I received a call from my Congressman's office today thanking me for my input with regard to the USFW decision. I had a nice chat with him and stressed the following points:

1) No group is more concerned and upset by the current wave of illegal poaching than the sport hunting community.

2)The ban is completely unjustified with regards to Zimbabwe in particular. They only need look at the elephant population increase that has taken place in the country the last 50 years.

3) Zimbabwe has a proven wildlife management record in general and with regards to elephant in particular.

4) You can make a MUCH better case for Tanzania and stressed that the sport hunting community is extremely disappointed in what has transpired there (Selous in particular) the past 5 years. But I also mentioned that even in TZ that this decision was not necessarily the best way to go about reducing illegal offtake.

In closing I offered myself as a resource if they needed any additional input/information on the subject.

quote:

Originally posted by Frostbit:
BINGO!! Found it...

Director, Dan Ashe: Telephone 202-208-4717, Email: dan_ashe@fws.gov
Address: U.5. Fish & Wildlife Service, 1849 C. Street, NW, ROOM 3331 Washington, DC 20240

Frostbit, thanks for locating this. I sent a new e-mail directly to him making the argument described above asking what he thinks the state of waterfowl and waterfowl hunting would be without the duck stamp program? Yet the USFWS is doing the exact same thing through this ban on elephant trophies. I would encourage others to make their own arguments and appeal to his conservation mission. If Director Ashe is really a hunter he should be really bothered by this decision!

Dan Ashe is the gentleman that came and gave us the condescending lecture at the Wildlife CLE Seminar at SCI this year, and that I mentioned early on, regarding this and other USFWS issues. Based on his lecture, I have no respect for the man, whatsoever. Hopefully your letters will somehow change his mind. Good luck.

quote:

I received a call from my Congressman's office today thanking me for my input with regard to the USFW decision. I had a nice chat with him and stressed the following points:

Safari2:

One has to assume you addressed the letter to your Congressman but he got his sidekick to answer you instead.

Goes to show the man is too busy to spend several minutes of his time to discuss trivia with his constituents!

I wouldn't hold my breath waiting to be called for any additional input/information though.

quote:

Originally posted by Use Enough Gun:
Dan Ashe is the gentleman that came and gave us the condescending lecture at the Wildlife CLE Seminar at SCI this year, and that I mentioned early on, regarding this and other USFWS issues. Based on his lecture, I have no respect for the man, whatsoever. Hopefully your letters will somehow change his mind. Good luck.

Is there a video of this lecture anywhere?

Jeff

I am registeted to go. I can't afford to go at this time, but I can't affotd not to go.

Jeff

Here is the response I received from Senator John Barrasso:

Dear Lee, Thank you for taking the time to contact me about wildlife. It is good to hear from you. I appreciate hearing your concerns regarding the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's decision to ban the importation of sport-hunted elephants from Zimbabwe and Tanzania. I agree that hunters play an important role in conservation both in Wyoming and internationally. Please know that I will keep your thoughts and concerns in mind as the Senate continues to debate conservation issues. Thank you again for taking the time to contact me. I look forward to hearing from you in the future. John Barrasso, M.D. United States Senator

quote:

Originally posted by fujotupu:

quote:

I received a call from my Congressman's office today thanking me for my input with regard to the USFW decision. I had a nice chat with him and stressed the following points:

Safari2:

One has to assume you addressed the letter to your Congressman but he got his sidekick to answer you instead.

Goes to show the man is too busy to spend several minutes of his time to discuss trivia with his constituents!

I wouldn't hold my breath waiting to be called for any additional input/information though.

I agree..

quote:

Originally posted by Safari2:
I received a call from my Congressman's office today thanking me for my input with regard to the USFW decision. I had a nice chat with him and stressed the following points:

1) No group is more concerned and upset by the current wave of illegal poaching than the sport hunting community.

2)The ban is completely unjustified with regards to Zimbabwe in particular. They only need look at the elephant population increase that has taken place in the country the last 50 years.

3) Zimbabwe has a proven wildlife management record in general and with regards to elephant in particular.

4) You can make a MUCH better case for Tanzania and stressed that the sport hunting community is extremely disappointed in what has transpired there (Selous in particular) the past 5 years. But I also mentioned that even in TZ that this decision was not necessarily the best way to go about reducing illegal offtake.

In closing I offered myself as a resource if they needed any additional input/information on the subject.

Safari2,
You are 100% correct in everything you say. While the ban does not help anything realistically and potentially makes the situation worse...you can at least understand the TZ ban.

In Zim...it is the blatant killing of tuskers inside the park by foreign operators (along with other stuff) that has really gotten USF&W pissed off. I was told by a pro-guide in Zim that it was hard to take folks on a hike for a while without running over a dead ele. And...I was told they shot a few right at the watering holes...again second hand information.

LHook7,
I got a carbon copy.

My response from Cynthia Loomis was even less impressive, and we've met several times.

I don't think they even read them.

SBT,

I agree, but at least Barrasso's response mentioned the issue, the one I received from Lummis was completely generic.

Chinese. That's the main problem. Deal with that and the gravitation to photo areas in the Selous and you solve the problem.

Tomorrow is the deadline to register for SCI lobby day.

Jeff

TTT. Please take the time to do this if you have not already and urge your friends and associates to do so too.

[Would be nice to have this pinned to the top. I asked by the way that it be pinned at the top but never heard back.]

I tried writing to my congressman about this. He's a good reliable, conservative Republican. But, even he I think is so far removed from being able to get "into" this issue that I don't think my letter was taken terribly seriously.

The response was a little different from the way, for instance, he grabbed and ran with it the issue of the current regime using the IRS to punish conservatives.

The response was short and said words to the effect, "I appreciate hearing from folks back home and please always feel free to share with me your concerns, etc etc". The subject matter wasn't even referenced like it usually is.

So that kind of tells me where we are politically with anything having to do with African hunting/elephants.

That's just my take on it. Perhaps, and hopefully, everyone else here is having a totally different experience.

Anyway, we've got an enormous public relations problem on our hands...and only a regime change where you've got some hunters in the WH will make a real difference. Then progress can be made. Unless somebody in the meantime can get a court to listen...

quote:

Originally posted by MJines:
TTT. Please take the time to do this if you have not already and urge your friends and associates to do so too.

[Would be nice to have this pinned to the top. I asked by the way that it be pinned at the top but never heard back.]

I am with Mr. Jines.

Saeed, why is this not pinned at the top?

This is the single biggest threat to African Hunting to date.

If they are successful, don't think that this won't embolden them.

Lion Next.

Jeff

quote:

Originally posted by Frostbit:
Here's the boiler plate response from Lisa Murkowski. Am I imagining this or could this response be a one size fits all for animal rights as well as "wildlife trafficking"?

That was a waste...


Dear James:

Thank you for contacting me about wildlife trafficking. I appreciate hearing from you and having the opportunity to respond.

I respect and enjoy the outdoors and nature and believe we must be responsible for protecting our wildlife as well as our pets. There is no doubt that protecting the rights of animals is extremely important, and Congress must continue to work toward that goal.

Should the Senate consider legislation regarding this issue, I will keep your comments in mind. Again, thank you for contacting me.





United States Senator
Lisa Murkowski

Compare Senators Murkowski and Begich's non-reply to Representative Young's I received today...

Dear Mr. Wojciehowski,

Thank you for contacting me regarding U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's (FWS) restrictions on all sport-hunted elephant importations from Tanzania and Zimbabwe. I appreciate you taking the time to share your concerns with me.

On March 4, 2014, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) announced that all sport-hunted elephant importations from Tanzania and Zimbabwe would be suspended in 2014. This decision took many by surprise, and is troubling for many reasons. First, the FWS does not have a scientific basis for this decision, and they cite "anecdotal evidence" in their release announcing the decision. Also, this decision will affect the livelihoods of many Africans and could also severely damage anti-poaching efforts in these countries.

Similarly to the U.S., hunters in Africa are the primary financial backers of wildlife management through the myriad of fees paid to hunt these animals. For example, in Zimbabwe alone, the user fees of hunters contribute up to 90% of the revenue that funds the Zimbabwean Department of National Parks and Wildlife Management. If U.S hunters are unable to import their trophies, there is no incentive for these hunters to travel to these nations and the support they provide the economy and wildlife management will go unrealized.

In the coming months, I will continue to pressure the FWS to rescind this decision and I will work with my colleagues on the House Natural Resources Committee to find out where this decision originated and why it was made.

Once again, thank you for expressing your views on this issue. If you haven't already, I would encourage you to sign up for my e-newsletter at http://donyoung.house.gov/Forms/EmailSignup/and my YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/RepDonYoung. Doing so will allow me to provide you with updates on this and other important issues. If I can be of any assistance in the future, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Sincerely,

DON YOUNG
Congressman for All Alaska

TTT

Done.

Nice answer!