quote:

Originally posted by drj:
Got an email from John Jackson that some environmentalist group(s) from the U.S. are pushing the "Cecil Act" which would outlaw importation of sport hunted trophies from Africa. I just contacted my congressman to request he vote against it. I hope others will do the same.

quote:

Originally posted by Charles_Helm:
My current representative won't care what I think because I am the wrong political persuasion. Nonetheless I sent an email. Too bad SCI doesn't seem to let us personalize it like NRA does.

Here's the post with the link:

Link

quote:

Originally posted by Charles_Helm:
Yeah, Allred it is..I sent the email anyway.

quote:

Originally posted by Bwana338:
This is the reply that i received..

September 24, 2019

Dear Mr.
,

Thank you for reaching out to me regarding H.R. 2245, the Conserving Ecosystems by Ceasing the Importation of Large (CECIL) Animal Trophies Act. I appreciate you taking the time to write and helping me serve as your representative.

We must respect and live harmoniously with our environment to pass it on to future generations as previous generations passed it onto us. Wildlife serves a critical role in every ecosystem on the planet, and we cannot ignore how our actions affect different species. The decline of one species may have a domino effect that harms all other wildlife around it.

Representative Raul Grijalva introduced the CECIL Act to help further protect threatened and endangered species. The 2015 killing of Cecil - an African lion that was lured out of protected territory in Zimbabwe, shot with an arrow, and tracked for nearly 2 days before he was finally slaughtered - caused outrage among the American public. Despite that, former Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke loosened trophy hunting standards and weakened Endangered Species Act (ESA) Enforcement. Under the CECIL Act, the trophy import and export protections that exist for species listed under the ESA would be extended to include those species "proposed for listing," which would prevent the rush to take animal trophies before an ESA listing is finalized. Permits filed by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to allow for the importation of trophies from endangered or threatened species would be publicly accessible before being granted, and the public would be able to commit on the permits. I am proud to tell you that I have agreed to cosponsor the CECIL Act.

Congress took great strides in protecting wildlife by passing the ESA in 1973. The CECIL Act provides an additional level of protection for these species on an international level, while the ESA continues to provide funds to states to develop conservation programs. The ESA protects over one hundred different species in New Mexico that make it the land we know and love. It is our duty to continue fully funding ESA grants and expand protections for our wildlife.

Unfortunately, the ESA has come under attack in recent years from Republicans in Congress and the Trump Administration, who have sought to undermine the protections it provides our planet’s most imperiled species. Political appointees are suspected of using their positions and influence to meddle in scientific decisions under the ESA and alter policy outcomes, potentially harming species and certainly harming the integrity of the law. As Vice Chair of the House Committee on Natural Resources, I will be working to ensure transparency and accountability in the implementation of the ESA and that sound science is the basis for decision-making under the law.

Again, thank you for sharing your thoughts on this important subject. Please contact me again in the future as Congress debates issues that we all care about.

If you are interested in following my work for you more closely, please sign up for my newsletter here. You can also follow me @RepDebHaaland on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. I look forward to working for you and hope to hear from you again in the future.

Sincerely,

Deb Haaland
Member of Congress

quote:

Originally posted by Bwana338:
This is the reply that i received..

September 24, 2019

Dear Mr.
,

Thank you for reaching out to me regarding H.R. 2245, the Conserving Ecosystems by Ceasing the Importation of Large (CECIL) Animal Trophies Act. I appreciate you taking the time to write and helping me serve as your representative.

We must respect and live harmoniously with our environment to pass it on to future generations as previous generations passed it onto us. Wildlife serves a critical role in every ecosystem on the planet, and we cannot ignore how our actions affect different species. The decline of one species may have a domino effect that harms all other wildlife around it.

Representative Raul Grijalva introduced the CECIL Act to help further protect threatened and endangered species. The 2015 killing of Cecil - an African lion that was lured out of protected territory in Zimbabwe, shot with an arrow, and tracked for nearly 2 days before he was finally slaughtered - caused outrage among the American public. Despite that, former Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke loosened trophy hunting standards and weakened Endangered Species Act (ESA) Enforcement. Under the CECIL Act, the trophy import and export protections that exist for species listed under the ESA would be extended to include those species "proposed for listing," which would prevent the rush to take animal trophies before an ESA listing is finalized. Permits filed by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to allow for the importation of trophies from endangered or threatened species would be publicly accessible before being granted, and the public would be able to commit on the permits. I am proud to tell you that I have agreed to cosponsor the CECIL Act.

Congress took great strides in protecting wildlife by passing the ESA in 1973. The CECIL Act provides an additional level of protection for these species on an international level, while the ESA continues to provide funds to states to develop conservation programs. The ESA protects over one hundred different species in New Mexico that make it the land we know and love. It is our duty to continue fully funding ESA grants and expand protections for our wildlife.

Unfortunately, the ESA has come under attack in recent years from Republicans in Congress and the Trump Administration, who have sought to undermine the protections it provides our planet’s most imperiled species. Political appointees are suspected of using their positions and influence to meddle in scientific decisions under the ESA and alter policy outcomes, potentially harming species and certainly harming the integrity of the law. As Vice Chair of the House Committee on Natural Resources, I will be working to ensure transparency and accountability in the implementation of the ESA and that sound science is the basis for decision-making under the law.

Again, thank you for sharing your thoughts on this important subject. Please contact me again in the future as Congress debates issues that we all care about.

If you are interested in following my work for you more closely, please sign up for my newsletter here. You can also follow me @RepDebHaaland on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. I look forward to working for you and hope to hear from you again in the future.

Sincerely,

Deb Haaland
Member of Congress

quote:

Originally posted by DCS Member:


Wonderful. I’ll send one in the morning.

quote:

Originally posted by Charles_Helm:
Yeah, Allred it is..I sent the email anyway.

quote:

Originally posted by Michael Robinson:


I feel the same way. But I also agree that we have to speak up anyway.

Need to make them understand that not all of us are mindless zombies.

quote:

Originally posted by Charles_Helm:

quote:

Originally posted by DCS Member:


Wonderful. I’ll send one in the morning.

I got back a canned response about protecting wilderness areas...

So I wrote back:

Mr. Allred and Staff:

The response you sent does not address the reason I contacted your office, which is a specific piece of legislation which ignores scientific findings from the people behind the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and proposes to make the United States an outlier in the international community and ban the importation of lawfully hunted animal trophies of species based on emotion and not scientific fact.

Quotas for the lawful sport hunting of these species are established under CITES after reviewing the population of the animals and each country’s plan to manage the population for sustainability. The funds provided by lawful hunting make it possible to keep people in the field year round to control poaching, and the small percentage of animals taken keep the wild areas available for many, many other members of those species as well as large numbers of other species.

When lawful sport hunting is no longer allowed, the funds dry up and poaching becomes widespread. The result is a loss of all species, including the ones targeted by this legislation.

Understand that this proposed legislation replaces the scientific consensus of the international community with an emotional approach not supported by the reality on the ground in Africa.

All I am asking is that we respect the international consensus and support those countries that are doing a good job of managing their wildlife on a sustainable basis. If we keep the US hunting community away then a large amount of money that goes to conservation will also be lost.

I do not know how much time you have spent on the ground in Africa, especially in rural areas where the wildlife is located. Outside the parks the only way to keep the wildlife is to give it value. I have personally witnessed the success of community-based programs which give value back to the people in the areas in return for limited hunting quotas.

Charles Helm

quote:

Originally posted by MARK H. YOUNG:
John,

Unfortunately you're right. These zealots are so invested in being soldiers for "Animal's Rights" that they have no time for science based factual information. Religious fanatics have nothing on these guys.

I think we need to come to the understand that these folks think we are a sub species of human that enjoys murder and we are willing to lie at every turn to continue our slaughter. We have a tough row to hoe with these people.

Mark

quote:

Originally posted by Charles_Helm:
No answer yet to my follow-up email.

quote:

The 2015 killing of Cecil - an African lion that was lured out of protected territory in Zimbabwe, shot with an arrow, and tracked for nearly 2 days before he was finally slaughtered