Please call your representative this morning or early afternoon and let him/her know you oppose H.R. 2406:
Today, the U.S. House of Representatives takes up a bill that amounts to a grab bag of destructive measures related to trophy hunting, predator killing, and wildlife poisoning under the innocuous-sounding name of the Sportsmen’s Heritage and Recreational Enhancement (SHARE) Act of 2015 (H.R. 2406). It’s critical that you contact your U.S. House member this morning (you can call the Congressional switchboard at 202-225-3121 and be connected with the office of your U.S. Representative) and urge him or her to oppose this bill and any ugly provisions or amendments that would remove federal protections for wolves, expand the use of trapping on lands managed by the federal government, block efforts to restrict the use of toxic lead ammunition, block U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service efforts to stop the global ivory trade, and address overzealous and cruel predator killing programs in our National Wildlife Refuges. Each one of these provisions warrants opposition to the bill, and to assemble them all in one package makes this a must-defeat measure.
A couple of other “highlights”:
An amendment from Rep. Reid Ribble of Wisconsin would subvert two federal court rulings and cherry-pick gray wolves for removal from the federal list of endangered species for purely political reasons. When wolves were delisted in 2012, 20 percent of their Wisconsin population was wiped out in just one hunting season, including 17 entire family units.
Another provision of the bill would roll back the Marine Mammal Protection Actand provide a sweetheart deal to help 41 wealthy polar bear trophy hunters import the heads of rare polar bears they shot in Canada.
Calling only takes a minute – thanks!
Mike R
Done, thanks for the warning. Won’t do much good with my rep though, he talks a good game, but doesn’t mean it.
SiubhanDuinne
Thanks for the heads-up. Will do.
L Boom
Done. Called Peter Welch’s office; he’s probably on the right side, but we’re also a big hunting state, so it definitely can’t hurt.
Hillary Rettig
@Mike R: The phone receptionist for my own rep says he opposes it, but somehow I doubt it.
Miss Bianca
Done. Lamborn is a total dickbag, but a hunting bill with this crap in it is just the sort of thing that *might* piss off the portion of the constituency he actually cares about.
Hillary Rettig
Thank you all!
ant
Reid Ribble is my rep.
The subject of wolves is a touchy one here in Wisconsin.
They have certainly lowered the deer population, and I like that as there are less of them to hit with my car. They are also very interesting creatures. I am glad they are in the state.
However, they have significant drawbacks. They will wait in the woods for you to let your dog out to do their business, and then attack. They are very intelligent, and cooperate in groups when they hunt. They go after whatever food is easiest, as they are not stupid. This can mean livestock will be targeted, pissing off farmers.
I really dislike Ribble, but I think I agree with him that folks here in Wisconsin should be the ones to manage the numbers of wolves in the state as opposed to the feds.
It’s a shame that the DNR has been packed with hacks by idiot Scott Walker.
NorthLeft12
Yes, I would not underestimate the potential opposition to the parts of that bill that you listed.
If you highlighted that this bill will result in the slaughter of dolphins, whales, elephants, polar bears, and wolves, not to mention allowing the use toxic ammunition, I think you could get a decent response from environmentalists and animal lovers.
ruemara
Will do.
Miss Bianca
I put a link to your post on my FB page. Might get a few more calls in.
Sherparick
By the way, all this and more becoming law under President Trump, Speaker Ryan, and Senate Leader McConnnell as about all the Environmental and Conservation laws of the late 19th and 20th century will be repealed or made dead letters.
Peale
What exactly is the advantage to undoing the ban on lead? Have hunters had problems shooting ducks?
And what exactly is the benefit of ivory? Or is this just a trantrum by hunters that someone says no to then.
WaterGirl
@Mike R: My rep doesn’t even talk a good game! But I called anyway.
Lizzy L
Done.
Mike R
@Hillary Rettig: Calling about one of the provisions dealing with Social Security and Railroad retirement in a Paul Ryan Budget, his office returned the call. Seems a nerve was struck and the staffer assured me these were only suggestions and not the final proposal. He said we should keep an eye on things. My response, too bad we don’t have someone in position to oppose these type of unwise and unwarranted proposals. The staffer then said yes it is, they could care less. They have stopped including me in conference calls, can’t figure out why.
Arm The Homeless
Rep. Gwen Graham’s office says she doesn’t have a position. I made sure to let them know that I do, and the vote would determine whether I work to ensure she has a chance after the district is remapped this year.
boatboy_srq
@ant:
This is the one trouble with federalist solutions to federal problems. Any single state is more likely to fall prey to the short-sighted, greedy and (in this case) inhumane and predatory.
Left VM for my rep: full-on Teahadi so I don’t expect much.
Meanwhile, could we borrow a pack of your wolves for a season or two? WAY too many deer here.
Mnemosyne
@ant:
Wolf management is tricky, but it needs to be done by experienced professionals, who usually work for the Feds. When you have a pack that starts killing livestock, unfortunately the whole pack has to be eliminated, but you have to be sure you have the right one and don’t just start killing every wolf in sight.
Coyotes are notorious for attacking dogs here in California, and they’re firmly established all over Wisconsin — are you sure the attacks on dogs are being done by wolves and not coyotes? That’s not a common behavior for wolves.
Ann Marie
Done. I spoke with someone in Rep. Fattah’s office and he said he would pass it along to the Congressman.
Summer
I called, but it was clearly not on the radar of GK Butterfield’s office.
Spinoza is my Co-pilot
Fucking hell I hate all fascists with the heat of 1,000 suns! My Rep is one of the key FreeDumb Caucus assholes (Schweikert) so of course he’s voting for this monstrous shit.
And yes, the last defense against environmental policy gutting at the federal level is President Hillary. She loses in November, everything gets broken, for good this time, don’t think we’ll be able to go back.
Marc McKenzie
@Sherparick: Yep. That’s what will happen. Sadly, we are not blameless; the elections of 2010 and 2014 put Congress in the hands of these GOP f#@!s, and if we don’t shape up and get a message out that the GOP is going to screw the country over (instead of, you know, throwing out stuff about a certain candidate based on discredited nonsense that’s 20 years old or more), then we will have President Trump (or Cruz) and the long national @$$rape will begin.
Of course, there are those who will sneer and say, “So what? Let it happen!!” but frankly, they’re nihilists, no matter how they keep screaming about how they are liberal.
Paul in KY
@ant: You don’t ‘manage’ wolves by killing all of them. You make it too much of a pain-in-the-ass for them to attack your livestock.
That takes a non-lazy person & some money.
Mnemosyne
@Paul in KY:
From what I’ve been told by actual wolf experts (one came to the local natural history museum), you unfortunately do have to eliminate the entire pack if they figure out how to kill livestock, because they teach the behavior to each other and will continue it even if relocated. Luckily, it’s not a common behavior, especially if the wolves stay in wilderness areas. It’s more of a problem in the West where ranchers use federal lands for grazing their cattle, which makes them more attractive to wolf packs.
Hillary Rettig
@Mike R: it’s too bad indeed we have to watch our legislators every single minute to make sure they don’t do something depraved / corrupt / stupid, but thanks for your efforts.
mohagan
Called my Rep (Huffmann in N Cal). His office said he didn’t have a stated position but was supportive of animals and the environment so I think he’ll be OK. Anyway, added my voice. I’m a big Defenders of Wildlife supporter too.
Hillary Rettig
@ant: appreciate your comment. I am anti culls and believe / hope that a nonlethal solution will be found – like contraception – but I understand deer is a tricky problem. (Or rather our own overpopulation and decimation of wilderness is the problem.)
oz29
@Mnemosyne: I am consistently amazed by the way both sides of the re-introduction fight dismiss the experts. The politicization of the issue infuriates me to the point that I can’t listen to either side — I consider them equally obnoxious. The anti-wolf crowd sees wolves at every doorstep (literally) and the pro-wolf crowd refuses to recognize that wolves weren’t selected for eradication at random.
I have listened to a few of the experts, and they seem pretty reasonable and just ever-so-slightly more knowledgeable than the Google U graduates and people who claim to have been stalked by wolves while jogging in downtown Boise. Seems like maybe we should rely on their opinions, as opposed to basing action solely on clever bumper stickers.
WereBear
Thanks! Shared with my fans.
Mnemosyne
@oz29:
I do think a big part of the problem is that a LOT of people think coyotes and wolves are the same animal, so they see hear about wolf reintroduction, see urban coyotes, and go, OMG, there’s a wolf in my neighborhood! Similarly, people often become convinced that the bobcat in their backyard is a mountain lion, because unexpected wild feline = mountain lion.
Since the US is much more urbanized than it was at the turn of the 19th century when wolves were eliminated the first time, I think it’s probably safe to reintroduce them to wilderness areas where they can help keep the deer population down. They will have to be managed, though, just like we manage mountain lions, bears, and other large predators. But “management” doesn’t have to mean killing every predator we run across like it did 100 years ago.
Paul in KY
@Mnemosyne: That’s a shame. Thanks for the info.
oz29
Western conservatives own the wolf re-introduction issue (politically) because “The Left” thinks the argument is about managing wolfpacks for the sake of the environment when it is really about ownership of public lands and East/West-Urban/Rural supremacy, i.e. “If they want to prove that wolves are necessary to the ecosystem, why don’t they release them in Central Park?”
trollhattan
What a collection of crap. Just reached out to my congresswoman. Damn, I hate having an overwhelmingly Republican House. They’re always doing this Bundyesque shit.
trollhattan
@oz29:
I could do better than that, Congressman Cowboy Bob, I’m turning these wolves loose in your office. The big one’s named Cujo.
Aleta
(Also posted in thread from yesterday)
An article from Harpers on the US Wildlife Service allowing practices of killing endangered species and practices of severe animal cruelty to dogs, to hide “under the radar.” A caution on reading the first few paragraphs –I had to skip over them myself– which describe terrible cruelty. http://harpers.org/archive/2016/03/the-rogue-agency/
Mnemosyne
@oz29:
Good point. A lot of the ranchers who freak out about wolves (potentially) attacking their cattle are the same ones who are pissed off that they have to pay to use federal lands.
oz29
@Mnemosyne: Yeah, and if you want to get loggers, and millwrights, and schoolteachers on your (or your militia’s) side, wolves have to be everywhere, salivating on every horse, dog, and baby in sight.