14 



of the Ornithological Society of North America. Welcome and, Larry 

 Herrighty, you may begin. 



Mr. Herrighty. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman and mem- 

 bers of the committee. I have already been introduced, so I will not 

 do that again. 



Mr. Saxton. You might like to, if you don't mind, pull that 

 microphone a little closer. 



Mr. Herrighty. OK. 



Mr. Saxton. Thank you. 



STATEMENT OF LARRY HERRIGHTY, SUPERVISING WILDLIFE 

 BIOLOGIST, NEW JERSEY DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRON- 

 MENTAL PROTECTION, DIVISION OF FISH, GAME AND WILD- 

 LIFE 



Mr. Herrighty. I am here to support the reauthorization of the 

 Wild Bird Conservation Act because I believe the Act is necessary 

 to conserve wild bird populations that are in jeopardy because of 

 commercial trade. The people of New Jersey feel likewise. In 1991 

 the New Jersey legislature overwhelmingly passed a wild bird act 

 which prohibited the possession of wild-caught birds not already in 

 possession. The exemptions are very similar to the Federal act. I 

 have had the opportunity to read the public comment in the reg- 

 ister as well as some newsletters put out by some organizations, 

 and what I find is there is no objection to the primary intent of the 

 Act, which is to preserve wild populations of birds, however there 

 seems to be some concerns regarding the regulations and some mis- 

 information out there. I would like to address those issues because 

 we have heard them all in New Jersey and have been able to deal 

 with them successfully. 



The first issue is the need to scrutinize documentation in order 

 to separate out illegal and legally-possessed birds as well as to 

 qualify overseas breeding facilities. Some testimony heard today 

 may indicate that certifying or dealing in scrutinizing captive birds 

 is out of place, however I would submit that it is a necessary man- 

 agement tool without which the intent of the Act cannot be accom- 

 plished. Proper documentation of legal birds always helps the legal 

 citizen and makes it easier for the purveyor in illegal wildlife to be 

 detected. Requiring documentation and tagging has been a widely- 

 practiced and long-used tool in the history of wildlife management 

 in North America. For example, hunters are required to tag game 

 animals, commercial fisherman are now required to log their land- 

 ings. And whenever any of this wildlife is processed through the 

 system, receipts or documents are always required to be with those 

 parts in order to document that they were originally obtained le- 

 gally. 



In New Jersey, the Wild Bird Act requires that purchasers of ex- 

 otic birds produce a receipt or document which states that the ani- 

 mal is domestically bred. In 1995 we processed approximately 4000 

 permits for the hobby category for wild birds, and we only have ten 

 applicants today that are outstanding as far as citizens not being 

 able to produce the documentation that we require by law. We are 

 fortunate in that we also control the permits for the breeders and 

 the dealers, and so if there is any question we can scrutinize their 

 receipts and their sources of origin and we can rely on the fish and 



