Showing posts with label wildlife. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wildlife. Show all posts

Monday, November 27, 2017

Protecting African Elephants

Washington, D.C. - November 27, 2017 (The Ponder News) -- U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) led a letter to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke calling on the Department to officially halt any reversal of the ban on importing sport-hunted African elephant and lion trophies from Zimbabwe and Zambia. U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and 20 other Democratic Senators joined Menendez in demanding answers to 9 specific questions about the decision.

Last week, the United States Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) issued a decision to lift the ban on elephant trophy imports from Zimbabwe and Zambia, stating it would “enhance the survival of the African elephant.” This decision followed a similar one pertaining to sport-hunted lion trophies last month. The original decision to ban the importation came after inadequate domestic conservation programs failed to rely on scientific data and proven conservation practices.

“[W]e find it unconscionable that the USFWS has reversed its finding that the conservation programs in these countries fail to meet its standards without sufficient analysis and evidence to ensure that this plan has led to real changes on the ground,” the senators wrote.

After outrage spread on social media over the apparent decision, President Trump tweeted that the decision was on hold, and then tweeted two days later that he “will be very hard pressed to change [his] mind.”

“Additionally, the President has tweeted that the decision is currently on hold, but USFWS had already published its decision in the Federal Register, and no subsequent updates have been made,” the senators wrote. “While we appreciate that additional reviews may be underway, the fact remains that tweets alone do not constitute substantive federal policy without commensurate agency action and do not negate the need to file appropriate public notice.”

In 2015, Senator Menendez introduced the CECIL Animal Trophies Act to disincentivize trophy killings of species proposed for listing under the Endangered Species Act.

This prompted Representatives Grace Meng (D-NY), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Vern Buchanan (R-FL), Jim Langevin (D-RI), Matt Gaetz (R-FL), and Lee Zeldin (R-NY) who led a bipartisan group of lawmakers urging Donald Trump to retain the U.S. ban on the importation of African elephant trophies from Zimbabwe and Zambia.

In a letter to Trump, the lawmakers wrote: “It is imperative that we continue to lead conservation efforts that strengthen local communities and prohibit poaching. African elephants are treasured by people the world over. They are worth far more alive than dead, drawing millions of wildlife-watching tourists who contribute billions to local economies across the continent. As Members of Congress from both sides of the aisle, we are in firm agreement that it is of the utmost importance to continue protections for threatened and endangered species both at home and abroad.”

See more headlines at The Ponder News Web Site

Wednesday, April 5, 2017

Fish And Wildlife


Carper Joins Bipartisan Bill to Protect Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
Thomas R. Carper - (D - DE)
April 6, 2017

U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), top Democrat on the Environment and Public Works Committee, joined 39 of his colleagues in introducing legislation to designate the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as wilderness and protect the land from future development. The Coastal Plain represents roughly 1.5 million acres of the 19.6 million-acre wildlife refuge. This week marked the two-year anniversary of President Obama transmitting the revised Arctic Refuge Comprehensive Conservation Plan to Congress, which for the first time in history recommended the Coastal Plain of the Refuge for designation as wilderness.
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President Trump Signs Resolution Overturning U.S. Fish and Wildlife Regulation
Don Young (R-Alaska)
April 4, 2017

The Alaska Congressional Delegation today applauded President Trump’s signing of H.J. Res. 69, a resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act to overturn an August 5, 2016 rule by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that seized authority away from the State of Alaska to manage fish and wildlife on federal refuge lands in Alaska:
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