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From Native Alaskans to Russian traders and modern outdoors enthusiasts, trapping has been, and continues to be, an important part of life in Alaska for many people. And whether trapping for a living or for recreation, those who head into the woods with traps and snares need to be well-versed in how to use their equipment as efficiently, humanely and legally as possible.

In order to ensure this season's trappers are good stewards of the land and the resource, the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge will be holding its annual trapper orientation class and snaring seminar this weekend to educate those new to trying to find furbearing animals. These courses also serve as good refreshers for those who have trapped in the past.

"It's primarily geared toward new trappers, but every year roughly a third of the people who show up are experienced trappers who come just to keep up with things and shoot the breeze with other trappers," said Toby Burke, a biological technician at the refuge who will be teaching the furbearer biology portion of the weekend course.

The trapper orientation will be held Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to noon, followed by the snaring seminar from 1 to 4 p.m. Another trapper orientation will also be held Nov. 6 from 6 to 9:30 p.m. for anyone who misses this weekend's event.

Trapper orientation is mandatory for anyone wishing to trap on the refuge, Burke said. Anyone who have attended the orientation in the past does not need to attend again. However, those wishing to extend their trap check requirement dates from every four days to every seven days must have attended the snaring seminar at least one time.

Annually, the refuge serves as a common stomping ground for trappers. In 2008-09 the refuge issued 95 trapping permits, of which 47 people reported actually trapping. Of these, 37 trappers were successful.

This is a fair amount of growth compared to the 2007-08 season when only 56 trapping permits were issued, of which 27 actually took to the woods, and only 21 people were successful. Burke speculated one reason for this increase in trapping interest may have stemmed from last season being the first time in seven years lynx were allowed to be legally trapped.

"When lynx season is open, and the price for their pelts is decent, trappers who may not have trapped in years are motivated to do so again," Burke said.

Last season's lynx opening was only one month long, but many trappers still found it successful as 44 lynx were harvested, up from the 23 lynx harvested during the last opening in 2001-02.

"The season was short since lynx numbers are still rebounding from their cyclic lows and biologists do not want to see an over-harvest of animals such as what occurred in the early and mid-1970's," Burke said.

"New breeders must be recruited into the breeding population if we want to see stable or expanding lynx populations in the short-term," Burke added. "It goes without saying that lynx need an abundance of snowshoe hares. Of course, no matter how well the lynx population is managed inevitably their numbers will rapidly decline as hare numbers crash."

However, with hare numbers still plentiful, this year's lynx season will be a month and a half long.

The word is also out that there are modest numbers of marten in the lowland forests, according to Burke.

"Accordingly, trappers are making an effort -- actively looking for marten sign and setting on it -- down low, where formerly most Kenai trappers assumed marten were only in the mountains and foothills of the Kenai," he said.

Last season 10 marten were trapped, a significant amount considering the 10-year average for this species is only 2.8 marten. Other small furbearing species harvest numbers were also up with 47 ermine, 20 mink and a whopping 63 muskrat caught, compared to the 2007-08 season when 6, 18 and 3 were caught, respectively for each species.

"Ermine and muskrat harvest numbers usually reflect whether one or two skilled trappers, targeting these species, actually trap," Burke said. "When these few trappers trap, the harvest numbers are high. And when they sit out a season, the harvests are very low.

"Thus, many of our small-furbearer harvest numbers reflect trapper effort from year to year, rather than species abundance from year to year."

Wolf harvests were also up last season with 23 of the carnivores caught. The 10-year average for wolves is only 14.9. All other species were at, or below, the 10-year average. This includes the harvest of 20 coyotes, no fox, one wolverine, seven otter and 35 beaver during the 2008-09 season.

For more information on trapping on the refuge, call 262-7021.

Joseph Robertia can be reached at joseph.robertia@peninsulaclarion.com.