Young wants to boogie on ESA

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, Jan/Feb 1997:

WASHINGTON D.C.––Renewing efforts
to gut the Endangered Species Act, House of
Representatives Resource Committee chair Don
Young (R-Alaska) “will want to move an ESA bill
‘as early as possible’ in the 105th Congress because
the issue would be ‘too politicized’ in 1998,” Roger
Featherstone of Defenders of Wildlife advised in the
November 28 edition of GreenLines, an online daily
newsletter, quoting an unnamed Republican aide.
“On the Senate side,” Featherstone continued, “the
ESA is ‘absolutely a top priority’ for Senator Dirk
Kempthorne of the Senate subcommittee with jurisdiction.”
Kempthorne also offered attempts to dismantle
the ESA in the 104th Congress.

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Legal pitfalls & political traps

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 1996:

ST. LOUIS––Legal otter trapping
for pelts commenced in Missouri
for the first time since 1937 on
November 20, 11 days after Judge
Robert H. Dierker of the 22nd Circuit
Court rejected the argument of state residents
Cecily Westerman, Ed Leonard,
Stan Slaughter, and the Animal Legal
Defense Fund that the otter season was
improperly authorized.
Dierker agreed that as
Missouri taxpayers, the three named
plaintiffs had standing to challenge the
regulation that established an otter season.
He also rejected Missouri
Conservation Commission arguments
that trapping is required to control the
otter population and prevent property
damage. “The record seems clear,”
Dierker wrote, “that the Commission
concluded in 1995 that there were
enough otters to accommodate commercial
trapping interests, and other reasons
to have a trapping season were at
best ancillary factors.”

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No safety in shells or Southern Oceans

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 1996:

MOSCOW, OSLO, TOKYO,
WASHINGTON D.C.––Emboldened by
the re-election of U.S. President Bill Clinton
and Vice President Albert Gore, who
showed little inclination to defend whales
and sea turtles during their first term, and
by the re-enfranchisement of wise-use
Republicans in control of key Congressional
committees, turtle-killers and whalers are
whetting their weapons.
Most brazenly, with the election
results barely two weeks old, Louisiana
Republicans Bob Livingston, Billy Tauzin,
and John Breaux on November 21 forced the
National Marine Fisheries Service to withdraw
turtle excluder device regulations
intended to protect endangered sea turtles,
just three days after they were ostensibly
sent to the Federal Register for publication.

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How animals won in five states

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 1996:

WASHINGTON D.C.––Captive-duck shooter Bill
Clinton and trophy hunting advocate Albert Gore remain in the
White House, but Congressional script on animal issues may be
quite a bit different in the 105th Congress, not only because
foes of the Endangered Species Act took a beating on November
5, but also because the results of five state initiative campaigns
show animal protection voting clout, just beginning to be organized,
ignored by the Democrats, reviled by wise-use
Republicans, but acknowledged by Speaker of the House Newt
Gingrich.
• Massachusetts voted 64% to 36% to ban leghold or
body-gripping traps and snares, ban hunting bears and bobcats
with dogs, and restructure the state Fisheries and Wildlife
Board, ending a requirement that a majority of members be
licensed hunters, fishers, or trappers.

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Fewer give––and Congress may scrutinize advocacy

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1996:

WASHINGTON D.C.––Donations to environmental
causes, including animal protection, grew 12.5% from
1993 through 1995, reports a Gallup Organization poll of
2,617 adults with household incomes of under $200,000,
done for the charity umbrella group Independent Sector.
The growth was significant, as a fundraising slump
after Earth Day 1990 and the 1990 March for the Animals
brought an overall decline of 0.6% during the eight years
from 1987 through 1995, as sharp gains before 1990 were
quickly lost. Environmental and animal causes were more
successful at fundraising relative to past performance than
education, religion, international aid, and public and social
benefit charities, but lagged well behind health and youth
causes––and donations to the arts, culture, and humanities,
despite a 29% overall loss of support 1987-1995, enjoyed a
42% rebound during the last three years of the study.

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The victory no one claimed: REPEAL OF DELANEY ENDS AN ERA IN ANIMAL TESTING

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1996:

WASHINGTON D.C. – – Respon-
sible for more animal testing than any other
government standard, the Delaney Clause fell
so softly that when President Bill Clinton on
August 3 signed the Food Quality Protection
Act that repealed it, national press coverage
gave it just one sentence, never mentioning
Delaney by name.
No animal protection group claimed
victory. No environmental or consumer protection
group bewailed defeat. ANIMAL
PEOPLE, aware that repeal of Delaney was
pending, found out it was a fait accompli only
by reviewing the legislative record of the
104th Congress after it adjourned.

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IFAW ups the ante: Election contribution could change animal protection politics

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 1996:

LONDON––Challenging blood sports pound-for-pound and upping the ante, International Fund for
Animal Welfare founder and president Brian Davies donated one million pounds sterling to the British Labour Party
on September 1 via the Political Animal Lobby, an officially independent organization equivalent to U.S. political
action committees, claiming 50,000 active supporters.
Davies said he made the gift because the Labour Party has declared that if it wins the upcoming
Parliamentary election, it will permit a free vote in the House of Commons on a bill to ban hunting with
hounds––which in Britain means fox hunting.
“After careful analysis of response and positions,” Davies
stated, “it was determined that Labour, at the moment, offers the best
across-the-board deal for animals. Naturally we would consider a similar
donation to the Conservative Party if it adopted an equally robust
position.”

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Electioneering

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, August/September 1996:

The Farm Animal Reform Movement’s Compassion
Campaign ‘96 seeks volunteers to help gather position statements
on animal issues from candidates and delegates at the Republican
Convention, August 10-16 in San Diego, and the Democratic
Convention, August 26-29 in Chicago. Info: 1-888-ASK-FARM.

Action for Animals asks animal activists to back the reelection
bid of Oklahoma senator Lewis Long, whose bill to ban
horse-tripping and bear-wrestling and stiffen the law against
spousal abuse was signed into law by state governor Frank
Keating on May 20. Address Long at POB 888, Glenpool, OK
74033.

Makah don’t get quota: SEA SHEPHERDS FIND REPUBLICAN FRIENDS

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, August/September 1996:

ABERDEEN, Scotland– – Striking
another surprise blow for whales, this time
through Congressional politics, the Sea
Shepherd Conservation Society on June 26
sunk Japanese and Norwegian hopes for
expanded legal whaling––at least for this year.
Eighteen years after Captain Paul
Watson established the Sea Shepherds’ reputation
as what he calls “good pirates” by ramming
the outlaw Portuguese whaler Sierra, 14
years after the International Whaling
Commission declared a global moratorium on
commercial whaling, the ban held at the 48th
annual meeting of the IWC, as under pressure
from the House Resources Committee the U.S.
delegation on June 26 withdrew an application
to allow members of the Makah tribe, of Neah
Bay, Washington, to kill five grey whales.

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