AUG, 2012 "In The Crosshairs"

August 03, 2012

  SCI, U.S. FWS Confer About Hunting Matters: As part of the organization’s hunter advocacy mission, Safari Club International officials met recently with the head of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to discuss critical hunting and wildlife policies that affect hunters around the world. SCI works tirelessly to provide hunters the best opportunities to improve policies that affect hunting, both domestically and internationally. To be an effective hunter advocate requires specific lobbying efforts with high-level government officials. When SCI President John Whipple, President-Elect Craig Kauffman, Government Affairs Committee (GAC) Chairman Paul Babaz, and GAC Vice-Chair Al Maki visited the Washington, D.C. office in July, they sat down with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) Director Dan Ashe to discuss a variety of important issues and policies that affect hunters and hunting. Al Maki, who also chairs the SCI Foundation Conservation Committee, asked the FWS to work collaboratively with SCI and SCI Foundation biologists to develop coordinated positions as the CITES Conference of the Parties 16 approaches next year in Bangkok, Thailand. SCI and FWS policies may differ, but developing relationships where there is common ground can help lead to better policies, such as an improved definition of a “Hunting Trophy.” (Source: SCI’s First For Hunters Blog) Read the full article here http://bit.ly/OLs4Sl

  Tables Turned On Humane Society: “In a little-reported ruling by a judge in the District of Columbia earlier this month, the HSUS is facing allegations under RICO statues on racketeering, obstruction of justice, malicious prosecution and other claims for a lawsuit it brought and lost against Ringling Brothers Circus' parent company Feld Entertainment, Inc. After winning the case alleging mistreatment of elephants in its circuses brought by Friends of Animals (later merged into HSUS), the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) and the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI), lawyers at Feld filed a countersuit with a litany of claims ranging from bribery to money laundering to racketeering. The attorneys for the animal rights groups asked the judge to dismiss all of the claims, but most survived. So in early August, HSUS will be facing the music in a case that should attract the attention of hunters, ranchers, farmers and anyone impacted by HSUS' radical animal rights agenda. District judge Emmet G. Sullivan did dismiss allegations of mail and wire fraud, but he did so only because Feld didn't have standing to file this charge. His ruling all but set the stage for a class-action RICO lawsuit against HSUS for misrepresenting itself in its fundraising campaigns across the nation. This lawsuit easily could bankrupt HSUS, put it out of business and send some of its top executives to prison.” (Source: LA Daily News) Read the full article here http://bit.ly/OLrVyl

  Taxpayer Millions Paid To Anti-Hunting Organizations: “Documents provided by the U.S. Department of Justice to the House Natural Resources Committee show that our federal government is giving millions of taxpayer dollars to anti-hunting organizations. Anti-hunting groups like the Center for Biological Diversity, the Humane Society of the United States, Defenders of Wildlife, and the Sierra Club are cashing in – on your dime. Taxpayer Dollars to Anti-Hunters – How Much? On cases that were listed as ‘active’ between October 1, 2008 and April 4, 2012 more than $21 million was paid out to pay the attorney’s fees for groups suing under the Endangered Species Act (‘ESA’). Of that $21 million, more than $6 million in taxpayer dollars went to pay attorneys for some of the nation’s largest anti-hunting organizations. The money is paid out from a taxpayer fund called the Judgment Fund. That means your tax dollars are being paid to anti-hunting organizations’ attorneys.” (Source: AmmoLand.com) Read the full story here http://bit.ly/NWwapM

  Tanzania: Choppers to Be Used To Fight Poaching: “Arusha — AERIAL patrols are set to be initiated by conservation authorities here to fight poaching. The Tanzania National Parks (TANAPA) and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority (NCAA), both based in Arusha will join forces in conducting aerial patrolling using helicopters to combat poaching, crime and other illegal acts in the Northern Circuit.A Tourism Officer with Tanzania National Parks, Mr Johnson Manase, revealed that TANAPA and NCAA had agreed to pool their resources together and fight poaching. ‘We will have wildlife rangers on the ground and a helicopter in the sky for faster rescue operations as well as aerial perambulation,’ stated Mr Manase.” (Source: AllAfrica.com) Read more at http://bit.ly/NXPCCp

  2012 Carlo Caldesi Award Winners Announced For Best Hunting Trophies: “The 2012 winners of the Carlo Caldesi Award were announced by the Caldesi Family last month in Milan, Italy. The Caldesi Award is a prestigious award given each year in honor of the greatest hunting trophies taken around the world. Entries include the best of the best and are judged by an international panel based on trophy quality, difficulty and availability of the species. Amazing trophies are entered every year. You can see photos of all of them at the website http://www.carlocaldesiaward.it/.” (Source: HuntingReport.com) http://bit.ly/RqVlA9

  Department of Interior Documents Illustrate Latest Attempt to Resurrect Controversial Wild Lands Policy: “WASHINGTON– Bureau of Land Management guidance manuals recently discovered by Congressman Rob Bishop (UT-01) and Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) show that the U.S. Department of Interior (DOI) has resurrected the controversial Wild Lands policy killed by Congress in April 2011.  Included in the manuals is language directly lifted from Secretarial order 3310 and its supporting documents, known as the DOI’s Wild Lands memo, illustrating how BLM employees are to identify and manage lands with wilderness characteristics. Congressman Rob Bishop and Senator Orrin Hatch, along with other Senators and Representatives from the West, today issued a letter to Secretary Ken Salazar outlining concerns and questions about the DOI’s efforts to re-establish Wild Lands through the new guidance manuals.” (Source: Homepage of Rep. Rob Bishop) for more information follow this link http://1.usa.gov/NqVtNx

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