Big-game hunters infuriated by Trump elephant trophy debacle

[tigris115]

https://thehill.com/policy/energy-e...s-infuriated-by-trump-elephant-trophy-debacle

I'm trying to be optimistic but I seriously think Trump gives nary a crap about hunting and conservaiton. Literally the only link we have in Zinke and apparently he and several years worth of elephant science can be overwritten by a tweet. See this is why we just need to let CITES take care of everything.

 

[shooter]

Tweeter-Dumb is at it again.

 

[Fred Gunner]

I voted for a New York City Liberal Billionaire who called himself a Republican because two of his sons were African Hunters and the NRA went all-in on him.
After he won I booked my Namibian Leopard hunt after He took the Oath of Office.
It's very simple if I don't get my Leopard home before Nov. 2020 He won't get my vote. It's just as simple and personal as that.
If I get my leopard I will have it mounted in Namibia while I wait for the approval. Why waste time?

 

[Royal27]

There are bigger fish to fry than elephant imports, plain and simple. If Trump keeps doing the good things he's doing and I don't get my trophy, so be it. I will be extremely disappointed and yet so much better off overall than under Hillary it's not even funny.

I'm sure Elizabeth Warren will take any hunters vote, or maybe Hillary will run again. And they won't disappoint at all since you'll know in advance they want to shut down hunting and support the antis.

 

[Hogpatrol]

Hopefully, a decision will be forthcoming AFTER the November elections.

 

[Tom Hawk]

Hopefully, a decision will be forthcoming AFTER the November elections.

Yeah every politician does things that could easily be a disaster after elections and they can’t get re-elected. Trumps a good guy but still acts like a politician. Personally if I were in his position, I’d announce only elephants that brought conservation money to elephants could be imported, and hand power to Zinke

 

[tigris115]

My reason for wanting to give the authority to CITES is that politicians are way to fickle.

 

[K-man]

It really is quite simple. Either the U.S. abides by the CITES convention or it doesn't. Even a politician can understand that a treaty is a treaty, we should honor it. BUT it takes one with kahones to state that, thought Trump had a pair. We wil see. Really tired of the USA thinking they know better than the rest of the world.

 

[Royal27]

It really is quite simple. Either the U.S. abides by the CITES convention or it doesn't. Even a politician can understand that a treaty is a treaty, we should honor it. BUT it takes one with kahones to state that, thought Trump had a pair. We wil see. Really tired of the USA thinking they know better than the rest of the world.

Although I agree with you that this is all about politics and not science, we DO abide by the convention. It's quite clear that the quotas are a maximum, not a minimum. So no member country is required to allow imports that CITES approves.

 

[K-man]

Although I agree with you that this is all about politics and not science, we DO abide by the convention. It's quite clear that the quotas are a maximum, not a minimum. So no member country is required to allow imports that CITES approves.

I can agree with your interpretation, but what is the point of having CITES quotas if we are not going to follow it? it is just a useless waste of time and money or a tool used by the USA to try to manipulate other countries by trophy bans. I am sure we agree just from different directions.

 

[LivingTheDream]

I find this article to be just noise. As hunters we would be so much worse off with Hillary or any Democrat for that matter. Just way to get some of his core voting block pissed at him.

We all threw a fit when bans we're implemented under Obama, here is a wait and see approach. Before Trump we we're saying leopards are next, they are doing surveys, write your congressman, we have to stop it. Speaking of which wasn't there a bill before Congress that said we will follow CITIES and stop all of this import/export nonsense.

We might be fustrated that he didn't just open it up and say we will follow cities but saying let's make sure the hunt benefits conservation isn't the worse thing to happen. Zinke is a good choice and we have hunters all throughout DOI. This would be a lost and moot point if Hillary had won.

 

[wesheltonj]

Convention expressly allows signatories to enforce stricter regulations than provided in the treaty. See CITES art. XIV(1)(a), 27 U.S.T. at 1108.

 

[cbvanb]

Trump was on record as disapproving of trophy hunting long before he was elected. His position now isn’t surprising, and unfortunately there aren’t enough Africa hunters to amount to much, vote wise. We are better off applying pressure to the regulatory agencies, who really should have the final say in these matters.

 

[johnnyblues]

It would appear we’re up shits creek no matter who’s in office.

 

[JimP]

But it depends on who is elected on how deep that creek it. I would much rather just be in it up to my neck than over my head.

 

[tigris115]

In terms of battles we can win, I think were better off just swamping the USFWS with letters and the like from us, safari outfitters, and people who have to live with African wildlife.

 

[wesheltonj]

I would not look for anything until a second term.

 

[BRICKBURN]

I would not look for anything until a second term.

You are not being very positive about his abilities. He'll TWEET more before that.

 

[Wheels]

Allowing the importation of elephants costs a tremendous amount of political capital at the present time. Confirming Supreme Court Justices, achieving fair(er) trade with multiple countries, maintaining majorities in the House and Senate, fighting the Special Council and trumped up charges, increasing business in America with the corresponding jobs brought back, exposing the corruption at the upper levels of the FBI, DOJ, Obama Administration, Clinton officials, dealing with Chinese expansionism, getting rid of Obamacare, et al., are far more important to the country as a whole at the moment.

If Clinton had been elected we would all be in worse shape. With Trump, there is still a chance he will open things up after the 2020 or the 2022 elections.

Will Trump allow the importation of elephants? I have no clue, but lame-duck presidents tend to deal with the publicly unsavory things toward the end of their terms when there is no concern of repercussions and political capital can be spent freely.

Don't forget who made these decisions. They were made by Dan Ashe, Sally Jewell and Barack Obama. They were also made in the second term of the Obama presidency.

All the best to those affected. Hope you can get your personal property back into your hands some day soon.

 

[Wheels]

In terms of battles we can win, I think were better off just swamping the USFWS with letters and the like from us, safari outfitters, and people who have to live with African wildlife.

Not sure how much this will help. Zinke is on our side. He was overridden by Trump. Probably best to send the letters to Trump and cc USFW.