, I walk barefoot through the grass, on the earth, gaining my connection to nature, and feeling my purpose.
I have attended the MN Trappers Association Convention every year with my family since I was a baby. I took for granted what was instilled in me as a trapping family, until I realized that others did not know or fully understand. As I think about it and teach others about trapping, I know that trapping contributes to our society by keeping the ecosystem healthy. The past few years at the MTA Convention, I have helped with demos and kids’ activities, and these experiences have raised my awareness that these kids are our future, are eager to learn and it has given me gratification in being a part of that. By managing the population of animals, it keeps their worlds healthy and thriving. If we did not maintain the animal population, they would be killed off by lack of food or the human world. For example, trapping coyotes helps the farmers produce more milk by limiting the number of cows killed, or of chickens killed who were laying eggs. This helps the economy by increasing the number of dairy products used by the whole world. By buying and selling furs, this helps the economy. It also helps those who own trapping businesses. By having this knowledge, I educate others about the positive aspect of trapping. This will help me to advocate for the trapping community and aim for it to stay strong and alive. Another example of wildlife activity in modern society is managing the deer population, with the DNR making available additional deer tags and seasons, adding in-city bow hunts, and youth hunts, which is effective in avoiding deer getting hit on the road by cars.
Coming from a trapping family has shown me hard work, dedication, and positivity. I have learned that a trapline may not always produce, and may not always be easy due to weather, terrain or environment, but that then I need to try harder and never give up. This is much like life each day, taking classes, finding a job, having relationships, and learning and growing. I feel I will always have trapping and hunting in my life as a root, not only to do throughout each year, but to talk about memories, be with family, ask questions and share stories. As I have a family of my own someday, I will carry on this tradition of trapping and hunting animals.
This past year has brought many changes and growth. I have finished my first year of college, lived on my own for the first time, and met many new life-long friends. I sensed right away when I moved into my apartment with a tree-lined view, that I would be right at home. I saw deer daily and was able to spend time walking the nearby woods and trails, showing others the signs and sounds of wildlife. I learned maturity, accountability, and responsibility. I now feel more confident in myself. I have grown to look at Duluth as my home, and I feel so comfortable and happy here! I look forward to continuing my education in the biology and psychology fields. I also look forward to learning more about Lake Superior and its surrounding area along with all the hunting, fishing, and trapping that is alive in this area. I will forever take my passion for the outdoors wherever I go in life and for this I am thankful.
Shae
Abigail Blazevic
Abigail Blazevic- Esko MN – $1000
My past consisted of my dad always telling me “you get what you give.” and it took me up until halfway through high school to realize what that meant. Growing up going to private schools and public schools, with all the dumb cliques was definitely a struggle for me. I never felt like I was really associated with a specific group. You had to be super athletic, wear the most expensive clothes, be super smart, have the most perfect body, or even the most money to even come close to “fitting in”. I never really knew who I was until maybe 11th grade when I realized there was no point in fighting the teenage lifestyle anymore. Just to be seen by society and be popular. As I kept to myself not only did my grades begin to excel but my mentality and reputation grew with it. I was named the so-called mom in high school. Everyone would look up to me and come to me with questions and concerns they had about their personal lives. I poured my heart into helping others and being kind, which made me realize that my love for caring could turn into a lifelong career. Life was going great for me at the end of junior year I joined the volunteer fire department in Esko and started working as a CNA on the medical surgery floor at Community Memorial Hospital in Cloquet. Responding to calls and helping out people on their worst days made me feel invincible and I became better for it. Although with time a lot of bad came from it too. I earned the title of a “people pleaser” and nearly forgot what was in my own better interest. I never had time to stop and think about what I wanted. But I knew that as long as everyone else was happy, everything would be okay. March of 2021 rolled around and that’s when I hit my lowest point. I worked all summer long and bought a super clean 1997 cherry red GMC Sierra 1500 which I ended up wrapping myself around a tree in driving home one night and woke up in the hospital hours later barely being able to spell my own name or remember anything that had happened. The school became a struggle with my memory loss. I had tried going to four different kinds of therapy for it and it all became too overwhelming for me. For a while, I gave up on everything. It felt like everything I had ever worked hard towards was all ripped away from me in just a few hours. My parents and teachers had to hold my hand and help me finish out my senior year. I was enrolled in PSEO classes at the time and my college professors were very understanding and did their best to help me finish as well. I have never been the type to ask for help so this just made it feel worse on me.After graduation, I spent my summer working and trying to find myself again. I loved the idea of making my own money and having freedom. I got accepted into college at Fond du Lac in Cloquet and started working on my undergraduate classes for my RN degree. I soon realized I had pushed myself too far with my brain injury and ended up flunking out that semester. So, I quit school. My family pushed me and constantly reminded me of all the good that could come out of going back to school, so I registered for fall classes starting August 22nd and am beyond excited to finally finish what I had started before. As I stated a while back “you get what you give.” I am prepared to give my heart out to the world and heal as many people as I can. During these times we need more positivity than anything. Covid hit everyone hard not only health-wise, but our economy affected a lot financially. Leaving many people stranded, unable to pay bills and make ends meet. I find it easier to fall asleep at night knowing I made a difference in someone’s life today. I chose nursing because of my love for people. Starting as a CNA I just knew I was in it for life when I would wake my residents up smiling every single morning. Regardless of how bad my day was going. Being a first responder gave me a love for adrenaline and working in the unknown. That’s my favorite part about working in the medical field. You see different things every single day. New patients, different illnesses, and injuries. I love the way I feel knowing I put all my effort in and made someone feel better. Truly that is my purpose in life, and if it wasn’t… I would not have walked away from the accident the way I did the night of March 2nd. I used that pain to make me stronger. And because of that pain, my patients get better care, and I have become a better person. Ideally three long term goals I have would first be to finish out nursing school, secondly buy my own house, and thirdly work as a flight nurse based out of Minneapolis.
loved the idea of making my own money and having freedom. I got accepted into college at Fond du Lac in Cloquet and started working on my undergraduate classes for my RN degree. I soon realized I had pushed myself too far with my brain injury and ended up flunking out that semester. So, I quit school. My family pushed me and constantly reminded me of all the good that could come out of going back to school, so I registered for fall classes starting August 22nd and am beyond excited to finally finish what I had started before. As I stated a while back “you get what you give.” I am prepared to give my heart out to the world and heal as many people as I can. During these times we need more positivity than anything. Covid hit everyone hard not only health-wise, but our economy affected a lot financially. Leaving many people stranded, unable to pay bills and make ends meet. I find it easier to fall asleep at night knowing I made a difference in someone’s life today. I chose nursing because of my love for people. Starting as a CNA I just knew I was in it for life when I would wake my residents up smiling every single morning. Regardless of how bad my day was going. Being a first responder gave me a love for adrenaline and working in the unknown. That’s my favorite part about working in the medical field. You see different things every single day. New patients, different illnesses, and injuries. I love the way I feel knowing I put all my effort in and made someone feel better. Truly that is my purpose in life, and if it wasn’t… I would not have walked away from the accident the way I did the night of March 2nd. I used that pain to make me stronger. And because of that pain, my patients get better care, and I have become a better person. Ideally three long term goals I have would first be to finish out nursing school, secondly buy my own house, and thirdly work as a flight nurse based out of Minneapolis.Three short term goals for me are first to save money for tuition, keep working my way up at my current job no matter how hard it gets, and keep my family close because I know they are my biggest supporters. But I have also learned that life doesn’t always go how you planned so I am learning to be more flexible as I go along. My definition of conservation is maintaining balance throughout different ecosystems. For example, in previous summers we have had a family of muskrats living in our pond in our yard and they dig tunnel systems so when my mom goes to mow the lawn, the ground collapses, and the lawn mower gets stuck, and it damages the grass. To alleviate the problem, we got rid of the muskrats (at least we thought we did because they seem to come back every year.) Being raised in a family that traps, I see lots of benefits from it. Not only does it help keep the predator and prey affect balanced, but it also decreases damage to property and wild ecosystems, allows plant and animal species to flourish, provides food for our family, and provides an income with the value of all the fur we harvest in a season.Abby Blazevic
Jeremiah Johnson
Jeremiah Johnson- Duluth MN – $1000
Trapping was a prevalent topic throughout my youth, coming from a line of trappers that face the wild head-on. Some of the best memories from that childhood involve the aspects of trapping, from the preparation of setting up the traps, with the help of my father of course, to the joy of catching the elusive critter and being dubbed the family supreme squirrel trapper. As a child the outdoors was my primary place of play, from running around in our yard to exploring the woods behind our house. Until I began preschool, I can guarantee that I was outside far more than inside, and despite the constant scratches and scrapped knees that I worried my mother with, I absolutely loved it out there. For trapping, I was never as invested in it as my siblings or parents were, but it still influenced me greatly. One of the best lessons that I learned from my experience and observation of trapping was the importance of patience and diligence, though I didn’t learn the patience portion until I had grown a bit older. My father was out just about every day, constantly checking both the set traps and the baits he had put out. As a child, it had astounded me how this man was always able to go out and check what fruits his labor had borne, even if he had slaved away at his job for the whole day. Eventually, I came to realize that there was one main reason why he did it: he loved it. He loved being out in the wilderness and being at one with nature when he was out there. That implanted one idea in my young mind. It’s not work if you love it, and that’s the attitude I have kept with me since. It’s the reason I have chosen to go into the computer science. I haven’t chosen it because of the pay, my father is paid well, but it breaks his body and he doesn’t want that for his children. I didn’t choose it because it’s easy, as there are a multitude of stories of people spending hours upon hours struggling with their coding projects. I choose it because I truly like it. I like the way it can be a struggle to create a relatively simple program, like entering a recipe and getting out the ingredients you need. The sense of achievement from fixing a minor error that had been screwing up your whole project is immense. One of the first experiences I had with this was in my senior year of high school, in a coding class that had us develop some simple programs, like a quadratic equation solver. I spent hours upon hours trying method after method to get it to work and growing more and more frustrated. Persevering throughout projects like that made the completed project worth it even more. Additionally, the wide application of the field makes it even more appealing. You can apply it from small things, like data entry for a small general store, to expanding and improving a vast streaming network like YouTube and Netflix.For myself, I want to help create a full sensory immersion technology. Such technology would allow to fully experience someplace they are not normally able to go. A person in the urban Midwest could simply put on some sort of headgear and be allowed to experience the beauty of Alaska without the expenses of travel and accommodation. This type of technology cannot replace the real experience of being in those places, but it can offer a substitute for those cannot experience the reality for whatever reason, be it monetary reasons, physical disabilities, or obligations. It is with this hope that I am going for a Computer Science degree, to further develop this tech. These experiences helped reveal what I wanted in my future. The ability to make improvements to a multitude of programs and problems is a dream to me, and something that I will be striving for now. It’s what has led me to choose the University of Minnesota–Twin Cities for the College of Science and Engineering, and switch from Engineering, my previous declared major, to Computer Science. I am a person that tends to focus on the present rather than the future, which sometimes has some problems, namely procrastination in the form of assignments that always end up being pushed until later, but there are some goals that I want to achieve.
technology would allow to fully experience someplace they are not normally able to go. A person in the urban Midwest could simply put on some sort of headgear and be allowed to experience the beauty of Alaska without the expenses of travel and accommodation. This type of technology cannot replace the real experience of being in those places, but it can offer a substitute for those cannot experience the reality for whatever reason, be it monetary reasons, physical disabilities, or obligations. It is with this hope that I am going for a Computer Science degree, to further develop this tech. These experiences helped reveal what I wanted in my future. The ability to make improvements to a multitude of programs and problems is a dream to me, and something that I will be striving for now. It’s what has led me to choose the University of Minnesota–Twin Cities for the College of Science and Engineering, and switch from Engineering, my previous declared major, to Computer Science. I am a person that tends to focus on the present rather than the future, which sometimes has some problems, namely procrastination in the form of assignments that always end up being pushed until later, but there are some goals that I want to achieve.Firstly, for the short-term, I want to build a strengthen the connections I have built through my freshman year here. Additionally, I also want to continue to be a pillar of support for those around me, to be someone that they can place their trust in and someone they can have in their corner no matter what. I also want to make sure that I can take the experience of living in the city and use that to treasure the countryside that I grew up in even more whenever I return. In the long-term I want the focus of my future career to be on developing full sensory immersion technology. This type of technology can have a massive effect in a multitude of fields, both professional and recreational. If there was a way for a person to essentially enter a virtual world that feels just like the normal world, the possibilities are literally only limited by our imagination. We can have medical students performing complex surgeries with no one at risk. Paraplegics could leave their limitations behind and experience freedom of movement once again, or in some cases for the first time. Recreationally, we could have people explore underneath the ocean without the need of complex gear, or have hikers climb mountains for sights they might never see. We could even be able to bring back things that would no longer be around, such as extinct species that no longer roam around in the wild or captivity. For me, this could be a paradise.
To do that, I need to graduate in good standing, and lastly continue to let my curiosity drive my passion That dream is still far off though, and in the meantime, we must stay within the limits of reality. That includes the limited resources we have on the planet, such as wilderness and wildlife, which need to be managed so we can enjoy them for far more generations. That is my idea of conservation, using our resources without exhausting or eliminating nature’s bounty. In the past decade, over 450 species have been declared extinct. This rate of extinction is not sustainable, and without careful management of our natural resources, we may see many more in the coming decades. That doesn’t mean we should not touch the resources at all. After all, this country was built by our predecessors using the resources of the land. I believe we should follow their example and be a steward over the natural resources in a sustainable way that is more interactive than simply leaving the land alone. Some of the first people that explored North America were trappers, seeking the rich furs that came from here. They were able to go head-to-head with the wilderness and come out on top, taking the resources that were here and applying them to further the economy. Their efforts led to more and more people coming to North America and provided a connection between these sportsmen who harvested the furs and the worldwide demand for them. Being an owner of furs was a great symbol of wealth back in the day, and the profits from these trades helped advance our culture. Nowadays, it’s different, as a consumptive wildlife activity like trapping isn’t a staple of profit to most people, but it holds a different meaning. Now, it can teach others about their history, what their ancestors went through, as well as showing the grace and beauty of the wild. As current trappers, we have a responsibility to educate those who will implement the legislation, who often don’t have the same hands-on experience as current sportsman. Even though the lessons these wildlife activities teach have changed, they are no less important than they were before.Jeremiah
2021
Samuel Juidici
Samuel Juidici – Hibbing, MN – $1000
(essay to come)
Shaelyn Predmore
Shaelyn Predmore- Pine Island MN – $1000
I chose the biology field because I have always had an interest in the way nature and human anatomy works. Since I was three years old, I knew that I wanted to be a doctor. I have always loved helping others and the joy that comes from it. Through school, I gained a deeper interest in the human brain and how all the systems always work together to keep us functioning. I remember during my freshman year of high school; I was able to take a Biomedical Science class. For me, this class opened the doors to the medical field. At the same time, I was also taking a biology class. Through both classes, we were able to dissect a sheep brain and pig heart. I found it very fascinating how similar they were to those of a human. I remember being amazed by the fact that the different parts of the organs that we learned about in class were right there in front of me. I knew from that moment that I needed to be in the medical field in some way. Another aspect of my life that influenced my career choice was my father and grandpas. Ever since I was a young girl, my father and grandpa took me out hunting, fishing, and trapping. Through these experiences, I was able to learn so much about the natural world around me. No matter what kind of action we had, my father would always make a point to teach me something while we were out there. Many times, we would stop on the way to our tree stand so he could show me an animal track and teach me about that animal. Now, as a young adult, I find myself doing the same thing. When I am out hiking or wandering about, I often find scat and tracks from animals. Thanks to my father, I can identify them and be curious about the world around me. I am very thankful that my father taught me how to trap. He took be out every year and taught me how to trap. This allowed me to be able to trap on my own as I do currently. My grandpa also made an impact on me. Before he passed, he was a medic in the war. I can recall my father telling me stories about how my grandpa had a dream of becoming a doctor. Unfortunately, he was never able to. From hearing these stories, I was inspired to live out my grandpa’s dreams. These two components influenced my choice in biology because of both the human and natural world elements that it has to offer. I am extremely fascinated by how nature works and how the human body works. By studying biology, I will be able to learn a little bit about both.
Photo: Shaelyn with a winter weasel catch (right)My first long term goal is to graduate from college with my Bachelor of Science degree in Human Biology. I already have started that as I have several credits and am enrolled to start in August 2021. My second long term goal is to graduate from medical school. My third long term goal is to become a pediatric neurologist. I have taken Psychology classes and this has led to my interest in neurology and wanting to learn more. My first short term goal is to lose ten pounds. Through hiking and walking, I will become healthier as well. My second short term goal is to finish my freshman year of college with all A’s. I graduated from high school in Honors, and completing college level classes through Post-Secondary, so am confident that I will maintain this. My third short term goal is to become more confident with myself. Through many college presentations and group work, I will grow in my confidence, as I did through my involvement on the National Honors Society. In five years, I ideally see myself graduating college, healthy, and getting into medical school. I plan to attend two years of medical school at the University of Minnesota in Duluth and then the remaining in a different area, such as Florida, which will give me diversity and a variety of knowledge.
My definition of conservation is protecting the world around us. It is important to conserve and manage the environment because it is the only home we have. If we do not protect our world, we ultimately will not survive. Eventually, our environment will be ruined, and this will in turn kill off our wildlife. Without wildlife, we would not have any food or water. Our ecosystem will be ruined. If we do not protect our environment, then we cannot protect ourselves. I feel that part of protecting our environment is also educating others, modeling, and showing others how we can take care of the environment. For example, I work at Trader Joe’s and many can choose to use a paper or plastic bag, or bring a fabric, reusable bag. I chose the latter, and many customers also do, based on how they feel about the future of our environment. I strive to teach others through this job as well, although it may seem small, it can make a big difference! Also, as part of my job at Trader Joe’s is stocking and watering the flowers and plants. I have learned so much about plants, succulents, and others, which has brought me to nature. I now have plants and look forward to working at the nursery on campus at UMD. This is another example of how nature lives in my everyday life, no matter what the season may be.
Photo: Shaelyn and a Rock Bass Catch (left)Trapping contributes to our society by keeping the ecosystem healthy. By managing the population of animals, it keeps their worlds healthy. If we did not maintain the animal population, they would be killed off by lack of food or the human world. For example, trapping coyotes helps the farmers produce more milk by limiting the number of cows killed. This helps the economy by increasing the number of dairy products used by the whole world. By buying and selling furs, this helps the economy. It also helps those who own trapping businesses. By having this knowledge, I will be able to educate others about the positive aspect of trapping. This will help me to advocate for the trapping community and aim for it to stay strong and alive.
Coming from a trapping family has shown me hard work and dedication. I have learned that a trapline may not always produce, and may not always be easy due to weather, terrain or environment, but that then I need to try harder and never give up. This is much like life each day, taking classes, finding a job, having relationships, and learning and growing. I feel I will always have trapping and hunting in my life as a root, not only to do throughout each year, but to talk about memories, be with family, ask questions and share stories. As I have a family of my own someday, I will carry on this tradition of trapping and hunting animals.
In August, I will be moving to Duluth to start my next chapter in my life. I look forward to meeting new people, take classes, and learn new things. The class I look forward to the most is Biology and lab. I look forward to learning about Lake Superior and its surrounding area and all the hunting, fishing, and trapping that is alive in that area. I strive to learn a new environment there, seeing animals, nature, and plants. I will forever take my passion of the outdoors wherever I go in life and for this I am thankful.
-Shaelyn Predmore
Thank you letter
Dear MTA Scholarship Committee,
Thank you for selecting me for a Minnesota Trappers Association Scholarship 2021. I am truly grateful to the committee for all of their support towards my education. I was very ecstatic to hear that I was awarded one of the five scholarships. This scholarship will help me reach my educational goals and help with my financial needs. I will be starting at UMD in the fall, and I plan on majoring in biology for the pre-med track. This is a very intense and expensive field. With your financial support, I will be able to reach my goal of becoming a doctor. Not only am I grateful for your generosity, it also means a lot to me to be assisted by an association that means so much to me. I was introduced to the MTA when I was very young, and I have stayed connected with it ever since. I have met so many amazing people and made so many memories at the conventions, and it warms my heart to receive this scholarship. Thank you again for your generosity and support. I am so grateful for this association and program. With your help, I will continue to work hard towards achieving my goals.
-Shaelyn Predmore
Pine Island MN
Pine Island MN
Bridget Bazile
Bridget Bazile- Tigerton, Wisconsin – $1000
Photo: Bridget with her many fursI grew up surrounded by animals, so I imagine this was where my desire to become a veterinarian ultimately started. There was always a dog, a cat, and a rabbit in my house to take care of, and I spent a good amount of my time over at my grandparent’s hobby farm surrounded by horses, chickens, guinea hens, and multiple barn cats to care for. No matter what the job was, I always enjoyed working with the animals. As I grew older, the fun at my grandparent’s farm began to be tempered with work, as I officially started working there during the summers with a large part of my responsibilities revolving around the care of the animals. After my sophomore year of high school, I also picked up a job at a local dairy farm as a milker, working throughout the year as my schedule permits. I found that working with the cows was something different than what I was used too, but it was a good change. I’m able to shadow the veterinarian when they come out to the farm for herd checks once in awhile and I have found that I don’t mind working with cows either. Throughout high school I was also involved in the agriculture classroom as much as possible, particularly through FFA, which allowed me to broaden my animal experiences. These, along with the experiences I have gained thorough animal science classes I have already taken at UW- River Falls all have come together to help me choose the career path I am on and to continually solidify my decision that I wish to work in the agriculture industry as a large animal veterinarian.
As I stated before, animals have always been, and still are, a big part of my life. I wanted to find a job where I could continue to work with animals, particularly the large, farm-type ones that were such a big part of my childhood. Becoming a veterinarian seemed a logical way to achieve this and be able to do something that I love.
Photo: Bridget with a nice gobblerIn the short-term, one of my goals is to complete a majority of the classes required to apply to veterinary school by the end of my sophomore year, which would allow me to matriculate a year early into veterinary school and still receive a bachelor’s degree from UW- River Falls after my first year of veterinary school. Another short-term goal of mine is to also complete the requirements to graduate from the honors program at River Falls, which will take some careful planning on my part if I’m to enter into veterinary school after my junior year, but I’m confident I can make this a possibility. Lastly, I hope to keep offsetting the cost of college with scholarships and by keeping my current jobs. I’ve been able to save a significant amount of money with scholarships so far, and I plan to continue to apply for and hopefully receive as many scholarships as possible to keep my cost of attending college to a minimum. This, combined with the money I can earn and save from working should help me to achieve this and help me avoid taking loans out too early.
Long-term, one of my goals is to graduate with a veterinary degree by the time I’m 25, which is very doable with my present situation. I also plan to achieve high grades and GPA while in college, preferably staying somewhere in “A” range. Finally, my biggest long-term goal is to gain employment close to my hometown after finishing my final rotation, which shouldn’t be too hard considering that I live in a really rural area. My long-term goals really lead into the answer of where I see myself in 5 years. If everything goes according to plan, I will be entering into my last year of veterinary school and finishing up my last set of rotations. I will begin to search for employment opportunities close to my hometown and will be getting ready to begin making a life for myself as a new and fully licensed large animal veterinarian.
Conservation to me is managing and preserving something in the best and most sustainable way. It is important to conserve both wildlife and our environment because we are all intrinsically connected. Everything has its place in this world and helps other species and organisms survive. Oftentimes, if a species isn’t properly regulated and conserved, other living beings suffer because of it. If we as humans choose not to conserve and manage our wildlife, and by extension our environment, we are ultimately destroying ourselves and our ability to survive in this world.
Photo: Bridget’s successful hunt with her nice sized buck.I grew up in an extremely active trapping family. Some of my earliest memories are of going trapping with my dad and sitting in on trappers education classes that my parents were teaching with my uncle. Our family vacations were planned around trapping conventions and other events and I grew up helping with Wisconsin’s state convention every year, going so far as to receive the volunteer of the year award in 2017. Growing up with a trapping lifestyle, I was given so many things. I have a very loving “trapping family” that is as close as my real one-even if we only see each other a couple times a year, I know the value of hard work and persistence, and most importantly I was raised to see the benefits of trapping and not the stigmatized version that much of the generalized public believes.
Trapping, along with hunting, fishing, and any other type of management practices all have their benefits to modern society. These types of practices help prevent overpopulation in areas where a species’ growth may be getting out of hand and damaging the ecosystem. It also provides society with nuisance control by keeping sick, weak, or just plain nuisance animals from interfering with domestic animals, crops, and other aspects of daily life. Lastly, these types of activities help to stimulate the economy and provide jobs for all those involved in the process, whether it is the person selling the means to do this, the consumer of these services, the provider of the service, or those who are making a living off the by-products of trapping, hunting, and the like.
“I am very grateful to be receiving a scholarship from the Minnesota Trappers Association again. I’m graduating from UW-River Falls in December and am currently in the process of applying to vet school for admission next fall in a program. None of this would have been possible without the help of scholarships, including the MTA scholarship, and it has been a wonderful help to me in this endeavor. Again, I thank MTA and its members for this opportunity, and I hope some luck finds you on the trapline this season”
Bridget Bazile
Cade Predmore
Cade Predmore Pine Island MN – $1000
Photo: Cade with a dandy gobbler. (left)
Trapping and hunting have always been part of my life and always will be. From the time I could walk, I was out in the field trapping gophers, that then led to meeting farmers and getting permission to trap coon, and then muskrat trapping at my grandpa’s cabin in northern Minnesota. Unbeknownst to me, this was a tradition I grew fondly of, not only for the love of trapping, but for lifelong memories with my family. As soon as I could write, I kept a log of who I had talked to, where my trapline was, drawing a map and defining my area from year to year. Much like the subject of Math in school, that I would master and excel in, taking Calculus in High School and from there on, deciding to major in Engineering in College. Now I am about to start my junior year in College and majoring in Civil Engineering. Thinking, figuring things out, and problem solving is what life is about all around. This summer, I am completing a paid internship for the Minnesota Department of Transportation in Hydraulics, specifically, inspecting culverts. When they interviewed me for the position, I was asked if I could handle the encounter of any frogs, snakes, an occasional coon, or skunk as I worked in culverts. As I answered this question, I thought, “of course, I am a trapper!” I am thankful for this work I have been doing this summer as I have used my engineering core classes of Calculus and Physics, and also have learned about the ecology of culverts, hydraulics, waterflow and the impact this has on the environment; much more important and relative than most would think. I chose Engineering not only due to my abilities in Math, but I am a hard worker, like to build things, never give up and always am willing to learn. Much like the skill of Trapping, each day, I get up, check traps, and may need to start all over the very next day. If something doesn’t work, I may rebuild and re-design how I use a trap or where I set it. I like hands-on work, which is evident by my other jobs as a farm hand, RV shop worker, and Laborer. My first boss told me once, “the harder you work, the more you will get out of it”. I have never forgotten this and have learned the value of a dollar through work.
Photo: Cade with a successful castor mound set. (right)
A goal of mine is to earn a Bachelor of Science Degree in Civil Engineering. I have completed two years at Rochester Community and Technical College in the Pre-Engineering program and am enrolled in the Civil Engineering program at Mankato State University. I will major in Civil Engineering and minor in Math and Business.
I have a goal of owning my own business in the future. I am a leader; a critical thinker and I think outside the box. I have worked at many jobs that have given me experience in networking, learned resources, and gained knowledge, which will guide me in becoming a business owner someday. Also, along with my engineering degree, I plan to take business classes, which I feel will enhance this goal.
Currently, I bow hunt for deer as well as turkey hunt. A long-term goal I have is to get out to different states and hunt different animals. My next hunting trip I think will be out to the Rocky Mountains to hunt elk. This has always been a passion of mine to hunt and explore new areas, see other environments and habitats that are different from what I know from Minnesota.
I plan to finish my internship this summer, with earnings enough to help pay my tuition in the Fall and with knowledge enough to apply it to my classes, and with a well-earned reference to be able to get this same internship next summer, at even a more advanced level.
I have always tried to teach trapping by taking my younger brother and sister out with me, to teach them about trapping and working together. I would like to take a few friends out trapping, especially those that have never trapped before. I like to show my co-workers about trapping as it is brought up in our culvert inspections, using this as an opportunity to inform them of animal culture and how trapping works.
This Fall, I would like to trap 20 coyotes. To me, getting coyotes is a challenge as they are keen, smart, and intuitive and this is always a challenge for me. I know that each year they are in a different area, and so it works well for me to set a goal for coyotes.
Photo: Cade under ice ratting. (left)
In 5 years, I see myself working as an Engineer. I see myself owning a home in the country and having space to hunt and trap. I would like to have an area to build a pond, and possibly near the river so that I will be able to utilize that for hunting and trapping. I will be successful, growing and continuing to learn. With my job, I see myself affording a newer truck so that I can haul my hunting and trapping gear and continue to do those hobbies that I love.
My definition of conservation is giving back to the environment and keeping our environment clean, healthy, and thriving. It involves managing the populations of wildlife. A big part of conservation is hunting and trapping. Trapping and hunting animals helps keep the populations in check and puts food on people’s tables. It is always important to manage populations so that we don’t get too many of one animal in any given area creating an unbalanced ecosystem. Not only is it good for people to hunt, trap and fish, but to help put in food plots and create a good environment for the wildlife. Each year on our land, we put in food plots, mineral blocks and salt, corn feeders to help wildlife, especially in the cold winter months. These are examples of conservation that I am happy to be part of and have known from trapping at a young age. In Physics, I learned about conservation in the realm of quantities, which was interesting, and I feel fortunate to have the technical perspective as well. I have seen conservation as I work this summer with culverts and see waterflow that may make a difference in what gets preserved or wasted, and feel my job is important in managing this for the future. Trapping is something that people often look down upon, which I feel is the product of some people not being educated or informed. Many don’t realize that trapping is essential for our environment and well-intended and needed for population control of many animals. Very simply put, if there isn’t trapping, many animals would be running around on roads causing accidents and causing trouble with people’s pets. Trapping fills the economy with furs and leathers that people can buy and sell. Trapping can allow others to own businesses with trapping supplies. This can be a family business that allows families to work together and bond. Being involved with trapping gives me the opportunity to educate and inform others of the true meaning of it, knocking down any stereotypes or misconceptions. Trapping will be a lifelong set of family memories that I will carry on for years throughout many generations.
– Cade Predmore
Thank you letter
Dear MTA Scholarship Committee,
I just wanted to give a big thank you to the MTA committee for selecting me as a recipient of an MTA scholarship for the 2021-2022 school year. I am very grateful to be receiving this scholarship and it will be of great help as I pursue a degree in civil engineering. I was very excited when I got the news that I was selected as a recipient of the scholarship! I will be starting my third year of college and I am excited to be able to have some of my classes in person again. I will be taking some classes from both Rochester Community and Technical college and Mankato State University. I am planning to transition into attending Mankato State full time at the end of this upcoming school year. My goal of becoming a civil engineer will become even more attainable with the help of this scholarship. I have really enjoyed my schooling so far and I am excited to continue my pursuit in furthering my education and giving back to the community. I am also excited for trapping this fall and being able to get some traps in the ground. My goal is to focus on a coyote line this fall as I balance time between school and the outdoors.
Thanks again to the MTA committee and everyone else who helped make this possible. I am very fortunate to receive this scholarship and I will continue to work hard to achieve my goals in school and outside of school.
-Cade Predmore
Pine Island, MN
Pine Island, MN
2020
Ryan Forster
From a young age I have grown up with a passion for everything outdoors. Being raised in the country as an only child I have learned to appreciate all that nature has to offer. Growing up, my first love when it came to the outdoors was deer hunting. Some of the great memories I have with my parents and my extended family have occurred while chasing deer during the eight-day firearm season each fall. Unfortunately, outside of November my exposure to other types of hunting was limited. As I got a little older, many family friends and mentors in my life worked hard to introduce me to new experiences. I soon began waterfowl hunting with friends at school, I was able to pheasant hunt with a family friend and his dog, and I even had the opportunity to hunt Sandhill Cranes in North Dakota with a man at my church. I have a huge appreciation for each of these outdoor role models who took time to pass on their experience and knowledge in the pursuit of wild game. Though hunting has always been something I enjoyed in nature, my path towards turning my passion into a career didn’t occur until my freshman year of high school. For a semester project in one of my high school wildlife classes, we were required to spend ten hours doing a supervised agricultural activity. For this project I had the privilege of attending the Lake Carlos State Park annual bird count. Since this was my first time doing anything like this I was able to participate alongside the Park Naturalist at the state park. Throughout my day with him I learned not only about the birds we were recording but about his job at the park. I loved it so much I decided to volunteer again the next year without being required to for a class. This experience opened my eyes to the wide variety of potential careers in wildlife sciences and is the biggest reason why I am choosing to pursue a career in this field. This fall I plan to attend Bemidji State University majoring in wildlife biology and minoring in communications. In 5 years, I’d love to be out of college with a bachelor’s degree and starting my career as a park naturalist at one of the many state or national parks in the Midwest. But before I can achieve this goal there is a lot of work to be done in the meantime.One of the ways I hope to prepare myself for my career in the near future is to become a member in the Bemidji State University chapter of the wildlife society. As a member I hope to learn and create relationships with other students who share similar passions for wildlife conservation and education as I do. By becoming a member of the Wildlife Society at Bemidji it could also open doors to new outdoor experiences which I find super exciting. The second thing I hope to do in the short term is to find opportunities to volunteer with local outdoor organizations. Examples of this include helping at events through organizations like Viking Sportsmen or helping lead a booth at the annual youth outdoor activity day at our local trap range. By volunteering I am not only helping my community through acts of service, but developing connections with people who are active in local movements teaching others to appreciate our natural resources. Another very exciting short-term goal of mine is to participate in an internship at Lake Carlos State Park. This is a paid internship through the state of Minnesota for college students pursuing a degree in a natural resource related field. As a part of this internship, I will work with the Naturalist at the park and get a true behind the scenes view of what a career as a park Naturalist would look like. By achieving some of these short-term goals I am hoping that they will propel me towards some of my longer-term career goals.
One of the most important long-term goals I have is to earn my college degree. Without a degree my chances of becoming a Naturalist drop dramatically. To increase my chances of landing a job after getting a degree in wildlife biology I decided to add communications as a minor. The reason I decided to do this is because of the large amount of interaction the job requires. I want to make sure that not only know the information required for my job but am able to share that knowledge with the people I’ll be interacting with.
The second long term goal I have is to find a job where I can work in the same place for an extended period of time. I like the idea of putting down roots somewhere where I can create solid relationships with the people I am in contact with at work. I would rather not jump from place to place but instead find a location to “plug in” and watch it grow over time. The third and ultimate goal I have for the future is to help people slow down and appreciate the natural world around them. I fear that the public overlooks the beauty that can be found in our natural resources and doesn’t enjoy them to their full potential. By introducing people to different outdoor activities and educating them about the outdoors they can learn to respect all of the things nature has to offer. Much like the mentors in my life that have passed on their passion for the outdoors to me, I hope to teach others about the importance of nature and conservation as a part of my career. In order to share with people, the importance of conservation, they must first understand what conservation is. To me, conservation is an effort to protect and maintain a resource for future generations. Our natural resources can be fragile and history shows that without conservation the land can be degraded quite easily. If the public is not cognizant of their impact on the world around them some of the outdoor places we hold dearest could be changed forever. In order to protect these special places to preserve it for future generations.For this reason, I am a strong believer that education must be a precursor to conservation. The public needs to know about their impact on our natural resources because, at the end of the day, we all have the responsibility to be conservationists. Two of the communities fighting hardest for conservation are hunting and trapping organizations. Activities like hunting and trapping have been around since the beginning of man and are deeply ingrained in our culture. As an outdoorsman, it has become apparent to me that when people participate in consumptive wildlife activities the level of respect for the animals they chase increases dramatically. This respect for animals is why I think hunting and trapping organizations are leaders in conservation practices such as population management and habitat rehabilitation. These organizations understand the importance of a balanced ecosystem and responsible consumptive wildlife activities are crucial to maintaining that balance. Not only do consumptive wildlife practices teach people to respect animals, but they increase a person’s knowledge about the animals. The knowledge and skill required to hunt or trap a wild animal in their own habitat far surpasses any information about that animal a person could gather from a textbook. In an age with information at our fingertips, I fear that real world applications to the things we learn falls through the cracks. Hunting and trapping are activities where people not only learn about nature, but learn lessons applicable to everyday life.
– Ryan Forster – Carolos, MN
RYAN’S THANK YOU LETTER
Dear MTA Scholarship Committee,
Thank you for selecting me as a recipient of an MTA Scholarship for the 2020-2021 school year. I am grateful for your support as I move towards achieving my academic and career goals. As I wrap up my first semester doing online school at Bemidji State University. I am even more excited for what the future holds. This fall I was able to complete almost all of my general education classes which means from now on my schedule will be filled with classes more focused on my wildlife biology major. My advisors and faculty at BSU have been so helpful putting me in places where I can succeed. Your generosity through this scholarship has helped do the same thing. My dream of becoming a park naturalist has become even more achievable through your financial help and for that I am so thankful. The outdoors has always been an important place to me and as a naturalist, I hope to help people understand and appreciate everything nature has to offer.
Thank you for your role in helping me share my passion for the outdoors with others.
-Ryan Forster – Carolos, MN
Gracie Arhart
My name is Gracie Arhart. I am pursuing a natural resource management degree at Bemidji State University (BSU). I am interested in land management, especially in wetland restoration projects. The government cannot buy or preserve all the lands necessary for wildlife conservation in this country. I agree with Aldo Leopold, the father of modern wildlife management and creator of the “Land Ethic” concept, that private landowners, who believe in conservation. We need to do a better job as local, county, state, and federal government entities and as communities to persuade private landowners to combine public and private conservation interests to the most significant possible degree. I want to do something about it by being the best natural resource manager that I can, by working with, not against private landowners.I was born April 18, 2001, in Crosby, Minnesota. My father was the Aitkin Conservation Officer (CO/Game Warden), and my mother was a jailer/dispatcher for Aitkin County. In 2001, my dad was transferred to the Deer River station, and all seven family members moved to a home near Squaw Lake in Itasca County. I completed elementary school in Squaw Lake and in Blackduck, Minnesota. I graduated from Blackduck High School, May 2019 with a 3.6 GPA. At Blackduck High School, I was a student leader and organized many conservation and recreation-related school activities. I was the captain of the varsity volleyball team and the lead in the audio/visual department. I volunteer my time at church and community events. I did many ride alongs with my CO dad before he retired in 2014.
During summers, I worked cleaning cabins for area resorts. I also worked for the US Forest Service as a Youth Conservation Corp member. I also worked as a kennel assistant at a local veterinary hospital. This summer, I was scheduled to have an interview for the Deer River Crew internship and potentially get the job, but sadly it fell short and was canceled due to Covid-19. All my summer and part-time jobs have provided great working experiences. That is why I chose educational and career goals in the natural resource management area, especially wetland conservation and restoration.
My family has always been involved in conservation efforts and lives the outdoor lifestyle. I have grown up in rural Aitkin, Itasca, and Beltrami counties participating in most consumptive and non-consumptive resource activities available. My dad took us along hunting, trapping, angling, foraging, kayaking, hiking, sports netting, boating, ATVing, snowmobiling, ricing, birding, and skiing. As an adult, I still participate in as many of these activities as I can. I volunteer my skills and time and work with local lake associations, creating shoreline and upland fish and wildlife habitats. During the CO ride along program, I learned how to effectively interact with all types of people, both consumptive and non-consumptive resource users. I also learned that it is usually better for the resource to spend time to protect habitat instead of dealing with single animal incidents (over limits). Also, conservation ethics can be difficult to mandate. Public education is the key to gaining public appreciation and compliance with natural resource laws.
Concerning living communities, I have been fortunate to grow up amidst my grandparents’ 160-acre wetland and prairie restoration project in south-central Minnesota. Converted wetlands and prairie were restored on this farm. I have been able to observe and study the restorations closely. The habitats slowly came back along with all the ecological and community benefits. I believe my grandparents did the right thing in restoring these wetland and prairie habitats.
I feel natural resource conservation depends on public support for conservation practices and policies—license and user fees fund conservation programs. Wildlife, including furbearers, is a public resource. Furbearers and other natural resources are public and should be shared by the public, using fair laws based upon wildlife science. Wildlife resources should only be killed for legitimate purposes. Science is the proper tool for the implementation of wildlife policies. I believe in the democracy of appropriate legal, ethical, and reasonable uses of wildlife. That is conservation.Short-term goals include continuing a high academic standard at BSU. Other short-term goals include summer employment. I hope to keep finding jobs where I can learn something new and still make some college savings. My cabin cleaning, USFS, and kennel assistant jobs provided me with great self-motivation and leadership skills. I still plan on volunteering my time and skills to area conservation groups and community programs. I will also be doing as many outdoor activities as possible and learning as much as I can. I believe in giving something back. I like the opportunity to volunteer for something that has a purpose.
In five years, I see myself working for a private consulting firm or a governmental agency, cooperating with landowners in developing land ethics that benefit all-natural resources, furbearers included. I hope to live in a rural area in North America where I can be a good land steward example for my community. I plan on graduating from BSU with a BS degree in either natural resource land management or wildlife biology. I also have an ongoing veterinary technology interest. I see myself having livestock and pets on a small hobby farm somewhere. I do enjoy the outdoor lifestyle wherever life takes me.
For some people, in today’s society, trapping is a part of their lifestyle. Consumptive wildlife use activities readily contribute to past and present societies. The early fur trade in North America fueled economies and started a new nation. There are still people in North America who do rely on sustainable trapping as a greater part of their income, either directly or indirectly. I believe that trappers and other consumptive users of wildlife have created a historic tradition regarding the land, plants, animals, and natural communities. Wise trappers are wise wildlife managers. Furbearer resources belong to all of us and should be shared accordingly.
My CO dad shared with me the story of how illegal trapping can easily upset the shared public resource. When my dad was asked at an MTA Board meeting why the DNR had a 09:00 a.m. opener for muskrat trapping, he offered a personal example. My grandpa was trying to keep up on farm payments with trapping income. He arrived at a public marsh in the early morning of opening day and was shocked and dismayed to see all the wetland’s muskrat houses already staked with traps containing drowned muskrats! Traps had been set during the darkness, hours before season! The local game warden had a broken leg, and justice was not served this time. Those poached muskrats were stolen from the public. Laws and limits keep wildlife at optimum levels.
Even with shrinking habitats in Minnesota and remote states and provinces, there will always be a need to manage wildlife populations. Recruitment of new tappers and other outdoors people is one of the most effective ways to create new conservationists. I can work with these consumptive and non-consumptive wildlife users, managing our public resources. As a wildlife manager, this vision can come true for me with help from the MTA scholarship program.
Gracie Arhart
Squaw Lake, MN
GRACIE’S THANK YOU LETTER
Dear MTA Scholarship Committee,
I am writing this to express my appreciation and gratitude for selecting me for a Minnesota Trappers Association Scholarship 2020. I was delighted when I found out my selection for a scholarship. I am honored to be chosen and am truly grateful for the support from the MTA Committee. By receiving this scholarship, it will help me to provide assistance for my education, lower my financial burdens, and help to reach my educational goals.
I am currently a sophomore and am planning to get my Associates of Arts Degree and go into the Natural Resources field. With hopes of pursuing a job in land management. I would be incredibly lucky to do what I love and get to be outside. With the financial assistance you provided for me, it will help me to reach my goals and pay schooling expenses. It will also allow for more time to study and to get an internship in the natural resources field.
Thank you again for your generosity and support. I am very thankful and fortunate for this program. I will continue to work hard throughout my entire school year and focus on achieving my goals through education.
Gracie Arhart
Squaw Lake, MN
Ian Johnson
If I were to tell the story of how I grew up, trapping, and the pride of being a trapper would be critical to my tale. The woods of northern Minnesota provided a second home that I explored alongside my old man, from the weasel box lines behind the house to every darn creek or stream that could hold a mink or even a couple muskrats. As I was too young to sit in a tree, the highlight of the fall and winter seasons before Christmas came not on the first weekend of November, but several weeks later, when the green light to pursue marten and fisher was given, in that ever-shortening season. I began trapping because it was my father’s passion, and there seemed nothing better to me than spending time in the woods with my dad, getting to “drive” in his lap on old dirt roads, and catching animals in “my” sets. A practical kid, I highlight that I preferred and participated in the catching aspect exclusively, as the trapping my dad did involved checking too many empty sets for my liking.Consequently, as I returned home to fascinate and amaze my mother and younger brothers with daily stories of my woodsman prowess, the amount of work, effort, and deserved credit/admiration/reward always skewed heavily in my favor, who would have guessed? As I grew, my contributions to the trapping trade grew, if never quite reaching those of my tall-tales; I further was immersed in the ageless fur harvesting industry. Alongside my watchful father, I advanced from skinning with a plastic knife alongside him to learning to skin, flesh, and pelt on my own, though I inherited my dad’s disdain working with fatty raccoons. I left most of those to him, nobly allowing him to face his fears and all.
As curiosity and advancing age lead to my becoming more actively engaged in all facets of a fur takers’ life, my trapping experience expanded past the wood and stream and to conventions, district meetings, and even tagging along to educational outreaches with my dad and his veteran woodsman peers. To my surprise, I learned many kids and adults alike lacked the ability to differentiate tracks, scat, or even fur samples on a poster; skills I considered essential and necessary for any self-respecting elementary-aged kid. My appreciation for the difference in backgrounds and their impact on people’s understanding of different topics, such as trapping, was sharpened during these interactions.
As a young man entering my 4th and final year studying in a flagship State university in the cities, that appreciation has been tested and explored through my interactions with peers on campus. The tenants of University are Unity and Diversity; foundations meant to provide a platform for individuals of diverse backgrounds, ethnicities, and cultures to meet, interact, and challenge one another in shared academic pursuits. One conversation that stands out to me was with a classmate who was arguing the merits of a PETA article about the barbaric trapping practice. Having spoken before about my background in outdoor sports and growing up in the countryside, she approached me, asking my opinion of some of the article’s points. One of the myths dispelled was about the barbarity of the jagged-toothed foothold traps that put animals in such agony they were forced to chew off their own limbs to escape the pain. I was able to point out that instruments such as she described were illegal, and impractical as smooth and gapped footholds provided a better hold. I also explained how swivels were used to prevent injury, and about the mandated checking practices for lethal and non-lethal sets to ensure animals weren’t long in the trap. Furthermore, we discussed how similar to a rubber band on your arm/finger, the foothold would end up numbing the animal’s leg and that even were the trapper to just desire monetary gain from the sport using a trap with teeth to tear up the pelt would make no sense.
Another aspect we spoke of was the article’s statement that pups and other dependent young animals would starve to death in dens as their parents were stuck in a trap. In this answer, I was able to address the seasons and regulations for trapping in Minnesota, how they avoided overlapping with these times, and how trappers disobeying the regulated seasons would be self-defeating as catching mothers would likely condemn the young and damage the population in the future. Similar to before, even if we hypothetically assumed the sportsman to be ethically disinclined and strictly wanted to make money, the argument didn’t hold water. I explained most furbearers have their young in the spring, a time when pelts are worth the least as they lack thickness, color, and texture that would come during the fall and winter seasons. The conversation ended on personal beliefs of the morality of taking a creature’s life. I shared that my trapping participation, like many others, was to enjoy nature, celebrate a heritage, spend time with family, put myself in the place of a creature while working to outsmart it. Also, I believed and that no true sportsperson simply delighted in the kill alone, but the breath of the sport. My classmate said she felt she had a better grasp on the issues, understood the arguments against that article, and though personally didn’t feel thought she could ethically participate, thanked me for the discussion and a resulting better understanding of the sport. Many people don’t have the trapping background and resulting knowledge that we are privy to and have views influenced strictly by harmful myths and legends perpetuated by the media. These encounters reminded me of how fortunate I am for my background and the importance of discussions with and education for those who don’t! I realized how much more important this is in the cities and that many have similar biases as my peer. Sadly often, those making the laws and regulations for trappers themselves have incomplete understandings of the sport and its participants.Seeking interactions such as the one above, was part of my reasoning for attending a large state University. In high school, I was involved in DECA, Student Government, National Honor Society, and Envirothon alongside athletic participation. I enjoy pursuing curiosities, and through those interactions, my great interest in business became evident. I entered college unsure of what exact discipline under the “business student” umbrella I wished to pursue. Yet through involvement in groups such as Student Accounting and Finance Association (SAFA) and the Investment and Finance Organization (InFO), I found a keen interest in how small businesses grow and scale and one day become household names. I was fortunate to secure an internship for the 2020 summer at a small Investment Bank. Though delayed by the COVID pandemic, I am excited to begin in my Finance and Banking career, where I will be able to work with and understand smaller business clients alike to those who first sparked my Finance interest.
In the short term, I hold several goals as I approach my final year of undergraduate studies. Firstly, I want to take advantage of my summer internship this summer both as a final evaluation of my fit in the Investment Banking career field and a measure of my ability to apply academia to the real world. The internship has been something I’ve worked most of my college career for, and I am truly blessed for the opportunity ahead. Now is the time to reward the trust my employer took in hiring me. Secondly, I am working to join the student outreach team for the Fall semester regarding study abroad. Though my experience was cut short prematurely due to COVID, spending several months in Australia was a genuinely transformative experience. Living within another culture broadened my horizons, gave me new life perspectives and friends, while also making me wonder how much catching a Dingo would differ from a Coyote back home. Joining the outreach would allow me to share my experience and encourage other students to take the leap and embrace an abroad experience like I was blessed to be able to. Lastly, I would like to finish my senior year strong academically, regardless of what form COVID will allow it to take.
College is often heralded as a chance for people to discover who they are and forge the person they want to be. For me, my long-term goal has revolved around laying the foundations and benchmarks for the man I want to be. I have a year left, and now the rubber hits the road. As I’ve said, it all begins and ends, with a commitment to living with Integrity foremost and using it as a benchmark to hold myself too when my character wavers in ways I am ashamed of. I want to surround myself, both personally and professionally, with men and women of a high character whose mannerisms I wish to emulate. That consideration was a significant factor in my excitement to receive an offer at my current firm, and they showed their values clearly in our interactions rather than as buzzwords for PR purposes. I hope that both this summer and, in the future, that the reputation of the character and Integrity that I desire supersedes simply my role in the office and describes the man I wish to be everywhere. Five years down the road, my goal is to be on a journey continually working to that end.To me, conservation begins and ends with one thing- stewardship. The responsibility of looking after something for mutual benefit is symbolic of the relationships between trappers and nature. As sportsmen, we want to utilize God’s bounty but to do so sustainably and ethically that allows future generations down the road to do the same. The world is very different than it was when I first followed my dad on the trapline, and likely will be even more so the day he takes his grandchildren to check weasel boxes. However, correct stewardship by trappers would work to ensure that he gets that opportunity in an everchanging world. As such, it requires not leaving nature entirely to its own devices nor holding strictly true to traditional practices but ever-adapting to guide wildlife and habitat alike to a healthy future. Part of that is having educational discussions as recorded above, working to overcome age-old prejudices and ensuring that those marking the laws and regulations for our land have the understanding, backing, and advice of sportsmen to be good stewards together.
A consumptive wildlife activity contributes to society both as a reminder of the morality of the beautiful yet fragile environment we call home and a celebration of an ageless and relevant heritage. Participation in these activities gives an unapparelled view into our natural world, allowing interaction, understanding, and appreciation. Furthermore, who best to know the land, its conditions, disharmonies, and health than those who pursued its bounty and thus correctly and effectively steward it into the future? The trapping heritage in Northern America began as a bloody and explorative tale that gave the new country an idea of what lay to the west of their known world. As time progresses, human interference, everchanging fur markets, and increasing regulations have shaped the evolution of the sport into the one we all enjoy today. Educating the public on the importance of the trapper as an advocate for conservation creates a platform for further education and participation, and can be accomplished by the exploring of the trapping heritage and its evolution. The negative narrative surrounding the sport can be recast as we display how ethical trapping does not add mortality to populations but instead manages them, allowing for sustained yields across generations! Consumptive wildlife activities promote connections with, and knowledge of our area, environment, and ultimately our world to modern society. Thus, helping to dispel ignorance and foster an appreciation for nature, the sport and the trappers who act as stewards of both.
Ian Johnson – Duluth, MN
IAN’S THANK YOU LETTER
MTA Scholarship Committee,
Thank you for the association’s generosity in providing scholarships and for having selected me as one of the recipients. These scholarships aid and greater opportunity for MTA members and their families and those interested in outdoor fields who may not even belong to the Association (yet). The last year has truly been unprecedented and one of a kind.
I’m sure that statement reads redundant due to overuse by now, but I started 2020 taking a once-in-a-lifetime trip to study abroad in Sydney, Australia! The outback and bush are magnificent, untamed, and rugged. However, I learned I prefer the cold of the Northern Minnesota Woods: where the number of spiders, snakes, and other native species that could kill me remains comfortably below the north country’s population. With the rise of COVID-19 worldwide, international students were suddenly informed we had a couple of days to leave, and I was unable to catch and bring back the Dingo pelt my dad’s only requested souvenir. However, I did manage to catch COVID on the evacuation-flight home as a souvenir and spent the first few weeks back in Minnesota bedridden.
Fast-forwarding to summer, and I was working an Internship job in Minneapolis when I applied for consideration of an MTA Scholarship award. Word came down that classes were going to be fully online (at the full cost, of course), and I decided that spending the year back up in the Duluth area even with Mom & Dad for landlords still beat being locked down in a tiny city apartment on a virtually empty campus. The cooking and meals definitely improved once home, especially with venison, bear, and fish being consumed more often than the regular college students’ diet of frozen pizzas.
As annoying, strange, and uncomfortable as the pandemic had made life, it also came with unexpected blessings. In the fall, I got the great news about receiving this Scholarship and to topping things off by bear hunting for the first time in years alongside my brothers. Furthermore, I got to spend more time outside and in the deer stand than I had for many years as a full-time college student.
I also got reacquainted with the trapline, having a great time pursuing bobcats and running lines. I was quickly refamiliarized with the wisdom that catching always beats checking. Running bobcat sets, driving old dirt roads at dawn (okay, well, perhaps starting at dawn was a bit of an exaggeration- I am still a college kid after all) brought a peace, and excitement back that I hadn’t felt for a long time. Although the Twin Cities will be my residence for the immediate future as I’m moving back down to begin working full time in my career field after graduation, COVID gave me a chance to appreciate and remember my roots. Rather than just writing about “the impact of trapping and the value of consumptive wildlife activities to modern societies” I was once again living it. I’m very much counting my blessings for those experiences.
Thank you MTA for continuing to provide these scholarships for young men and women across Minnesota. I very much appreciate the honor of having been selected as a recipient. These funds have helped me navigate my final year avoiding additional debt.
You helped to make that all possible.
Ian Johnson – Duluth MN
Bridget Bazile
Bridget Bazile- Tigerton, Wisconsin – $1000
1. Your past experiences: In autobiographical form tell us about yourself with particular emphasis on those formal and informal learning experiences which have had the most impact on choosing the career field that you have.
I grew up surrounded by animals, so I imagine this was where my desire to become a veterinarian ultimately started. There was always a dog, a cat, and a rabbit in my house to take care of, and I spent a good amount of my time over at my grandparent’s hobby farm surrounded by horses, chickens, guinea hens, and multiple barn cats to care for. No matter what the job was, I always enjoyed working with the animals. As I grew older, the fun at my grandparent’s farm began to be tempered with work, as I officially started working there during the summers with a large part of my responsibilities revolving around the care of the animals. After my sophomore year of high school, I also picked up a job at a local dairy farm as a milker, working throughout the year as my schedule permits. I found that working with the cows was something different than what I was used too, but it was a good change. I’m able to shadow the veterinarian when they come out to the farm for herd checks once in awhile and I have found that I don’t mind working with cows either. Throughout high school I was also involved in the agriculture classroom as much as possible, particularly through FFA, which allowed me to broaden my animal experiences. These, along with the experiences I have gained thorough animal science classes I have already taken at UW- River Falls all have come together to help me choose the career path I am on and to continually solidify my decision that I wish to work in the agriculture industry as a large animal veterinarian.
2. The present: Why did you choose this particular field of study?
As I stated before, animals have always been, and still are, a big part of my life. I wanted to find a job where I could continue to work with animals, particularly the large, farm-type ones that were such a big part of my childhood. Becoming a veterinarian seemed a logical way to achieve this and be able to do something that I love.
3. The future: Identify at least three long-term goals and three short-term goals. Based on this information, where do you ideally see yourself in five years?
In the short-term, one of my goals is to complete a majority of the classes required to apply to veterinary school by the end of my sophomore year, which would allow me to matriculate a year early into veterinary school and still receive a bachelor’s degree from UW- River Falls after my first year of veterinary school. Another short-term goal of mine is to also complete the requirements to graduate from the honors program at River Falls, which will take some careful planning on my part if I’m to enter into veterinary school after my junior year, but I’m confident I can make this a possibility. Lastly, I hope to keep offsetting the cost of college with scholarships and by keeping my current jobs. I’ve been able to save a significant amount of money with scholarships so far, and I plan to continue to apply for and hopefully receive as many scholarships as possible to keep my cost of attending college to a minimum. This, combined with the money I can earn and save from working should help me to achieve this and help me avoid taking loans out too early.
Long-term, one of my goals is to graduate with a veterinary degree by the time I’m 25, which is very doable with my present situation. I also plan to achieve high grades and GPA while in college, preferably staying somewhere in “A” range. Finally, my biggest long-term goal is to gain employment close to my hometown after finishing my final rotation, which shouldn’t be too hard considering that I live in a really rural area. My long-term goals really lead into the answer of where I see myself in 5 years. If everything goes according to plan, I will be entering into my last year of veterinary school and finishing up my last set of rotations. I will begin to search for employment opportunities close to my hometown and will be getting ready to begin making a life for myself as a new and fully licensed large animal veterinarian.
4. What is YOUR definition of conservation (not Webster’s etc.), and why is it in important to conserve and manage wildlife and environment?
Conservation to me is managing and preserving something in the best and most sustainable way. It is important to conserve both wildlife and our environment because we are all intrinsically connected. Everything has its place in this world and helps other species and organisms survive. Oftentimes, if a species isn’t properly regulated and conserved, other living beings suffer because of it. If we as humans choose not to conserve and manage our wildlife, and by extension our environment, we are ultimately destroying ourselves and our ability to survive in this world.
5. What does a consumptive wildlife activity (such as trapping) ultimately contribute to modern society?
I grew up in an extremely active trapping family. Some of my earliest memories are of going trapping with my dad and sitting in on trappers education classes that my parents were teaching with my uncle. Our family vacations were planned around trapping conventions and other events and I grew up helping with Wisconsin’s state convention every year, going so far as to receive the volunteer of the year award in 2017. Growing up with a trapping lifestyle, I was given so many things. I have a very loving “trapping family” that is as close as my real one-even if we only see each other a couple times a year, I know the value of hard work and persistence, and most importantly I was raised to see the benefits of trapping and not the stigmatized version that much of the generalized public believes. Trapping, along with hunting, fishing, and any other type of management practices all have their benefits to modern society. These types of practices help prevent overpopulation in areas where a species’ growth may be getting out of hand and damaging the ecosystem. It also provides society with nuisance control by keeping sick, weak, or just plain nuisance animals from interfering with domestic animals, crops, and other aspects of daily life. Lastly, these types of activities help to stimulate the economy and provide jobs for all those involved in the process, whether it is the person selling the means to do this, the consumer of these services, the provider of the service, or those who are making a living of the by-products of trapping, hunting, and the like.
BRIDGET’S THANK YOU LETTER
Dear MN Trappers Association,
Thank you again for awarding me a scholarship to help with my schooling at University of Wisconsin- River Falls. I’m currently a sophomore at UWRF and like last year, I’m pursuing an animal science degree with an equine and pre-veterinary emphasis. If things keep going at the pace they currently are, I will be able to apply to vet school this summer and graduate either in fall of 2021 or spring of 2022 with a Bachelor of Science degree from UWRF. The goal then is to be attending a vet school in fall of 2022, pursuing a Masters in Veterinary Medicine to hopefully become a large animal veterinarian someday. The scholarship you awarded me last year was put to good use in helping me to achieve this, and this year’s will be a tremendous help in continuing this dream of mine, especially in times like these. Again, thank you so much for awarding me this scholarship; I cannot begin to explain how much this means to me.
Thank you,
– Bridget Bazile