Congressional Vote to Follow Dallas Safari Club’s 3-Year Polar Bear Project
OutdoorHub 11.14.12
Congress is expected to vote soon on what’s being called the most important pro-sporting legislation in a generation. The Sportsmen’s Act (S. 3525) is a package of bills including one that culminates three years of work by the Dallas Safari Club (DSC).
Since 2009, DSC has provided lawmakers with witnesses, information and support for allowing importation of polar bear trophies taken prior to listing under the Endangered Species Act.
Forty-one hunters are affected. Each had legally taken a polar bear in Canada and was awaiting shipment of a hide or mount when the species was formally listed in the US. The listing imposed federal regulations prohibiting importation of all polar bears with no provision for grandfathering the unfortunate hunters.
“Those 41 bear hides and mounts will be held in Canada until Congress provides a remedy—or until the trophies are destroyed by time,” said Ben Carter, DSC executive director. “We’ve been working for three years to correct an errant federal policy and to prevent this waste.”
The Sportsmen’s Act of 2012 could see a vote in the U.S. Senate later this week.
Carter said, “If you’re a hunter who’s ever dreamed of traveling to one of the world’s great wildernesses for adventure and the possibility of taking a trophy specimen, we ask you to contact your senators and urge them to vote yes on the Sportsmen’s Act.”
He added that S. 3525 contains 19 separate pro-sportsman measures, all applauded by DSC.
