15 



These countries in good faith committed to saving their endan- 

 gered and threatened species by signing the CITES Treaty. Yet it 

 IS the United States of America that is violating the intent of that 

 treatment and insulting the efforts of the CITES experts, the wild- 

 life scientists, and the wildlife managers of nation after nation. 



Time after time, the bureaucrats of U.S. Fish and Wildlife deny 

 the cash necessary to run these vital conservation programs by de- 

 nying the impoverished nations' permits to harvest and import 

 agreed to by CITES permits that CITES has said yes, these can be 

 harvested. These bureaucrats blatantly do this without regard to 

 the consequences or the intent of the Endangered Species Act. 



The much respected lion of the Congress and author of the act, 

 John Dingle, stated that the act was never, never intended to 

 eliminate the use of harvesting of game as a conservation tool. 



As the ESA is being implemented at the present time, it is ex- 

 treme agency overkill when it comes to foreign species. A planned 

 act of deprivation, and eradication, and extinction could not have 

 worked better in eliminating certain species. 



We have talked about the problems, but what are our choices. 

 One is to protect the species to death by eliminating all use, in 

 which case our policy encourages protein from poaching, Madam 

 Chairman. And the vast shifts in habitat from wildlife to food pro- 

 tection are the result of protecting species to death. And it encour- 

 ages such cash generating pursuits as primitive agriculture, timber 

 harvest, et cetera. 



Another choice is the protection of protein and professional man- 

 agement that involves each community and individual. We in 

 America must be willing tools and not totalitarian, if we are to in- 

 sist on the reversal of this trend. 



The SCI and its membership has been and will continue to be 

 one of the tools of conservation. Tourists safari hunting has pro- 

 vided millions and millions of dollars for wildlife programs through 

 the selected harvest of surplus animals under the control of local 

 professional wildlife management, and with the evaluation of the 

 International CITES Committee. 



The impact is very low of hunters participating and relishing the 

 rudimentary facilities. Hunters demand the lowest infrastructure of 

 all tourist groups, and seek out the most remote areas, thereby giv- 

 ing maximum benefit at the lowest run of the economic ladd.er. A 

 sportsman wades the stream, while other tourists demand a bridge. 



Madam Chairman, we talked, and you spoke of urbanization and 

 the shift of people in areas to more urban areas. And the solution, 

 it seems to me, or one of the solutions, is to make it economically 

 viable, and provide those incentives for those people to live like 

 they want to live, and to manage the area like they want to man- 

 age it in those remote areas of Africa, all of Africa. 



One of the most currently effective programs in Africa is CAMP- 

 FIRE. Elizabeth Rihoy is a unique hyorid of talent. She is an aca- 

 demic publishing several papers. She is a conservationist. She has 

 lived a life of, and with, indigenous people. She is committed. And 

 I submit her written testimony. But before I do, allow me to stimu- 

 late your interest with some quotes. 



Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. If you could stimulate it in a very brief man- 

 ner, that would be great. 



