Date: Tue, 14 Oct 2003 09:56:20 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Gail Mackiernan Subject: USFWS proposal on relaxation of endangered species trade In-Reply-To: Mime-version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Hi all -- Some of you may have seen the article in last weekend's post on the USFWS's proposal to relax the trade in endangered species, specifically foreign species. If you missed it, the article can be seen at the web site in the message below from Rich Dolesh (MOS Conservation committee). IMHO, I agree with Rich that this proposal is fraught with danger, although I do know that some "in-country" farming of threatened species (e.g. birdwing butterflies in Papua New Guinea) have been success stories. And certainly import for legitimate captive breeding programs should continue to be allowed. But I have definite reservations about import for the pet or skin trade. Two concerns -- "legal" imports often allow laundering of illegal products, hence strong resistance to renewing trade in ivory by many "range" countries (countries where the species in question occurs) -- and regulation of trade would be overseen by, in many cases, institutions which do not have the resources to effectively manage it or which are subject to outside influences (political or financial) to "overlook" violations, (Heck, that occurs in this country). October 17 is the end of the public comment period. The full proposal can be read at: http://policy.fws.gov/library/03-20941.pdf Since birds would be affected by this change, it is worth all of us putting in our comments. Certainly those seeking this change have been busy! Gail Mackiernan MOS Conservation Committee Here is Rich's original message: From: Rich Dolesh To: MOS conservation committee and others Subject: USFWS proposes relaxation of endangered species trade Hi folks, Did you see the disturbing article in the Washington Post yesterday which described the Bush Administration's intent to direct the USFWS to reinterpret provisions of the Endangered Species Act to allow freer and more unrestricted trade of endangered species from foreign countries? http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10660-2003Oct10.html Has the Conservation Commitee of MOS taken a position on this yet? It appears we have till Oct 17 to get comments in. I think this is a very serious and destructive change in federal policy that would have disastrous effects in developing countries. If no position has yet been crafted, can we please collectively share some wisdom on this promptly? The reasons reported for such a policy change are so specious and shallow that I can't believe that the Service has been co-opted into supporting this kind of logic. I can speak best from my experiences of what I saw in the Mata Atlantica (Atlantic rainforest) in the states of Rio de Janeiro and Bahia, and in the Amazon. I can state flatly that without the strictest of government controls and oversight; without mutually developed plans that integrally involve local communities, landowners, conservation organizations, and others; and without a firm system of checks and balances, including honest accounting; that these proposed rule changes would be more likely to result in the destructive depletion of endangered species for profit rather than any sustainable conservation benefits. I know that many of you have traveled far more extensively than I have, and I expect that you can illlustrate even more examples of the extraordinary pressures on marketable, salable endangered species in developing countries. I will admit the possibility that in a few isolated and rare cases, the relaxation of endangered species protection in the manner suggested might have a chance of producing sustainable conservation benefits, but I can also unequivocally say that negative, harmful, and irrevocable damage to endangered species would be a much more likely outcome. Rich Dolesh ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================