U.S. Congressman’s Bill to Kill International Hunting to Receive Hearing

A powerful House Committee Chairman is trying to eliminate lion and elephant hunting, ban importation of species that could be endangered or threatened in the future, and eliminate input from stakeholder groups that support conservation and hunting. House Resolution 2245, sponsored by Congressman Raul M. Grijalva (D-AZ), chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, is scheduled for a hearing on July 18 in the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Power and Oceans at 10 a.m. in room 1324 in the capitol building.

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Take Action Today! Sportsmen need to contact their member of Congress and ask them to vote NO on HR 2245. Sportsmen can find their member’s contact information by using the Sportsmen’s Alliance Legislative Action Center Directory.

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HR 2245 would:

Prohibit the importation of any lion or elephant taken in Tanzania, Zambia or Zimbabwe.
Ban importation permits for trophies of any species listed or even proposed to be listed as endangered or threatened, regardless of their benefit to the recovery of a species.
Eliminate the International Wildlife Conservation Council, an advisory group representing conservation experts, hunting organizations and federal government agencies that advise the Secretary of Interior on issues including anti-poaching programs, wildlife trafficking, and efforts to increase awareness of the conservation and economic benefits of United States citizens traveling to foreign nations to engage in hunting.
“Congressman Grijalva’s bill is a disaster for conservation, hunting and the economies of many impoverished nations that depend on the expenditures of American hunters to fund conservation, stop poaching, and even provide a basic income for local people where hunting occurs. His obsession with banning hunting will actually harm endangered and threatened wildlife. He is trying to single handedly ban international hunting, and he doesn’t want any input from affected stakeholders or range countries about the impact of this horrible legislation,” said Bruce Tague vice president of government affairs for Sportsmen’s Alliance.

Congressman Grijalva is a past recipient of the Humane Society of the United States’ (HSUS) Humane Champion Award and has received a perfect score from HSUS every year since 2005. He is a frequent carrier of HSUS-authored animal-rights legislation.

About the Sportsmen’s Alliance: The Sportsmen’s Alliance protects and defends America’s wildlife conservation programs and the pursuits – hunting, fishing and trapping – that generate the money to pay for them. Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation is responsible for public education, legal defense and research. Its mission is accomplished through several distinct programs coordinated to provide the most complete defense capability possible. Stay connected to Sportsmen’s Alliance: Online, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

It is embarrassing this guy is from AZ. He serves a poor district in AZ and should focus on their problems.

I just wrote my congressman.

Totally embarrassing

Sorry......Damn worthless Hughes Internet...

Cry for me Arizona.....

quote:

Originally posted by AnotherAZWriter:
It is embarrassing this guy is from AZ. He serves a poor district in AZ and should focus on their problems.

I just wrote my congressman.

When has, ever, a politician had his constituents interests at heart, instead of his own re-election?

Govern by Twitter is the current rage!

Fortunately, he's not that powerful.

The article claims he is!

Can’t these idiot devote their time to solve their constituents problems instead of creating problems for others??

What a bunch of stupid imbeciles!

Spot on Saeed. America is overrun with Imbecile's, Mental Midgets and a host of dumb founded Idiots.

Unfortunately, Grijalva is the chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, and a member of the party that controls the House. He IS a powerful pol. Even if the House passes his bill, it is unlikely to gain much traction in the Senate, but it is always a possibility that an amendment could be added to a piece of "must-pass" legislation. He is a far-left POS, and dangerous as hell every waking moment.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/t...hearing-in-congress/



Congress considers crackdown on trophy hunting
BY TAYLOR MOONEY

JULY 19, 2019 / 2:13 PM / CBS NEWS


Trophy hunters have repeatedly sparked outrage by posting pictures of their kills on social media. Images of Tess Talley standing in front of the giraffe she shot, or Walter Palmer with a dead Cecil the lion, readily come to mind. Around 80% of trophy hunters worldwide are Americans, and public anger at the deaths of such majestic creatures has sparked a push for the government to do something to stop it — even though some maintain the anger is misplaced.


In April, Congressman Raul Grijalva, D-Arizona, introduced the Conserving Ecosystems by Ceasing Importation of Large Animal Species Act, otherwise known as the CECIL Act. The bill would prohibit all importation and exportation of species listed under the Endangered Species Act, including species proposed to be listed, in order to prevent a surge in hunting of the animal prior to its official listing.

The bill would impose a total ban on importing hunting trophies of elephants or lions taken in Tanzania, Zimbabwe or Zambia. It would also ban the import of other sport-hunted trophies of "threatened species or endangered species" unless the country where it was hunted adequately provides for the species' conservation.

At a hearing on Capitol Hill Thursday, six experts testified about the potential impact of the bill before the House subcommittee on Water, Oceans, and Wildlife. Among those supporting the legislation was Iris Ho, the Wildlife Program Manager of Humane Society International, who argued that other forms of tourism offer more stability to African economies than trophy hunting.

"Trophy hunting contributes to just 0.0% of the annual GDP of eight countries surveyed in 2017, supporting only 7,500 jobs. To put this in perspective, a recent report puts non-consumptive tourism supporting 24 million jobs, generating $48 billion in expenditures for Africa and protected areas," Ho said.

But other witnesses disagreed, arguing that in many cases trophy hunting can be part of an effective conservation strategy and that limiting it would only hurt conservation efforts. Catherine Semcer, a research fellow at the Property and Environment Research Center in Montana, was the first on the panel to oppose the bill on these grounds.

"The trophy hunting programs of African nations have a demonstrated track record of making wildlife habitat an economically competitive land use, and preventing conversion to agriculture," Semcer said. "These programs conserve nearly 350 million acres of habitat, a figure that exceeds the total area of sub-Saharan Africa's national parks by 22%."

CBSN Originals explored both sides of the debate in the documentary "Trophy Hunting: Killing or Conservation?", traveling to the Bubye Valley Conservancy in Zimbabwe, a private hunting reserve. At 1,200 square miles, the grounds are about the size of Rhode Island. The conservancy teems with a wide variety of big game species including lions, leopards and elephants. Hunting guide Pete Fick says trophy hunting has been critical to keeping the populations there healthy.

"We try to manage this entire area for all of our species. Not just about the elephant, the rhino, the lion, giraffe, whatever it might be -- it's about everything," he said. "An area can only maintain X amount of elephant, like all of our animals. You can't just let the elephant population just grow and grow and grow and grow."

During Thursday's hearing, Dr. Patience Gandiwa, executive technical advisor of Zimbabwe's Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, also spoke in opposition to the bill, arguing that the legislation was not "constructed in the spirit of advancing conservation efforts" and would actively harm those efforts in rural communities where tourism is not a robust or sustainable source of revenue. Gandiwa acknowledged that the systems are not perfect and corruption is bound to exist, but she argued that because trophy hunting can demonstrably assist in conservation efforts, it should remain an option.

First published on July 19, 2019 / 2:13 PM

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
Can’t these idiot devote their time to solve their constituents problems instead of creating problems for others??

What a bunch of stupid imbeciles!

I am sure that stupid imbeciles are insulted that you include this turd with them.