BUSH ADMINISTRATION'S ATTACK ON THE ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT:

The Washington Post (10/11) reported that the Bush Administration's drastic
proposal to eviscerate the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) would have
"far-reaching changes to conservation policies that would allow hunters,
circuses and the pet industry to kill, capture and import animals on the
brink of extinction in other countries." The ESA was passed in 1973 to
effectively prohibit Americans from participating in international trade in
endangered wildlife, but thanks in part to lobbying by trophy hunting groups
like the Safari Club International, the Bush Administration is pushing
changes that would allow, and even encourage, the trade in endangered
animals (like the endangered Asian elephant), under the twisted logic that
doing so would raise funds to help pay for their conservation. This pivotal
decision pending on the fate of endangered species everywhere hinges, in
much part, on the public's feedback to the proposed changes to the ESA.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

Please consider sending your e-mail to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service by
Friday, October 17, urging it to reject the proposed changes to the ESA and
to not allow the import of endangered animals by zoos, circuses, trophy
hunters and the pet industry.

Chief, Division of Management Authority
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
4401 N. Fairfax Dr., Room 700
Arlington, VA 22203
Fax: 703-358-2280
Email: [log in to unmask]

You can find the Federal Register regarding this draft policy at:
www.policy.fws.gov/library/03-20941.pdf

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