News from the
Safari Club International
Sportsmen Beat
Anti-Hunters
Thanks to SCI members and
other passionate hunters, the California Assembly soundly defeated
Bill 342 yesterday. The ill-conceived Bill sought to ban the use
of dogs in hunting bears and bobcats.
Hundreds of sportsmen and
women showed their support for science-based wildlife management
at the Sacramento hearing, and legislators embraced facts over
fanfare to vote 10 to 4 against the anti-hunting measure. The
bipartisan vote prompted the Bill’s author to request
reconsideration, or one more opportunity to vote on the unpopular
Bill.
SCI encourages hunters,
particularly those who live or hunt in California, to thank the 10
legislators who voted down Bill 342. Click here for phone numbers
of the elected officials deserving thanks. Also, please click
here for the phone numbers needed to encourage the legislators
who did not vote yesterday to say “No” to 342. Finally, click
here to get phone numbers needed to sound off against the four
politicians who voted against hunters and for Bill 342.
Sportsmen Unite
SCI, 29 other sportsmen’s
organizations, and the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation
recently ran a full-page advertisement in Roll Call, a Capitol
Hill newspaper read by members of Congress. It showcases
sportsmen’s contributions to wildlife conservation and the
economy.
The ad also thanks the
United States Fish and Wildlife Service for its effectiveness in
conserving wildlife, noting the value of legal hunting throughout
the National Wildlife Refuge system.
See the ad by clicking:
www.safariclubfoundation.org/scin/v2n10/RefugeRollCallAdforWeb.pdf
IAFWA Joins Fray
Yesterday, SCI helped
advance the fight against the Fund For Animals lawsuit against the
United States Fish and Wildlife Service for allowing hunting on
National Wildlife Refuges. SCI hosted a meeting at its office on
Capitol Hill to discuss the creation of a task force to better
defend against the FFA attack.
Groups that are
considering participation on the task force include the
International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, the
Congressional Sportsmen’s Fund, National Rifle Association, U.S.
Sportsmen’s Alliance, Teddy Roosevelt Conservation Partnership,
Ducks Unlimited, Delta Waterfowl, the Wildlife Management
Institute and others.
The IAFWA is already
assisting SCI, which filed a motion to intervene in the case. SCI
also is collaborating with the USSA and expects the task force
will soon strengthen the fight against Fund for Animals.
Hunter Access Examined
The Congressional
Sportsmen’s Foundation has released initial findings on its study
of hunter access in Colorado.
The study, which received
financial support from SCI, reveals that although most hunters see
lack of access to hunting areas as a significant issue, most find
current access acceptable. The study also shows that most
Colorado hunters favor limited vehicle access to minimize
interference on hunting, and are concerned about access
interference to federal land by private landowners.
The study likely will be
expanded.
Get the Lead Out
The US Fish & Wildlife
Service, SCI, and other sportsman organizations are developing a
five-year education program in California to inform sportsmen of
the dangers condors face from lead poisoning.
When condors feed on the
parts of hunter-harvested small game left in-field, these powerful
birds can get lead poisoning and die from the shot and bullets
still in the parts.
SCI urges hunters to help
protect this magnificent, threatened species by simply burying the
parts of any harvests they leave in the field.
BC Grizzly Management
Okay
An independent panel of
experts has concluded that British Columbia “is managing grizzly
bears effectively, and is using sound population estimates. It
also concluded the current practice of hunting grizzly bears in BC
can be managed on a sustainable basis, with minimal risk of
population declines,” according to The Calgary Herald.
The panel also advised BC
officials to lower the number of grizzlies to be harvested to five
percent of the total population in the 60 regions where the
animals live. Joyce Murray, BC’s Minister of Water, Land, and Air
Protection, has promised to implement the changes in time for the
April 2004 spring hunt.
SCI congratulates British
Columbia for making its decisions based on sound wildlife
management principles.
Wildlife Attacks
Wildlife continues to
impact communities across the nation, underscoring the need for
effective wildlife management programs using legal hunting as a
tool.
The Tampa Tribune reports
that a man saved his six-year-old nephew from a 325-pound
alligator that clamped down on the boy’s shoulder.
In Milford, Conn., a man
had to be treated after being attacked by a rabid raccoon, The
Connecticut Post revealed.
To stem an upswing in
vulture-airplane collisions, The Chicago Tribune states that Miami
International Airport is looking for ways to get rid of them and
the rabbits they feed on.
In Tucson, Ariz., says The
Arizona Republic, officials last month were attempting to track
down a pack of coyotes that has attacked a three-year-old girl.
Levis’ PETA Blues
Darla Solomon of Outdoors
Arizona has discovered that the Levis Strauss apparel company
recently made a large donation, which was “close to the million
dollar mark,” to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. She
also was informed that “several employees support PETA and (that
PETA) receive(d) matching donations from the parent company of
Levis Strauss”.
When asked if Levis would
ever consider giving to wildlife conservation, Levis Strauss
Consumer Relations Specialist Shawn Rossiter responded, “Wildlife
conservation is not something we would consider supporting”.
SCI urges the hunting and
conservation community to voice their concerns over these highly
questionable donations as well as Levis’ stance on supporting
wildlife conservation efforts.
Goin’ Down to Dixie
According to the Chicago
Sun-Times, country-western trio The Dixie Chicks has done more to
anger fans than just saying it opposes America’s war against the
leadership of Iraq.
The paper reports that the
group agreed to pose nude for PETA’s “I’d rather go naked than
wear fur” campaign. Then, citing concerns that the ad would
alienate fans who were sportsmen and women, the Dixie Chicks
management pulled the ad.
Peddling Snake Oil
Despite agreeing that the
net-and-bolt strategy used by Princeton Township, N. J., to
control its exploding deer population is not stressful to the
culled deer, the Humane Society of the United States is
nevertheless strongly critical of its use.
In an article in New
Jersey’s The Times, HSUS is instead advising the use, not
surprisingly, of its own dubious birth-control vaccination
program, which has met with failure time and time again in past
field testing.
SCI salutes Princeton
Township ignoring the ill-conceived notions of animal rights
extremists.
Moo-ve Over, PETA
PETA’s false advertising
lawsuit against the California Milk Advisory Board for its “Happy
Cow” ad campaign (ROAR 4.1) was recently thrown out of court,
according The Los Angeles Times.
Superior Court Judge David
Garcia ruled that “the government is exempt from the false
advertisement laws that apply to private individuals”. The
California Milk Advisory Board is a government institution.
SCI congratulates the CMAB
for its victory over PETA and encourages people to sign the
petition asking the IRS to review/revoke PETA’s status as a
501(c)(3) tax-exempt agency.
Dime Dropping Snubbed
PETA has again been
snubbed for trying to post ads that are tasteless and full of
misinformation, states The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Lamar Advertising in
Little Rock, Ark., recently refused to publish a PETA ad
criticizing the use of animal testing by the March of Dimes to
further its research into ending a wide range of childhood
diseases.
“We merely place the ad —
we’re the messengers, so to speak,” said Tom Gibbons of Lamar.
“But we always reserve the right to reject an ad if it has spite
or is in poor taste.” Which PETA’s ads normally do.
SCI salutes Lamar
Advertising and the other media companies that do not give PETA a
forum for its often tasteless diatribes.
What a Pain
PETA’s ludicrous assertion
that fish feel pain has been debunked, as per The Richmond
Times-Dispatch.
Zoologist James Rose at
the University of Wyoming has concluded that fish do not have
specific regions of the cerebral cortex in their brains capable of
feeling pain. Dr. Rose also advises those who are truly concerned
about fish welfare should concentrate on fish habitat maintenance
and enrichment.
SCI thanks Dr. Rose for
proving scientifically that PETA’s rantings have no basis in fact.
More on SCI
Founded in 1971, SCI is
the leader in protecting the freedom to hunt and in promoting
wildlife conservation worldwide.
With some 200 chapters
around the globe, the 501(c)(4) non-profit association is a
tireless advocate for the more than 45 million sportsmen and
sportswomen who, through their legal hunting activities, represent
the single largest source of money necessary to maintain wildlife
populations and habitats, to conduct wildlife research and to
enforce wildlife laws. For more information about SCI, visit
www.scifirstforhunters.org or its government relations
Web site at www.sci-dc.org .
SCI Foundation funds and
manages worldwide programs dedicated to wildlife conservation,
outdoor education and humanitarian services. For more information
about the 501(c)(3) Foundation, visit
www.sci-foundation.org
or its International Wildlife Museum Web site at
www.thewildlifemuseum.org .
