Ranchers, Hunters Get Reprieve from Excessive Government Restrictions for Three Antelope Species
Safari Club International 01.21.14
With the passage of the Omnibus spending package that keeps the U.S. government funded until September 30, 2014, America’s hunters and ranchers received a welcome surprise that eliminates government restrictions on the hunting of U.S. populations of scimitar-horned oryx, dama gazelle, and addax (three antelope species). The legislative fix, first written by Safari Club International’s Washington, D.C. staff, reinstates a 2005 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service regulation that facilitates U.S. conservation of these species.
“This great achievement will eliminate burdensome restrictions which have harmed three antelope conservation and hampered overall population growth for the scimitar-horned oryx, dama gazelle, and addax. This legislative action overcomes obstacles created by anti-hunting litigation that forced the FWS to impose unnecessary permit requirements for the hunting of these captive animals,” said SCI President Craig Kauffman. “A special thanks to the members of Congress, particularly from Texas, who understand that government restrictions, no matter how well intentioned, can actually work against the benefit of certain wildlife.”
The original regulation, issued in 2005 by the FWS, allowed U.S. private ranchers to raise, breed, and sell hunts for members of their herds without permit by permit oversight from the FWS. However, groups including Friends of Animals, HSUS, Born Free USA and others pursued nearly 5 years of litigation to eliminate the privately funded and successful conservation and management of these species. Their lawsuit led to a court order requiring the FWS to impose burdensome permit requirements which resulted in declines of the U.S. based populations.
“Since the first Friends of Animals lawsuit in 2005, SCI has continually been involved in litigation and lobbying to protect these species, the ranchers who conserve them, and the hunters who ultimately fund the management costs associated with these species. Whenever and wherever anti-hunting groups attempt to undermine the sustainable conservation in this country or aboard, SCI will be there to fight them,” concluded Kauffman.
Protecting hunters’ rights and promoting wildlife conservation, SCI’s two areas of focus, historically has been the interest of hundreds of individuals long before SCI was established. But how did SCI as an organization begin?
Forty years ago, there were many safari clubs across the country made up of local, unaffiliated groups of hunters. One such was Safari Club of Los Angeles, which was formed in April 1971 by forty-seven individuals. In early 1972, an out-of-towner from a similar club in Chicago attended one of the monthly Wednesday night meetings, and it was decided that the L.A. club should attempt to combine with the one in Chicago to make it an affiliated chapter. The founder of Safari Club of Los Angeles, C.J. McElroy, went to the Windy City and instituted the new chapter.
Eleven months after the formation of Safari Club of Los Angeles, on March 9, 1972, the name was changed officially to Safari Club International. SCI continued to reach out to other independent safari clubs throughout the United States in an effort to combine them into a single overall organization.
Today, interest in SCI’s two primary missions has grown a worldwide network. Subsequent involvement and promotion of these missions is rooted in each of our 55,000 members, supported through each of our 190 membership chapters found across the globe, and put into action by government representatives and personnel both nationally and internationally.
In this way, we can encourage an appreciation for nature and wildlife so that conservation efforts remain strong, while also fighting to protect our rich hunting heritage. Big changes can be achieved through the endeavors of many who are united in a mission – the mission of Safari Club International.
