Senator Robert Torricelli's trapping amendment to the Senate Interior Appropriations Bill (S. 1292) will come up soon after Congress reconvenes September 7.   If approved, the amendment would ban the use of steel-jaw leghold traps and neck snares in National Wildlife Refuges.  Needless to say, the trappers and their hunting buddies are calling their senators with single-issue fervor to defeat this bill.  We need to keep calling and faxing our senators  to let them know how strongly we favor the Torricelli Amendment.  Some votes may actually depend on the number of calls they receive  from either side..  This amendment was approved by the House 259-188.

US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) is proposing 15 NEW hunting and fishing programs on 11 National Wildlife "Refuges" (Federal Register, August 11).  If these proposals are adopted, there will be a total of 290 public hunting programs and more than 260 public fishing programs in the National Wildlife Refuge System, which is fast becoming nothing but public hunting grounds.  "We are committed to providing recreational opportunities such as hunting and fishing wildlife refuges with our conservation mission," according to Acting Service Director John Rogers. "Over the past five years, the number of refuges offering hunting and fishing opportunities and the numbers of hunters and anglers visiting the refuges have both grown  substantially".  It was 16 years ago that CPAPR was formed to abolish killing refuge wild animals.  At that time, 95% of refuge visitors were non-violent observers, about the same ratio as hunters to non-hunters in the general population. Comments on these proposals are being accepted through SEPTEMBER 10.  To see Civitas submission, click here. 
The full text of the proposals is available from USFWS, Division of Refuges, 4401 North Fairfax Drive, Arlington VA 22203 (Phone 703-358-2248) or in the Federal Register of August 11, or can be accessed on the Internet at http://refuges.fws.gov  .  Given that there was barely a month's notice to begin with, generalized comments that hunting and fishing should be eliminated rather than expanded are in order.
If you have specific knowledge that applies to the refuges concerned so much the better, but it is important that you be heard from. (Arlington address above) The proposals:

• Ace Basin NWR, SC - sport fishing
  
• Bayou Teche NWR, LA - migratory game birds, upland game, big game
  
• Bond Swamp NWR, GA - big game, sport fishing
  
• Currituck NWR, NC - migratory game birds
  
• Julia Butler Hansen Refuge for Columbia White-Tailed Deer, OR  - migratory game birds, sport fishing
  
• Plum Tree Island NWR, VA - migratory game birds
  
• Sport fishing also on J Clark Salyer NWR, ND; Stewart Lake NWR, ND; Tewaukin NWR, ND; Upper Souris NWR, ND; Willapa NWR, OR; and Lead free fishing Ding Darling NWR, FL; Moosehorn NWR, ME; Neceda NWR, WI; National Elk Refuge WY;
  

Gore photo op gets more water than threatened fish.  After Vice-president Gore's Secret Service staff questioned whether there was enough water in the Connecticut River to float the canoe in which the VP was to be photographed, the NH power company released 4 billion gallons of water from a dam to raise the water level 10 inches.  John Kersel, Director of VT Natural Resources complained that they had earlier refused to release water to help fish stressed by the Northeast's drought.

Marineland of Niagara Falls, Canada imported three beluga whales from Russia after having been refused government permission to capture wild belugas for display.  After two of four Canadian belugas  died shortly after their arrival at the Chicago Aquarium, Canada banned the export of cetaceans from its waters.  It is now considering extending the ban to imports and prohibiting the capture of any cetaceans - and possibly marine mammals in general - in Canadian waters.

British Columbia tribal members are, like the Makah, divided, in their attitude toward the resumption of  whaling.  Japan invited 14 members of the Nuu-chah-nulth (aka Nootka), including pro-whaling Tom Happynook of the "World Council of Whalers, to visit Japan

The Canada goose problem plaguing some eastern golf courses, beaches, patios, etc. was created by so-called "scientific game management.  In an attempt to increase the goose population for the benefit of hunters, the managers incubated their eggs in hatcheries, raised the hatchlings in pens and released them to the environment.  Lacking parental guidance to teach them to migrate, these birds and their numerous descendants became year-round residents to the delight of some and the inconvenience (because of their copious droppings)  of others. The droppings of migratory geese in March and November are not usually a problem because they don't stop over for long and people are less likely to be playing golf or walking barefoot around parks and lakeshores at those times.
There are a number of ways in which geese can be shooed away from places where they are not wanted.  Spraying a harmless grape-flavored solution where they are not wanted will cause them to go elsewhere.  Border collies can be trained and enjoy dispersing them from problem areas.  A longer-term solution is to render their eggs infertile by addling (shaking them) or coating them with oil.
Canadas are unable to fly during their summer molting period.  Communities like Lake Carmel NY plan to take advantage of this by herding them into cages and transporting them to slaughter facilities. and sending their flesh to soup kitchens  This solution raises less public resentment than shooting them for sport, which leaves many of the birds crippled and dying lingering deaths, but it raises a concern that people who eat their flesh, especially those with lowered immunity may be harmed by the high lead content from spent shot in the flesh and crops of many of these birds..

Commercial fishing in Glacier Bay National Park's wilderness waters began to be phased out in June.  Alaska Senator Frank Murkowski failed to overturn the phase-out agreement in a rider attached to the Kosovo Appropriations Bill and subsequently introduced a bill (S.501) which would do so if passed. It seems as if there should be a rule against irrelevant bill riders, especially those that are sneaked in at the last minute so that legislators don't realize they are voting for them.

British Columbia fines for feeding "dangerous wildlife" can run as high as $50,000.  "Feeding" includes leaving food or trash out to attract wild animals.  Provincial legislation now makes possible fines of up to $100,000 for poaching and dealing in live wildlife or wildlife parts. An additional prison sentence is possible for poachers.

High levels of PCB's and DDT have been found in transient populations of
orcas, a.k.a killer whales, in the Bering Sea.  Such high levels have not been found in pods that spend all their time off the coast of Alaska.  The high levels in transient populations have been attributed to pollution off the coast of Asia.

The Netherlands parliament voted in July to ban mink farming.  This small country has been the world's second largest producer, after Danmark, another small country,  of "farmed", i.e. caged, mink   The Netherlands banned fox farming in 1995 and chinchilla farming in 1997. Activists worldwide have brought about reductions in the fur trade by raiding fur farms and picketing fur stores.

Prime Minister Tony Blair has renewed his vow to ban fox hunting in Britain.  In the last Parliament, however, he failed to allot time for Mike Foster's private members bill to be voted on.  The Countryside Alliance, which has lumped fox hunting with legitimate environmental concerns, threatens "another noisy fight".

Faroe Islands are facing ban against their fish exports because of pilot whale slaughter.  The international German supermarket firm, Aldi, is among the companies that have refused to buy fish from the Faroes.
Iceland faces the same stricture if whaling is resumed there.

Gobies have invaded the Great Lakes and threaten Mississippi watershed.  Like the zebra mussels, they were probably introduced when ballast tanks on freighters were emptied in the Great Lakes.  The gobies provide the advantage of preying on the proliferating zebra mussels (but not the larger ones that remain to reproduce).  This small advantage is offset by the fact they disturb the eggs of other fish and are aggressive in defending their territory from native fish.  Scientists are experimenting with electric barriers to prevent migration into the Mississippi.  Large native fish are learning to eat the 5-inch gobies, but this has the disadvantage of concentrating toxins filtered out of the water by zebra mussels consumed by gobies in these native fish which already carry a load of water-borne toxins that are detrimental to humans who eat them.                                Return to CPAPR Index28   
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