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Health & Fitness

Report All Poaching (RAP)

Have you ever been witness to a crime committed against one of Michigan's Natural Resources and not known how or who to report it to?

Have you ever been witness to a crime committed against one of Michigan’s Natural Resources and not known how or who to report it to?

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has a specific contact line that is staffed 24 -7 for cases like this. The Report All Poaching (RAP) line is 1-800-292-7800.  I suggest you program this into your cell phone so that it is always handy. All reports are confidential and you can remain anonymous if you like.

The RAP line takes a multitude of complaint types regarding the poaching of animals all the way to litter and illegal dumping. Did you know that any illegal taking of animals, fish and even plants is considered poaching? You do not have to witness the crime in the act to report it to RAP. An example would be if you are on a hike or are driving down the road and find an illegal dumping site. A RAP call will dispatch a Conservation Officer who can investigate and hopefully prosecute the poacher or dumper.

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Due to the states vast wild areas that the DNR is responsible for, RAP relies on Michigan’s citizens to help them in the reporting of these crimes. I myself have called the RAP line on multiple occasions. I will share one of the cases with you.

I was hiking in the “Save it Creek” Michigan nature sanctuary in Argentine one fall day. I happened to find a bow hunter’s tree stand in the sanctuary. Knowing that hunting of any type is not allowed in the sanctuary I knew I would be calling RAP. I also had my GPS on me so I took note of the coordinates. I continued my hike and found an individual dragging out a doe he had harvested. I exchanged a greeting but made no mention of his activities. Remember you are not the DNR and for your safety there is no reason to confront a poacher. I later called the RAP line and spoke with a dispatcher. The next day a Conservation Officer contacted me for more information. It ended up that the poacher was fined for trespassing, and taking a deer without a hunting license.

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Often when I talk about the RAP line and poaching someone might say “Who cares there are tons of deer?” I remind them that poaching gives ethical and legal hunters a bad name. Often those of us who follow the rules are lumped in with those who do not in the court of public opinion. Secondly, the money that is paid for licenses goes directly back into the wild. License fees pay for improving and protecting our state land and game areas. The funding is also used for field biology studies that keep the wild areas that we love so much they way they should be, wild.

If you would like to learn more about the RAP line here is a video with more information including the taking of a live trespassing complaint from the dispatch center. http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,1607,7-153-42199-254631--,00.html

When someone poaches or destroys our natural resources they are in effect stealing. They are stealing from me, they are stealing from you. If someone walked into your back yard shot a robin and then stole a tree  you of course would report it. The same action should be taken on state land. Michigan state land is your back yard! We all pay taxes and we all own it. Help protect it by calling RAP if you have info regarding someone stealing from us!

Remember,

Outdoors it’s a wild place to be.

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