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To read original comments submitted by AWI on October 17th click here UPDATE: As a result of massive grassroots activism against the proposed amendments to the Endangered Species Act, the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service has reportedly received THOUSANDS of faxed comments! The response has been so great that the Service is asking to help conserve paper by sending in comments by email. IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY DONE SO, please email the Fish and Wildlife Service as soon as possible (no later than November 10) at: FW9ESCS@fws.gov. **UPDATE** AWI HAS LEARNED THAT THE FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE INTENDS TO REOPEN THE COMMENT PERIOD TO ALLOW FOR MORE TIME TO RESPOND…PLEASE CHECK BACK FOR DETAILS. Please urge the Service to withdraw its proposal to weaken the regulations that implement the Endangered Species Act. As we noted in our most recent email alert (http://www.saplonline.org/Alerts/103103.htm), this move will eviscerate the Act's protection for endangered species in other countries. [Federal Register: September 10, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 175)] Page 53320-53327 50 CFR Part 13 and 17 RIN]. HERE THEY GO AGAIN! October 31, 2003 Dear Humanitarian: At the beginning of the month we told you that the Department of the Interior is attempting to institute a new policy to make it easier to import endangered species from across the globe. Now, the Department is actually trying to change the regulations that implement the Endangered Species Act to do this very same thing. Comments are due by November 10! WHAT’S AT STAKE? Under the proposed rule of September 10, 2003 [Federal Register Vol. 68, No. 175, pages 53327 – 53334] it would be easier to import—even kill—foreign endangered species as long as the perpetrator shows some attempt to contribute to the conservation of the species in the wild. Usually, this means putting some money toward a conservation program.* Will that help the species? Who knows? Will the money actually go toward conservation? Who knows? Will this put wild threatened and endangered animals at greater risk? Absolutely. If implemented, this regulation change would make it easier to:
The Bush Administration is putting a price tag on the head of every endangered species on earth—and it would allow these animals to be sold at any price. Please weigh in now with letters opposing this new regulation. State unequivocally that you oppose any changes to the Endangered Species Act that would make it easier to import endangered animals, whether alive or dead, or their parts or products made from them. TAKE ACTION NOW! I. Please write to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service / Division of Conservation and Classification to tell them that you OPPOSE the proposed rule. You can find the Federal Register regarding this draft policy at: http://policy.fws.gov/library/03-22777.pdf The address is:
Division of Conservation and Classification Fax: 703-358-1735. II. Also, please call BOTH of your United States Senators and your Congressional Representative and urge them all to contact the Fish and Wildlife Service in opposition to this change in regulation! You can reach any of these legislators through the Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121. III. Encourage others to do the same. Spread this message wherever you can. For more information:
Sincerely, Cathy Liss * Currently, with some exceptions, the ESA prevents the import of foreign endangered species, over 500 species across the globe. One exception is when such an action would be for scientific purposes or “enhance the propagation or survival of the affected species”; in other words, when the import of some individual animals would have a significant benefit to the wild population as a whole. The scheme to broaden this exception is based on the unjustified suggestion that there may be some conservation benefit when live animals—or even the parts and products of slaughtered ones—are sold in the U.S. market. The unsubstantiated claim is that when this sort of commerce occurs, money goes back into conservation projects in the country of origin. |
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