Advisory Council on Wildlife Trafficking Advisory Council Provides Political Cover for Animal Rights Groups and NGOs Without Helping Elephants President Obama’s Advisory Council on Wildlife Trafficking is composed of NGOs dependent on government grants and political operatives indebted to prominent politicians and/or angling for jobs in a future administration. No one on the council has any background or experience working with legal ivory in the United States. This group serves as political cover for an animal rights agenda that has always opposed the ivory trade combined with NGOs who profit off of an exaggerated crisis. Despite claims to the contrary, the Advisory Council and its members have spent a disproportionate amount of time and resources on a domestic ivory ban. The United Nations Environmental Programme estimated this year (RRAcrimecrisis.pdf) that the total value of all illegal poaching and trade of plants and wildlife is $7-$23 Billion annually. Of that figure, elephant ivory constitutes a maximum of $165-$188 million (retail estimate). Total wildlife crime, including illegal lumbering, fisheries, mining and dumping hazardous waste, is valued between $70-$213 Billion annually. That means poached illegal ivory accounts for 0.7%-2.7% of all wildlife trafficking (the Charter of the Advisory Council), or 0.077%-.269% of all wildlife crime. The more you dig, the more bias you find. Cristian Samper is a Council member and the CEO of the Wildlife Conservation Society, an organization with over $657 million in assets, over $230 million in annual revenues, and about $66 million in government grants. (2012-WildlifeConservationSociety 990_OCR.pdf) This is also the organization spearheading the publicity campaign for a domestic ivory ban, coordinating with museums and zoos, and launching grassroots groups to criminalize the sale of virtually all ivory in the United States. These are the same organizations that consistently exaggerate the extinction threat to African Elephants. CITES estimates the African Elephant population on the African continent to be around 500,000. While some populations in Africa have suffered due to poaching and habitat destruction, others, particularly in Southern Africa, are thriving. CITES estimates illegal poaching peaked in 2011 at 25,000 elephants, and poaching has declined through 2012 to 20,000. The key to the decrease in poaching was increased law enforcement in Africa, and poaching has been dropping since before the ivory ban was proposed. The Elephant Protection Association strongly supports measures that will protect elephants, both in the short and long terms. However, it does not support manufactured crises that disregard proven conservation methods in favor of political issues from which NGOs raise money but do not benefit living elephants. The political issues waste resources that could help protect elephants, and in the worst case, actually harm elephants by generating policies that fail to account for economic and environmental realities. Ivory Ban Timeline 7/13 President Obama signs Executive Order creating the Advisory Council on Wildlife Trafficking without mention of the ivory trade 11/13 US Fish & Wildlife Service crushes 6 tons of ivoryconfiscated over 25 years in a publicity stunt to blur the lines between legal and illegal ivory in the United States 12/13 The Advisory Council has its first public meeting where it introduces the idea of a Domestic Ivory Ban in the United States. 2/14 President Obama announces the National Strategy for Combating Wildlife Trafficking & Commercial Ban on Trade in Elephant Ivory, disclosing plans to prohibit commercial import of all elephant ivory including antiques and ban all commercial trade of ivory in the United States with very limited exceptions 2/14 USFWS Director Daniel Ashe issues Directors Order 210, immediately banning importation of elephant ivory including antiques imposing documentation requirements for exceptions that few if any people can meet 3/14 Advisory Council on Wildlife Trafficking conducts a public meeting in Washington DC where they first receive comment from legal ivory owners 5/14 USFWS amends Director’s Order 210 nominally relaxing standards about proving which port an antique entered the US and travelling internationally with musical instruments 5/14 USFWS publishes Use After Import and other CITES related regulatory updates (May 27) 6/14 Advisory Council conducts third public meeting, approvingPresidential Task Force recommendations before hearing public comment (June 9) 6/14 US House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, Oceans and Insular Affairs conducts hearing on the Domestic Ivory Ban (June 24) 6/14 Use After Import regulations go into effect on (June 26) 7/14 USFWS publishes Final Policy for “Significant Portion of Its Range” definition under Endangered Species Act (July 1) 7/14 US House Appropriations Subcommittee on the Interior approves FY2015 Interior and Environment Appropriations Bill which would “roll back the clock” on USFWS efforts to implement a Domestic Ivory Ban to February 1, 2014 (July 9) 7/14 H.R. 5052 introduced in House and S. 2587 introduced in Senate to prevent USFWS from implementing a Domestic Ivory Ban with similar effect of FY2015 Appropriations language (July 10) 7/14 US House Appropriations Committee approves FY2015 Interior Appropriations bill including the Domestic Ivory Ban Roll Back (July 15) Fight the Ivory Ban Actions you can take to stop the federal Ivory Ban Ask Your Representative to Cosponsor HR 5052 Get Congress to roll back USFWSs Domestic Ivory Ban while allowing the government to fight elephant poaching and wildlife trafficking Ask Your Senators to Cosponsor S. 2587 Get Congress to roll back USFWSs Domestic Ivory Ban while allowing the government to fight elephant poaching and wildlife trafficking Inform Lawmakers that Legal Ivory Can Help Elephants Tweet the President and your legislators to let them know of common sense ways to protect elephants and innocent Americans alike. Bills Opposing the Ivory Ban Bills introduced in the House and Senate to stop USFWS from imposing an ivory ban Federal - S 2587 A bill to amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to protect and conserve species and the lawful possession of certain ivory in the United States, and for other purposes. Support Federal - HR 5052 A bill to amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to protect and conserve species and the lawful possession of certain ivory in the United States, and for other purpose Copyright 2014 Elephant Protection
Posted on: Fri, 31 Oct 2014 11:48:06 +0000
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