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The Refuge From Cruel Trapping Act would prohibit the use and possession of body-gripping traps, including steel-jaw leghold traps, snares, and kill-type traps, throughout the National Wildlife Refuge System. The bill creates limited exceptions allowing federal agencies to use these traps for controlling invasive species or protecting endangered and threatened species only after demonstrating that nonlethal methods have been exhausted, and it exempts Alaska refuges and allows members of federally recognized Indian tribes to use such traps for subsistence purposes. Violations would result in civil fines up to $500 per trap or violation, imprisonment for up to 180 days, or both, with fines adjusted annually for inflation, plus forfeiture of traps and any wildlife captured. The bill would take effect 120 days after enactment, with the Department of Interior required to issue implementing regulations within the same timeframe. This legislation was introduced in August 2023 and referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.

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