Archive for the ‘sci’ Tag
Chairman to Highlight Hunting’s Role in Conservation
Washington, DC – On Tuesday, June 19, 2012, Safari Club International Foundation (
SCI Foundation) Chairman of Conservation & SCI Vice-President, Dr. Al Maki, will testify before the Space, Science, and Technology Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight. The hearing will cover “The Science of How Hunting Assists Species Conservation and Management.”
The hearing will seek to highlight the role that sportsmen and women play in wildlife conservation, both domestically and internationally. Dr. Maki will highlight how the Endangered Species Act (ESA) works against hunters and their conservation efforts. He will speak on this issue from the standpoint of both a professional biologist and an avid hunter and conservationist.
“Government regulations, whether they are a part of the Endangered Species Act or supported by anti-hunting bureaucrats, should not impede conservation funding,” said Dr. Maki. “Hunters have provided too many resources in the form of excise taxes, license sales, and volunteering with organizations like SCI just to be casually overlooked by policy makers.”
Hunters and anglers have voluntarily contributed over $10 billion dollars to conservation efforts through excise taxes alone since the 1937 inception of the Pittman-Robertson Act. They have been, and remain to be, the largest advocates of wildlife conservation. However, their efforts have been largely impeded due to the framework of the ESA.
The Fish and Wildlife Service and environmental groups have used the ESA to prevent the use of hunting as a conservation measure. Dr. Maki will present several examples of the ESA’s inefficiency, including how the Act harms species enhancement within the United States and beyond.
“We greatly appreciate Congressman Broun and the entire subcommittee’s dedication to address government actions that continually undermine hunter engagement in the conservation of our nation’s wildlife,” concluded Maki.
All the same, the bones of the “Centaur of Tymfi” stands proudly on display at Tucson’s International Wildlife Museum in a just-opened exhibit. Nearby is the skull of a “griffin,” a legendary flying lion with an eagle’s skull, and the noggin of a “cyclops,” the one-eyed giant of Greek myth. Taking center stage is the centaur, designed by sculptor and zoologist Bill Willers of the University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh.
Entitled “Mythological Wildlife,” the exhibit aims to make folks think about how we know what is real, says museum director Richard White. A paleontologist, White says the exhibit also looks at how folklore might hold a few hidden scientific stories.
“Once upon a time, mythology was science,” White says, accepted as part of the natural history world as perceived by the ancients. The ancient Greek poet, Hesiod, wrote about centaurs around 700 BC. Herodotus, “The Father of Historians,” wrote about griffinsaround 500 B.C. “It’s legitimate for museums to display mythological creatures to make people question what is real and what is science today.”
A shadowy corner of scholarship called “cryptozoology,” filled with folks looking for Bigfoot or the Loch Ness monster, has put these sort of questions into disrepute. But scholars such as Stanford University’s Adrienne Mayor, author of The First Fossil Hunters: Paleontology in Greek and Roman Times, have opened wide questions about what folklore has to offer science today.
For the exhibit, for example, the “cyclops” skull on display takes its cue from the suggestion that the skull of a prehistoric elephant called a mastodon, tipped on its side, might have resembled the skull of a one-eyed giant to the ancients, including a Roman emperor who perhaps kept a mastodon skull on display. A horn-faced dinosaur called Protoceratops, may have partly inspired the griffin.
“Someone saw a man on a horseback perhaps, and couldn’t explain it,” White says. “To him, the hypothesis was that it was a centaur. Now we know better. But there are still many things we struggle to explain, even today.”
Looking at the scientific origins of legends isn’t a new idea, notes art professor Beauvais Lyons of the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, who points out that New York’s American Museum of Natural History ran a “Mythic Creatures” exhibit so popular it was extended from 2006 until 2008. And the renowned Museum of Jurassic Technology in Los Angeles has for decades blended real natural science with flights of biographical fantasy.
Lyons heads the “Hokes Archives” (as in hoax) at his university, “devoted to the fabrication and documentation of rare and unusual cultural artifacts.” The university brought “The Centaur of Volos,” created by Willers in 1980, to the university’s John C. Hodges Library. Instead of a standing centaur, the Volos display is of a centaur half-excavated from the ground in classic archaeological museum fashion.
“I am excited that Bill Willers has extended his investigations of centaur anatomy with his new upright work now in Tucson,” Lyons says. That centaur skeleton, the Centaur of Tymfi, in contrast, stands upright, the bones of a man seemingly jointed perfectly to a horse. Tymfi (TIM-fee) is the mountainous Greek village, a plaque carefully explains, where the centaur was found intact in the far recesses of a cave.
” There is an unconscious impulse to clothe bones in flesh when we first see them,” Willers says, explaining his centaur creation. With the Tymfi centaur, the plaque also offers visitors a written backstory of the legend, pure hokum of course, meant to extend the duration of time before disbelief takes over again. “I want to trigger that belief and extend it, to trigger a feeling of wonder that connects people to the natural world, to see a person like themselves as a wild animal,” says Willers.
The International Wildlife Museum is a bit unusual as well, White notes. Supported by the Safari Club International Foundation, its funding ultimately draws from hunters interested in animal conservation, and contains displays of wild animals (real ones) in most of its exhibits.
“I’m not worried about kids seeing the centaur and drawing the wrong conclusion. They have very strong senses of what is real and what is fantasy,” White says. “I’m a little worried about their parents,” he jokes.
No one is hunting for centaurs these days, of course, but science remains on the trail of all sorts of mysteries. People centuries from now will doubtless find some of those ideas credulous as well.
For now, anyone hoping to see a centaur might want to stop by Tucson sometime in the next two years, while it is on display at the museum. “After that, I’m hoping to find the centaur a good home,” Willers says, perhaps with a collector or museum. “After all, I have some ideas for other skeletons that I would like to start on.”
By Dan Vergano, USA TODAY
The following letter was sent to a concerned SCI member who was curious about the SCI Foundation’s support of the Montana Fish Wildlife & Parks Department. The following is my reply which goes along way in explaining our Foundation’s scientific position, in support of the legal issues, tackled by SCI.
-Joe Hosmer, SCIF President
* * * * *
Dear Mr. XXXXXXXXX:
I have had a couple of your email messages forwarded to my attention. I find your concerns well warranted and certainly worth a response. Before I dive into the details, I want to thank you for your concerns and for bringing them to our attention. I have also asked Dr. Al Maki, Chair of our Conservation Committee to follow up with a call. Al is currently elk hunting but will return in a couple weeks and will call you directly.
Safari Club International Foundation (SCI Foundation) involvement with Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (MT FWP) is primarily within the realm of predator-prey interactions. It is not exclusively wolves. Most notably, elk calf recruitment in areas occupied by wolves has declined, so the work is focused upon improving elk populations. SCI Foundation has partnered with MT FWP to determine which factors may be contributing to the decline in elk calf survival. To what degree does predation, nutritional status, and weather contributed to the poor performance of elk, in parts of Montana. Unfortunately, it has only been speculation until this scientific study was initiated. This science-based information is exactly the type of data that will be used in the next MT FWP elk management plan. As hunters and even wildlife biologists, we can probably all speculate, but we all truly need scientific data to base our arguments on.
SCI Foundation partners with state wildlife management agencies because they are the ones who are entrusted to manage wildlife for the benefit of the people, in this case Montanans. Providing sound data is a major component of making informed, science-based management decisions. We know from our experience that the implementation of management prescriptions, firmly rooted in science, is simply more likely to stand up in the courts. Groups that operate only on emotional justifications, rather than the facts, are usually defeated. We all know that these emotional groups undermine the great contributions hunters have made to wildlife conservation in North America. We work alongside state wildlife agencies not only because we must abide by their regulations, but we are also the beneficiaries of good wildlife management.
History has shown that predator eradication campaigns have resulted in the removal or change of the management authority, from the States, to the Federal Government. Further restrictions placed on the ability of MT FWP to manage a state-trust species could adversely impact producers, landowners and hunters. Again, we believe that it is imperative to have strong science to support SCI Foundation’s position on these various issues. If we can scientifically demonstrate the adverse impact that wolves are having, and present a viable plan for mitigating the impacts of the current management strategy, then we will have the greatest chance to influence wolf management decisions.
In summation, funding projects that work toward the improvement of science-based game management, has always been deemed a successful investment, by your great organization, the SCI Foundation.
I hope these points help clarify our involvement and better explains our motives. Your concerns have not gone unheard. Thanks again.
Hosmer’s speech at the 2011 African Wildlife Consultative Forum (AWCF) held in Swaziland.
Good morning everyone. My name is Joseph Hosmer. Over the past year, you will have noticed some changes to Safari Club International Foundation, we have improved our focus to make the Foundation an institution devoted exclusively on our core missions of science based wildlife research, improving wildlife conservation education, and increasing on the ground efforts for our humanitarian work. I am quite humbled to continue serving as the President of the Safari Club International Foundation.
First, I would like to thank everyone for joining us for the 10th African Wildlife Consultative Forum. This year we have representatives from the countries of Botswana, Ethiopia, Namibia, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe; seven NGOs and scientific bodies; and representatives from seven professional hunter associations. The AWCF has grown significantly in 10 years, and we are looking forward to investing in this meeting for the next 10. We hope that throughout the coming year, you are able to discuss the importance of the AWCF with your colleagues who could not join us this year. By increasing participation annually, we can increase the effectiveness of our work improving wildlife conservation and management. However our work must continue if we are to build on our past successes.
Africa continues to face great challenges in wildlife conservation. Human population growth and consequent loss of wildlife habitats will be a continual problem – globally – but especially in Africa. This is because Africa still has much undeveloped space and unexploited natural resources that will be of greater and greater value to both wildlife and humans. More urgently, the world is begging for a solution to put an end to rhinoceros poaching and illicit trade of elephant ivory and rhinoceros horn. In the past year we have seen dramatic increases in anti-poaching and enforcement efforts, but the problems remain. Perhaps today we will have some creative ideas shared to help us find solutions to the problem.
I want to discuss with you today, and also throughout this week, how SCIF can become a resource for you, so that together, we can improve wildlife conservation in your countries and improve relations with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Over the past 10 years that we have gathered for AWCF, you have had the opportunity to work with our incredible staff; Matthew Eckert who manages SCIF’s conservation programs, our staff from the South Africa Office and George Pangeti who has always been such an asset. What many of you do not realize is that we have a larger staff working in Washington, DC; well positioned to meet with representatives of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, or with members of embassy staff. It is my hope that at the conclusion of the 10th AWCF, we can collectively agree on principles of conservation that need to be improved with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and others in Washington. Safari Club’s staff is ready to do more for conservation than we ever have in the past. We want to act not only as a partner, but more importantly, as your voice when we discuss conservation concerns with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. By agreeing upon a core set of conservation principles at this meeting, Safari Club will be more proactive to improve wildlife conservation both at home and in Africa.
We must continue to witness tangible improvements – across the continent – in wildlife management and the professional capacity of many of the people sitting in this room. We need to encourage our colleagues to attend AWCF next year. We need to inform more of our conservation partners, government officials and the general public about the incredible work that needs to be done to ensure wildlife conservation continues for future generations. I hope the cooperative spirit that lives in this Forum continues throughout this week and many years into the future.
Thank you all.
Original Post available here.
TESTIMONY OF THE SAFARI CLUB INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION
Joseph Hosmer
President, Safari Club International Foundation
Subcommittee for Fisheries, Wildlife, Oceans and Insular Affairs;
House Natural Resources Committee
Re: HR 50 – Multinational Species Conservation Funds Reauthorization Act of 2011
July 28, 2011
Good morning, my name is Joe Hosmer, and I am very thankful for the opportunity to speak on behalf of the hunter-conservation community today.
The Safari Club International Foundation (SCIF) is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization that funds and manages programs dedicated to wildlife conservation, outdoor education, and humanitarian services. Since 2000, SCIF has provided in excess of $50 million in support to these causes around the world. SCIF has worked tirelessly to increase wildlife management capability throughout Southern and Eastern Africa through strategic partnerships with African nations and conservation NGOs.
Currently, SCIF participates on the steering committee of the Multinational Species Conservation Fund Coalition and SCIF has participated as a member of the Multinational Species Coalition for well over 10 years. In our current role on the coalition, we assist in providing grassroots support for the species conservation funds.
Safari Club International Foundation believes that the United States plays a pivotal role in international conservation. We further believe that the United States’ continued support for international conservation projects is necessary, both for the continued growth of wildlife populations, and for the stability of rural economies throughout many nations of Africa. For these reasons the Safari Club International Foundation strongly supports HR 50, the Multinational Species Conservation Funds Reauthorization Act of 2011.
As an organization, SCIF is highly committed to wildlife conservation throughout the world, but we have a particular affection and interest for African wildlife species. I would like to offer the hunting community’s perspective on the importance of investing in conservation funding internationally. There is a tremendous return on investment that rural economies realize through effective sustainable use practices for wildlife management.
SCIF’s Conservation Committee dedicates over a million dollars annually to global wildlife conservation, with a specific focus on conserving African species. SCIF’s leadership in Africa has led to the development of the African Wildlife Consultative Forum, which brings together African wildlife officials, representatives of the African professional hunter associations, international NGO’s and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services staff. At these meetings we have increased collaboration for sustainable use conservation programs, and we have improved relations to increase rural economic development around sustainable hunting.
Other speakers today will touch on the incredible impact that the conservation funds have made for wildlife populations. I would like to speak specifically about the impact on rural economies that sustainable use and conservation of these species can have.
The role of sport hunting today in many developing countries is vital to the very survival of communities. Using southern Africa as an example, sport hunting has been one of the main economic engines in rural communities. In many countries of southern Africa, agrarian or pastoral economies cannot flourish, due to limited land suitable for agriculture or grazing. In these areas, regulated sport hunting has been a consistent form of revenue for local communities. To take better advantage of sustainable wildlife use, many governments have begun Community Based Natural Resources Programs. These programs, in essence, devolve power from the central government so that locally created community councils can regulate and manage wildlife in their areas. Their mission is to utilize wildlife so that it remains a sustainable resource for their community.
Successful community based programs have been developed across Africa including, but not limited to, Communal Areas Management Program for Indigenous Resources, otherwise known as CAMPFIRE, in Zimbabwe; Living In a Finite Environment, known as LIFE in Namibia; and other programs in Zambia, Botswana and Tanzania.
These programs create an incentive for rural communities to actively conserve wildlife. Revenue retention schemes ensure that money generated from sport hunting ends up in the hands of indigenous people. In the case of sport hunting in southern Africa, communities in the most rural portions of countries reap the benefit of conserving wildlife through Community Based Natural Resource Programs.
Here are some facts and figures on the positive economic impact that sport hunting has in Africa.
1. International hunting by 18,500 hunters generates $200 million USD annually in remote rural areas of Africa in 23 countries. Private hunting operations conserve wildlife on 540,000 square miles, which is 22% more land mass than is found in all the national parks of Africa. (Lindsey, Conservation Biology, 2007)
2. “Hunting is of key importance to conservation in Africa by creating [financial] incentives to promote and retain wildlife as a land use over vast areas…” (National Geographic News, March, 2007)
3. In Namibia, 29 conservancies involve almost 150,000 rural individuals through trophy hunting, conservancy management or secondary industries. (Weaver, C.L. & Skyer, P. 2003.)
4. The Zambian Wildlife Authority works with safari operators to ensure that as part of their contract they must develop and manage roads, employ Zambian Professional Hunters or Apprentice Hunters, ensure that a minimum of 80% of labor comes from neighboring
communities, develop local infrastructure, notably schools, clinic and wells, and employ Zambian game scouts to manage wildlife and poaching. (Kampamba, G. 2005.)
5. International hunting employs approximately 3,700 people annually in Tanzania. (www.tanzania.go.tz/) and supports over 88,000 families (Hurt & Ravn 2000)
Particularly in Africa, creating an incentive to coexist with wildlife has been a central reason why so many populations of species are now thriving. Elephants, rhinos and lions are the best examples of this dynamic at work. Of the 23 southern African nations that have regulated hunting, an overall trend of positive species population growth has been reported. The growing population of white rhino has been one of the most notable success stories. Unsurprisingly, in countries like Kenya, where wildlife utilization by indigenous people is extremely limited and where hunting does not exist, wildlife population levels are now low and in continuous decline. Trophy hunting in Kenya was banned in 1977 and this ban has resulted in an accelerated loss of wildlife due to the removal of incentives for conservation (Baker 1997; Lewis & Jackson 2005).
As an organization, SCIF has not directly utilized the funds made available through the authorizing legislation. However, organizations that SCIF has partnered with in providing matching grants have been recipients of funding from the FWS.
The investments that the U.S. government has made through the multination species conservation funds are necessary. They provide stability and continuity for ongoing wildlife conservation investments from other organizations, and from the hunters who travel to Africa. The MSCF certainly provides significant and measurable successes for a very small investment of federal dollars.
I appreciate the opportunity to speak before the subcommittee today.
The above testimony, from a July 28th hearing held by the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee, can be downloaded in full here. The Safari Club International Foundation’s press release on the hearing, released July 28th, can be downloadedhere. The Safari Club International Foundation is an ICCF Advisory Council member.
SCIF awards a large grant of $50,000 to the Kodiak Brown Bear Trust in support of the project “Kodiak Bear Density and Associated Harvet Stretegy on Sitkalidak Island, Alaska (2011-2012).” The project is considered very high priority by brown bear managers on the Kodiak Archipelago and the support provided by SCIF will be key to achievement of the research.
Safari Club International Foundation (SCIF) President, Joe Hosmer, and Conservation Committee Members receive a wonderful thank you letter from the Kodiak Brown Bear Trust.
Full text please click here: SCI Foundation Letter – 6 August 2011.
News For Immediate Release: April 14, 2011
Safari Club International Foundation and Quail Unlimited
Announce EPIC Outdoor Game Fair
Tucson, Arizona – In an effort to actively engage families in the great outdoors, leaders of Safari Club International Foundation (SCIF) and Quail Unlimited (QU) announced that they will be hosting the first annual EPIC Outdoor Game Fair. The event will be held September 23-25, 2011 in Douglasville, Georgia at the Foxhall Resort and Sporting Club. Modeled after European game fairs, EPIC Outdoor Game Fair will provide hands-on activities bringing outdoor sporting Education, Participation, Instruction and Competition to families, youth and individual enthusiasts – hence, the name EPIC Outdoor Game Fair.
“If we aren’t bringing in more people to the outdoor sports and making it easier for them to get engaged, then we’re not doing our jobs,” stated Joseph H. Hosmer, President of SCIF. “We expect this game fair to be the largest event of its kind to support the future of outdoor sporting traditions in the United States.”
EPIC Outdoor Game Fair will feature numerous hands-on opportunities as well as seminars from the industry’s most recognized experts. Foxhall’s 1,100 acres along the Chattahoochee River will be transformed into “villages” featuring shooting, archery, fishing and fly fishing, boating and kayaking, equestrian, dog training, ATV use and more. Vendors from each of these outdoor recreational interests will represent the finest manufacturers in the world, including many fine gun exhibits, and outstanding food and beverage options throughout the three-day event. Sponsorship and exhibiting opportunities are still available.
“From beginner to expert, every level will have a something to learn and do through the EPIC content the Game Fair offers,” QU President Bill Bowles commented. “Families will find the Game Fair an outstanding opportunity to spend time in a world class resort setting while giving every member of the family time to experience the outdoor activities they know or want to learn more about.”
“I would like to thank the following sponsors: Beretta, Eukanuba, Laser SHOT, Shooting Sportsman Magazine, and John Rigby & Co. Gunmakers, Inc. for their commitment to partner with QU and SCIF in our inaugural year of the EPIC Game Fair,” concluded Cam Harris, Chairman of QU.
The EPIC Outdoor Game Fair website launched this week with more detailed information about the event and venue as well as the hosts and sponsors. The site will grow and expand to be the one-stop place for information about the event and for ticket sales. In addition to the website, the EPIC Outdoor Game Fair Blog will provide a social networking hub to receive regular updates as event planning continues. http://www.EPICGameFair.org
Contact: Nelson Freeman, Media@safariclub.org
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Safari Club International Foundation (SCIF) is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization that funds and manages worldwide programs dedicated to wildlife conservation, outdoor education, and humanitarian services. Since 2000, SCIF has provided $47 million to these causes around the. Visit http://www.safariclubfoundation.org for more.
Quail Unlimited® is the oldest national, nonprofit conservation organization dedicated to the management of America’s wild quail. Known as “America’s Leader In Quail Conservation SM,” our overall vision is to restore America’s quail populations for future generations. Our core values include the wise stewardship of our land and its resources, and the continuation of our proud heritage of conservation, therefore, leaving a legacy and firm foundation for our youth and families to build upon.
Pronghorns are reasserting themselves as the fastest land mammals in Washington, thanks to a sportsmen’s group that joined with the Yakama Nation for an end run around state bureaucracy and environmental red tape.
Volunteers from Safari Club International and tribal members released 99 of the prairie speedsters recently on the Yakama Indian Reservation after trucking them 700 miles from their capture site in Nevada.
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife officials said they are supportive of the reintroduction. However, by not involving the state agency in the pronghorn capture and release, the Yakamas avoided dealing in advance with issues that get sticky for government agencies.
The remote potential for introducing disease to livestock already had been raised as an issue by the Washington Cattlemen’s Association.
Other agricultural groups were concerned about the pronghorn’s inclination to leave the sagebrush country for irrigated alfalfa and grain crops when foraging gets tough.
The Yakama Nation would not allow its members or wildlife biologists to be interviewed for this story despite numerous requests.
Pronghorns, also known as antelope, are a unique North American mammal that thrives in sage country and wide-open spaces where they can leave danger in the dust at speeds of 50-60 mph.
The largest populations are in Wyoming and Montana, but they are plentiful enough for big-game hunting in all of the Western states, except Washington.
Pronghorn numbers in their traditional range once rivaled those of the bison, said Andrew Jakes, pronghorn researcher at the University of Calgary. They hit bottom at less than 13,000 animals in the early 20th century, but wildlife management has brought them back to about 1.2 million animals roaming sagebrush and native prairie from northern Mexico to southern Alberta, he said.
Archeologists have dated pronghorn bones found in central Washington at 500 to 13,000 years old. Lewis and Clark reported pronghorns as being native to the Columbia plain during the westward portion of their expedition.
Other than that, the pronghorn’s existence and disappearance in Washington is sketchy until the state wildlife agency made three attempts to reintroduce the critters in the 1900s.
The most recent reintroduction efforts were sparked by Safari Club International chapters around the state starting about seven years ago.
“The state never said they didn’t want the antelope, but the proposal always seemed to get the slip-through,” said Glenn Rasmussen, SCI-Central Washington member from Wapato.
SCI chapters from Puget Sound to Central Washington paid $42,000 for the WDFW to complete a pronghorn habitat assessment that was completed in June 2006, said Joe Greenhaw, Puget Sound Chapter president at the time.
That was after the Puget Sound Chapter had funded feasibility studies as early as 2004.
“The (Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife) kept wanting more environmental impact statements and what all,” Rasmussen said. “Finally, the chapters said no more, since no one in the state could guarantee that there would be antelope on the ground after all the money was spent.”
However, the Yakama Nation also had been looking into reintroducing pronghorns on its 1.2-million acre reservation. Once the SCI funding source joined with the Yakama Nation’s sovereign right to do pretty much what it chooses on its own land, the reintroduction was almost as speedy as a pronghorn.
“Basically, this is the Yakama Nation’s project and we’re just arranging the financing,” Rasmussen said. Much of the money, including the $25,000 paid to Nevada for the capture operation, was donated from Shikar Safari Club, a group of wealthy sportsmen not related to Safari Club International, he said.
The tribe has the advantage of being free from complying with certain environmental laws and environmental impact statement requirements, said Donny Martorello, WDFW big-game manager in Olympia.
“They’re an independent nation,” he said. “We don’t have jurisdiction over their actions.
“We’d been working with the conservation and hunting groups and we completed a habitat assessment in 2006. We confirmed that pronghorns are indigenous to the state and that we have the habitat for them.
“But the next step was an environmental impact statement and that’s expensive – probably $50,000-$100,000 – and there was no guarantee that we could move forward once it was completed.”
Strapped for money and staff time, and not eager for another source of crop-damage claims, the agency suggested that SCI put the pronghorn reintroduction on the back burner, Martorello said.
“The Yakamas have been working for several years to get pronghorns on the ground, so we know they’re up to speed,” Martorello said. “We’re supportive of it.”
The Washington Cattlemen’s Association is concerned about the potential for introducing brucellosis or tuberculosis, said Jack Field, the association’s executive vice president.
“And I certainly hope the habitat is able to sustain the antelope on an annual basis so they don’t end up on neighboring crop lands around Toppenish or Patterson,” he said.
“Unfortunately, there’s not a lot of information. It’s not been a very transparent thing considering all the parties that may be affected by this action.”
Jason Kelly, spokesman for the Washington Department of Agriculture’s state veterinarians, echoed Fish and Wildlife officials.
“The state does not have any jurisdiction on animals moving into the Yakama Reservation,” he said. “We’re ready to work with the tribe but they’re not required to seek our permission.”
Kelly said the state veterinarians were aware that pronghorns were coming in.
“Our understanding is that tribal officials and Nevada where conducting animal health testing,” he said. “The tribe would need to make a decision on what to do if any of the animals tested positive.”
Peregrine Wolff, Nevada state wildlife veterinarian based in Reno, said blood samples she drew from pronghorns delivered to Washington are being tested for brucellosis and possibly for tuberculosis, although it might be several weeks after the animals were released in Washington before results are available.
Martorello said it was too early to say how pronghorns might be managed in the future.
“If they take – and I think they will given the advances wildlife biologists have made in reintroducing species – there’s a potential for allowing some pronghorn hunting,” he said.
“If the pronghorns start colonizing outside the reservation, we’d probably approach them the same way we’ve looked at moose moving in from Idaho. We would start managing, and hunting is one of the tools we use.”
— Document online: The “Assessment of Pronghorn Habitat Potential in Eastern Washington,” funded by Safari Club International and produced by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, is available on the WDFW website at tinyurl.com/WA-pronghorn.
Here are some of my past and present directorships.
For Immediate Release
December 16, 2010
Tucson, Arizona - Joseph Hosmer was unanimously selected as President of Safari Club International Foundation (SCIF) at the first meeting of SCIF’s new board of directors.
With the seating of the new board and naming of its first President, SCIF has undergone a historic realignment that will greatly increase the Foundation’s effectiveness to create a permanent endowment for wildlife conservation & research, wildlife education initiatives and humanitarian endeavors worldwide.
“I am extremely honored,” said SCIF President Hosmer upon his election. “As a lifelong conservationist, the opportunity to lead Safari Club International Foundation toward the highest levels of conservation goals is truly unmatched.”
The key element of the re-alignment is that the new SCIF Board of Directors is independent of the SCI Board of Directors. It consists of Safari Club International (SCI) members who are especially committed to the core SCIF mission of wildlife conservation and education. The new 15-member board includes private business and outdoor industry leaders in addition to SCI past Presidents, Hunter Legacy Fund trustees, and members. Developing new channels of fundraising for SCIF will be among the new board’s key goals.
“Selecting Joe to lead the new SCIF Board will best position the organization to develop strategic funding goals for the continued growth of our conservation and research efforts,” said Safari Club International President Larry Rudolph.
“This realignment will create a sustained endowment for SCIF’s efforts in support of the organization’s worldwide programs dedicated to sustainable science-based wildlife conservation, outdoor education and humanitarian services,” concluded Hosmer.
For the past four years, Joe has served as Chairman for the SCI Foundation Conservation Committee. Joe joined SCI over 15 years ago and has been a member of the SCI Foundation Conservation Committee for over 10 years.
Contact: Nelson Freeman; media@safariclub.org
- SCIF -
The SCI Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit charitable organization that funds and manages worldwide programs dedicated to sustainable science-based wildlife conservation, outdoor education and humanitarian services, including such programs as Sportsmen Against Hunger, Sensory Safari, Safari Care, Disabled Hunter, the American Wilderness Leadership School, Becoming an Outdoors Woman & More and Youth Education Seminars (YES) Outdoors. Visitwww.safariclubfoundation.org for more.
