Todd J Fross
The Lacey Act

At the turn of the century Yellowstone was wide open, it was being hunted by contract Hunters for the wealthy of the day, much the way the wealthy of today are using it to feed their Wolf. If left unchecked there would have been no Wildlife in Yellowstone, the same situation that we have today.
The Lacey Act was used to stop contract hunting and thus began the long road of recovery and the resurrection of the Elk herds thru out the Western States.
The wolf was hunted to extinction, only thirty Wolves were taken during the purge of Yellowstone, last wolf killed in the United States was in the Dakotas in 1930’s.
First licensed Elk hunt in Idaho was in 1948, today the Elk are disappearing faster than Democrats in Louisiana, Moose are harder to find than a Democrat in Florida. What went wrong?
The first violation of the Lacey Act – Wolves were imported illegally into the United States and they were purchased with stolen money.
Second violation of the Lacey Act- EIS were ignored and to date most all the EIS that were done on the Wolf were wrong….kinda’ funny ??
Third violation of the Lacey Act- Provided in the Lacey Act is the States right to regulate any and all species and nothing supersedes the authority of the State.
Silver lining- Included in Lacey Act is the provision for restitution for Storage, Damages and rewards and fines and jail time for those found guilty of knowingly violating the Lacey Act……Ed Bang !



The Lacey Act provides that it is unlawful for any person to import, export, transport, sell, receive, acquire, or purchase any fish or wildlife or plant taken, possessed, transported, or sold in violation of any law, treaty, or regulation of the United States or in violation of any Indian tribal law whether in interstate or foreign commerce. Violation of this federal act can result in civil penalties up to $10,000 per each violation or maximum criminal sanctions of $20,000 in fines and/or up to five years imprisonment. All plants or animals taken in violation of
other the Act are subject to forfeiture as well as all vessels, vehicles, aircraft, and equipment used to aid in the importing, exporting, transporting, selling, receiving, acquiring, or purchasing of fish or wildlife or plants in a criminal violation of this chapter for which a felony conviction is Obtained where the owner should have known of the illegal transgression.



The Lacey Act
4) State authority
Nothing in this subsection preempts or supersedes the authority of a State to regulate wildlife species within that State.
The above regulation is evidence of the U.S. Govt. over stepping its authority and trampling States Rights. States have authority over the Wolf and its regulation based on our needs and wants and concerns.

§ 3374. Forfeiture
(a) In general

(1) All fish or wildlife or plants imported, exported, transported, sold, received, acquired, or purchased contrary to the provisions of section 3372 of this title (other than section 3372(b) of this title), or any regulation issued pursuant thereto, shall be subject to forfeiture to the United States notwithstanding any culpability requirements for civil penalty assessment or criminal prosecution included in section 3373 of this title.

(2) All vessels, vehicles, aircraft, and other equipment used to aid in the importing, exporting, transporting, selling, receiving, acquiring, or purchasing of fish or wildlife or plants in a criminal violation of this chapter for which a felony conviction is obtained shall be subject to forfeiture to the United States if (A) the owner of such vessel, vehicle, aircraft, or equipment was at the time of the alleged illegal act a consenting party or privy thereto or in the exercise of due care should have known that such vessel, vehicle, aircraft, or equipment would be used in a criminal violation of this chapter, and (B) the violation involved the sale or purchase of, the offer of sale or purchase of, or the intent to sell or purchase, fish or wildlife or plants.

(b) Application of customs laws

All provisions of law relating to the seizure, forfeiture, and condemnation of property for violation of the customs laws, the disposition of such property or the proceeds from the sale thereof, and the remission or mitigation of such forfeiture, shall apply to the seizures and forfeitures incurred, or alleged to have been incurred, under the provisions of this chapter, insofar as such provisions of law are applicable and not inconsistent with the provisions of this chapter, except that all powers, rights, and duties conferred or imposed by the customs laws upon any officer or employee of the Treasury Department may, for the purposes of this chapter, also be exercised or performed by the Secretary or by such persons as he may designate: Provided, That any warrant for search or seizure shall be issued in accordance with rule 41 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure.

(c) Storage cost

Any person convicted of an offense, or assessed a civil penalty, under section 3373 of this title shall be liable for the costs incurred in the storage, care, and maintenance of any fish or wildlife or plant seized in connection with the violation concerned.

The above Regulation leaves the USFWS liable for damage caused by the Wolf.
Part c) Storage Cost – Leaves the door open for compensation to the States for cost of caring for the Wolf while he was in our States.
The following regulation also opens the door for compensation for exposing the criminal activities of the USFWS !


(d) Rewards and incidental expenses

Beginning in fiscal year 1983, the Secretary or the Secretary of the Treasury shall pay, from sums received as penalties, fines, or forfeitures of property for any violation of this chapter or any regulation issued hereunder (1) a reward to any person who furnishes information which leads to an arrest, a criminal conviction, civil penalty assessment, or forfeiture of property for any violation of this chapter or any regulation issued hereunder, and (2) the reasonable and necessary costs incurred by any person in providing temporary care for any fish, wildlife, or plant pending the disposition of any civil or criminal proceeding alleging a violation of this chapter with respect to that fish, wildlife, or plant. The amount of the reward, if any, is to be designated by the Secretary or the Secretary of the Treasury, as appropriate. Any officer or employee of the United States or any State or local government who furnishes information or renders service in the performance of his official duties is ineligible for payment under this subsection.





The Endangered Species Act – U.S. Govt. has used the Endangered Species Act to bludgeon the Western States for years. The Lacey Act was and is a powerful tool created to protect Wildlife but it was not powerful enough. Endangered Species Act was invented to side step States Rights,which the Lacey Act protected.

The necessity to destroy the Constitutional Rights of any State or Person is an indictment against the Law that does so and is grounds for the prosecution of those who would find it expedient to pass such heinous legislation. At this point in time we can see the damage that has been done by just such a Law – The Endangered Species Act!.... and there is a list of names of those who voted for it !
Nothing Good has come as a result of The Endangered Species Act! Like a cancer the U.S. Govt. has used it to destroy not preserve. Name one thing that is better because of the Endangered Species Act and I will Kiss your Ass.

Todd Fross
Save Western Wildlife

It's pretty obvious Fross isn't a lawyer and can't actually understand what he's reading.

And he starts right off with this erroneous comment:

"The wolf was hunted to extinction, only thirty Wolves were taken during the purge of Yellowstone, last wolf killed in the United States was in the Dakotas in 1930’s."

quote:

Name one thing that is better because of the Endangered Species Act and I will Kiss your Ass.

Tell Mr. Fross to pucker up. The ESA went into effect in 1973. One of the first animals put on the list was the American Alligator. The numbers of which were really low at that time. Unless I have gotten my dates wrong, 10 years after gators were listed, they were delisted and hunting seasons opened up for them.

I feel that was a good thing. Has there been abuse by the Feds in implementing and enforcing the ESA and the Lacey Act, Yes.

After some recent threads on here, and the information that was given in those threads, I have modified my opinion on the Lacey Act.

In its original form I think it served a good purpose. Now with all of the power grabbing that has taken place within our Federal Agencies I feel that the present Lacey Act has over stepped its original intentions.

As for state authority over wildlife, that issue was decided in favor of the federal government by the U.S. Supreme Court many years ago, and strengthened in various decisions several times since.

In practice, however, the feds generally allow state wildlife agencies to manage resident wildlife and only get involved with endangered species, migratory birds, marine mammals, etc.

Bill Quimby

quote:

Originally posted by billrquimby:
As for state authority over wildlife, that issue was decided in favor of the federal government by the U.S. Supreme Court many years ago, and strengthened in various decisions several times since.

Plus, the quote below refers to the prohibitions and penalties outlined above it in ONLY that subsection:

The Lacey Act
4) State authority
Nothing in this subsection preempts or supersedes the authority of a State to regulate wildlife species within that State.

In other words, whatever prohibitions and/or penalties there are in that SUBSECTION which basically apply to individuals who violate a law somewhere does not preclude the states from managing its wildlife where necessary.

quote:

Originally posted by billrquimby:
In practice, however, the feds generally allow state wildlife agencies to manage resident wildlife and only get involved with endangered species, migratory birds, marine mammals, etc.

Exactly. ESA concerns trump state wildlife issues. For example, the jaguar is listed as an ESA endangered species, thus the AZGFD cannot open a hunting season on it. Likewise for the various regs set on migratory species; the states' management must follow the fed's recommendations.

The major problem with the wolf debacle came about when the USF&WS ignored the initial number of wolves, including breedinf pairs, that would be permitted under the original terms of the introduction. Couple that with Wyoming's stance and the lawsuits that delayed the states from getting the management of the wolves in place and we now have the major problem of far too many wolves.

There is far too many wolves all right!