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New Paltz mayor Jason West has risen to prominence for his defiant support of gay marriage. With West and his Green Party administration under scrutiny from the state attorney general, a lot of other town business has been moved to the back burner. Among the slower track items is a potentially precedent-setting trapping ban. Based on a need for public safety in a densely populated town, New Paltz may ban trapping, in spite of a DEC claim of sovereignty over all things trapping throughout the state.

As the trapping initiative stalled, Wildlife Watch called on West to show the same courage of conviction on the trapping measure as he had demonstrated on gay marriage. In a letter to a regional newspaper group, Anne Muller wrote: “If Jason considers the issuance of marriage licenses for same-sex couples to be his ‘moral obligation,’ then why is the protection of wild animals and residents from the danger and cruelty of trapping not his moral obligation?”

The Villages Environment Committee has since met with Wildlife Watch to move the trapping measure forward. A measure should go before the village board this summer.