On January 17, President Obama signed into law the 2014 Omnibus Bill (H.R. 3547), which includes a provision to ensure the future of three antelope species nearly extinct in their native countries but flourishing in the United States.
This provision, known as the “Three Amigos,” exempts U.S. populations of scimitar-horned oryx, Dama gazelle and addax from Endangered Species Act protections. The exemptions clear the way for ranchers to maintain herds of these exotic game animals and to offer hunts without federal intervention.
In 2012, the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, along with the Exotic Wildlife Association, National Rifle Association, Dallas Safari Club and Safari Club International, sent a letter to Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus members, Representatives John Carter and Pete Sessions, applauding their efforts to re-implement a previous version of the rule published by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) on September 5, 2005.
The original regulation allowed U.S. private ranchers to raise, breed, and sell hunts for these privately owned exotic game animals without each individual permit being reviewed by the FWS. The 2014 Omnibus Bill includes language that reinstates the 2005 FWS regulation and facilitates U.S. conservation of these species: “the Secretary of the Interior shall reissue the final rule published on September 5, 2005 (70 Fed. Reg. 52310 et seq.) without regard to any other provision of statute or regulation that applies to issuance of such rule.”
Studies conducted at both the state and federal level have found that the number of hunters and trappers have been on a generally declining trend over the past several decades. To increase recruitment, retention, and reactivation (R3) of hunters and trappers, which initiative do you think would have the greatest impact?
