We are going to find out the real intent very soon.

The Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) announced last week that it will now consider all permits for importing elephant trophies from African nations on a “case-by-case basis," breaking from President Trump's earlier promises to maintain an Obama-era ban on the practice.

In a formal memorandum issued on Thursday, FWS said it will withdraw its 2017 Endangered Species Act (ESA) findings for trophies of African elephants from Zimbabwe and Zambia, “effective immediately.”


The memo said “the findings are no longer effective for making individual permit determinations for imports of sport-hunted African elephant trophies.”

In its place, FWS will instead “grant or deny permits to import a sport-hunted trophy on a case-by-case basis.”

FWS said it will still consider the information included in the ESA findings, as well as science-based risk assessments of the species’ vulnerability, when evaluating each permit request.

The service also announced it is withdrawing a number of previous ESA findings, which date back to 1995, related to trophies of African elephants, bontebok and lions from multiple African countries.

The decision to withdraw the FWS findings followed a D.C. Circuit Court decision in December that found fault with the initial Obama-era rule, which banned importing elephant hunting trophies from Zimbabwe.

"In response to a recent D.C. Circuit Court's opinion, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is revising its procedure for assessing applications to import certain hunted species. We are withdrawing our countrywide enhancement findings for a range of species across several countries,” a spokesperson for FWS said in a statement. “In their place, the Service intends to make findings for trophy imports on an application-by-application basis.”

A federal appeals court ruled at the end of last year that the Obama administration did not follow the right procedures when it drafted its ban on the imports. The court also said the FWS should have gone through the extensive process of proposing a regulation, inviting public comment and making the regulation final when it made determinations in 2014 and 2015 that elephant trophies cannot be brought into the country.

The agency used the same procedures as the Obama administration for its ESA determination in 2017 that led to reopening African elephant imports to the U.S. in November.

At the time, a FWS spokesperson said the reversal “will enhance the survival of the species in the wild.”

Following the fall announcement to overturn the ban, the Trump administration faced immense backlash, which played a role in leading the president to denounce elephant hunting and promise to re-establish the ban.

Trump in February called the administration’s initial decision to overturn the Obama-era ban “terrible.”

In an interview with British journalist Piers Morgan, Trump said he had decided to officially turn the order around.

“I didn’t want elephants killed and stuffed and have the tusks brought back into this [country] and people can talk all they want about preservation and all of the things that they’re saying where money goes towards ― well, money was going ― in that case, going to a government which was probably taking the money, OK?” Trump said.

Despite the president’s tweets and interviews, however, FWS and the Interior Department remained tight-lipped as to the status of the ban. Numerous requests for information to FWS from The Hill over several months were referred to Interior and left unanswered.

“The president has been very clear in the direction that his administration will go,” the FWS spokesperson said of the new memorandum. “Unfortunately, since aspects of the import permitting program for trophies are the focus of ongoing litigation, the Department is unable to comment about specific next steps at this time."

Nine days before FWS added the reversal to the Federal Register, the Interior Department announced that it was establishing an International Wildlife Conservation Council to "advise the Secretary of the Interior on the benefits that international recreational hunting has on foreign wildlife and habitat conservation."

The council will hold its first meeting next week on March 16.

Typical noncommittal statement from a slimy politician and he's proving to be the slimiest one yet.

Don’t listen to the so-called president, that idiot has no clue what he is talking about.

quote:

Originally posted by Sunshine:
Don’t listen to the so-called president, that idiot has no clue what he is talking about.

With all due respect sir, we have no choice other than to listen to him. After all, in the final analysis, he is the one who likely decides this issue one way or another.

By "case by case" I assume that means checking what's trending on Twitter then deciding?

quote:

Originally posted by Sunshine:
Don’t listen to the so-called president, that idiot has no clue what he is talking about.

Unlike the politicians you have over there, huh? the irony is classic...

quote:

quote:Originally posted by Sunshine: Don’t listen to the so-called president, that idiot has no clue what he is talking about. Unlike the politicians you have over there, huh? the irony is classic...

Unlike the politicians you have over there, huh? the irony is classic..

Spot on jorge!

quote:

Originally posted by Atticus:
By "case by case" I assume that means checking what's trending on Twitter then deciding?

Exactly!

quote:

Originally posted by jorge:

quote:

Originally posted by Sunshine:
Don’t listen to the so-called president, that idiot has no clue what he is talking about.

Unlike the politicians you have over there, huh? the irony is classic...

Ha ha.... You beat me to it!

I will say, this idea by Trump is IDIOTIC!

quote:

Originally posted by Sunshine:
Don’t listen to the so-called president, that idiot has no clue what he is talking about.

Wow!

Our "so-called" President is not gonna take our personal property without compensation..... You have no room to talk about our President...


.

quote:

Originally posted by jorge:

quote:

Originally posted by Sunshine:
Don’t listen to the so-called president, that idiot has no clue what he is talking about.

Unlike the politicians you have over there, huh? the irony is classic...

Kind of what I was thinking.....what a dumbasss thing to say.

Perhaps this is being looked at the wrong way. Perhaps this is not the result of Trump doing anything. Didn't Zinke says that neither USFWS nor the President had changed their position?

Perhaps this is the direct result of the USFWS losing the court challenge.

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:
Perhaps this is being looked at the wrong way. Perhaps this is not the result of Trump doing anything. Didn't Zinke says that neither USFWS nor the President had changed their position?

Perhaps this is the direct result of the USFWS losing the court challenge.

+1

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:
Perhaps this is being looked at the wrong way. Perhaps this is not the result of Trump doing anything. Didn't Zinke says that neither USFWS nor the President had changed their position?

Perhaps this is the direct result of the USFWS losing the court challenge.

+2 And I believe Larry is 100% correct in his suggestion.

At today's White House press briefing in response to a direct question about the import ban the spokesman said that there has been no change in the President's or the Administration's position on the ban.

Trump Still Opposed To Elephant Trophy Importation

http://www.chicagotribune.com/...-20180306-story.html

Nope. Read this.....

quote:

Originally posted by Bwana1:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/...-20180306-story.html

Nope. Read this.....

I think if one reads the article closely, it references a ruling in a long running lawsuit between the USFWS,SCI and the NRA.

I think the letter issued is the result of the litigation and not Trump changing his mind.

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:

quote:

Originally posted by Bwana1:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/...-20180306-story.html

Nope. Read this.....

I think if one reads the article closely, it references a ruling in a long running lawsuit between the USFWS,SCI and the NRA.

I think the letter issued is the result of the litigation and not Trump changing his mind.

I think so too. This is an issue that had momentum already and it just happened to come to a head now. Thus Sanders was accurate to say their position hasn’t (technically) changed.

http://kticradio.com/abc_polit...trump-abcid36043011/



INTERIOR SEC. SAYS NEW ELEPHANT TROPHY POLICY ‘100% ALIGNED’ WITH TRUMP

BY ABC News Radio | March 7, 2018



(WASHINGTON) — Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke defended the administration’s reversal of the elephant trophy ban during a press conference on Capitol Hill on Wednesday morning.

“Let me make it absolutely clear: We are 100 percent aligned with the president’s policy,” Zinke told reporters. “The court itself said that we had to change our process, but the policy remains the same. We are 100 percent aligned with the president’s policy.”

As part of an ongoing lawsuit, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced last week that it rescinded a ban on importing elephant trophies and other decisions about permits import trophies from big game animals. The agency said it will now consider applications for the permits on a case by case basis.

In a statement about the decision the agency said “the President has been very clear in the direction that his administration will go” and a separate statement from the Interior Department said the president and Zinke’s views on the issue have not changed.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service would not comment further on how the permits will be considered.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment on Monday.

The agency announced the change after a federal judge ruled the government had to reconsider the ban put in place by the Obama administration because the rule was created internally instead of going through the public comment process.

The Trump administration announced that it would lift the ban last year but quickly put the decision on hold after intense public backlash. President Donald Trump tweeted at the time that he was putting the permits on hold to review the information.

The president also tweeted that hunting elephants was “horror show” and said in an interview a few months later that he didn’t support the practice.

“I didn’t want elephants killed and stuffed and have the tusks brought back into this and people can talk all they want about preservation and all the things that they’re saying where money goes toward, well money was, in that case, going toward a government that’s probably taking the money, okay,” Trump told Piers Morgan in an interview in January

Permits to bring trophies from elephants killed abroad would not apply to ivory, which is illegal in the U.S.

The president’s sons have been pictured on big game hunts and even standing next to a dead elephant while holding its severed tail. They have said that hunting is an important part of conservation efforts.

Members of Congress and animal advocacy groups condemned the administration’s new policy this week and said it is not in line with the president’s previous statements about the policy.

Members of the Congressional Animal Protection Caucus Reps. Earl Blumenauer, D-Oregon, and Vern Buchanan, R-Florida, called on the president to preserve the ban in a statement.

“This news is disappointing and disturbing and is a clear break from the president’s promise to uphold the current ban on these imports. Elephants need protection and subverting this ban only puts these animals at risk. As co-chairs of the Congressional Animal Protection Caucus, we urge the president to uphold his executive authority and fully retain the ban,” they said in a statement.

Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, tweeted that the move was “enraging.”

Other advocacy groups like the Humane Society of the United States, which is involved in the lawsuit with the government over the issue, said the move will move more of the decisions behind closed doors.

“We are extremely troubled by the fact that they are attempting to do business as usual just under a different name,” Humane Society attorney Anna Frostic said in an interview on Monday.

More filings and rulings are expected in the ongoing lawsuit in the coming weeks.

http://www.newsweek.com/petiti...llowing-trump-842103



ELEPHANT TROPHY HUNTING: OVER 1.3 MILLION URGE U.S. IVORY IMPORT BAN AFTER TRUMP REVERSAL
BY EWAN PALMER ON 3/13/18 AT 7:43 AM

Trump Quietly Gives Go Ahead For Elephant Trophy Imports Into U.S.

More than one million people have signed a petition urging a ban on ivory and tusks being imported into the U.S. after the Trump administration reversed an Obama-era block on bringing elephant sport hunting trophies into the country.

The Change.org petition, which is aimed at President Donald Trump and Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke, is gaining signatures rapidly since the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced it will lift the ban and that requests will now be dealt with on a “case-by case-basis.”

At the time of publication, the petition which was launched four months ago by Kathleen Martin, has now attracted more than 1.3 million supporters.



On the description page, Martin writes: “The Trump administration wants to start issuing permits for elephant trophy hunting.

“I have been to Africa and have seen first-hand the impact of hunting elephants for ivory. Dead elephant carcasses left to rot with only the tusks taken is a sight no one should have to endure. A gross waste of life and resources for the environment and community. I cannot stand silent as this change is made.

“Elephants are a majestic animal and are a protected species. To condone killing this animal for sport and importing the ivory and tusks into the U.S. is a legacy I would prefer we not leave.”

The announcement on March 1 that the ban will be reversed contradicts the view taken by Trump in November 2017. In a tweet, Trump referred to the potential of any relaxation on trophy hunting imports as a "horror show."

"Big-game trophy decision will be announced next week but will be very hard pressed to change my mind that this horror show in any way helps conservation of elephants or any other animal," he wrote.

The decision to reverse the decision was also met with dismay from many wildlife conservation groups. It also came up during Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s recent visit to Kenya, a country which has banned trophy hunting since 1977.

Tillerson was in Kenya in early March, visiting an American-funded forensics lab that tracks down elephant poachers for prosecution in Nairobi.

“The whole world is against it,” said Paula Kahumbu, chief executive of Kenyan environmental group Wildlife Direct, ahead of Tillerson’s visit.

She said that past U.S. support for banning the ivory trade had also pushed other countries such as China to back a ban as well.

“To then say, ‘Oh, but we have a special case for some of our people, they should be allowed to have ivory,’ it totally undermines the U.S. leadership role,” Kahumbu said.

As John Jackson said, "The media has this all wrong." Anyone holding their breath awaiting the issuance of import permits is very likely going to turn blue . . . as Zinke said "the President has been very clear in the direction that his administration will go" and Sanders has confirmed that there has been no change in administration policy. I think groups are using the court-induced case-by-case announcement to simply reiterate, for the administration's benefit, that any change in policy would be met with loud screaming. I would love nothing more than to be proven wrong since the biggest losers in this whole tug-of-war are the African elephant and lion.