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Christine Todd Whitman Department of Environmental Protection Robert C Shinn Ir 



Governor Commissioner 



Testimony before the House Subcommittee 



on Fisheries, Wildlife and Oceans on the Reauthorization of 



The Wild Bird Conservation Act 



by 



Lawrence Herrighty, Supervising Wildlife Biologist 



New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection 



Division of Fish, Game and Wildlife 



September 28, 1995 



I would like to thank you for the opportunity to testify today at 

 this reauthorization hearing for the Wild Bird Conservation Act 

 of 1992 (WBCA) . I am Larry Herrighty, supervising wildlife 

 biologist for New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection's 

 Division of Fish, Game and Wildlife. I am the supervisor of the 

 division's permit section, and in that capacity, I oversee the 

 administration of New Jersey's own Wild Bird Act and regulations. 



I am here to support the reauthorization because I believe the 

 act is necessary to conserve wild populations of exotic bird 

 species which have a history of being exploited for commercial 

 purposes. 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 legal possession. Exceptions are allowed for zoological, 

 scientific and conservation breeding programs. Only three 

 species of exotic birds common to the pet trade were exempted in 

 the act. Two more were exempted by regulation. As mandated, 

 the regulations also establish methodologies to distinguish 

 between wild-caught and captive bred birds. The Act also allows 

 the department to promulgate a list of exempted bird species. 



New Jersey's act is, therefore, similar, but in some respects 

 more restrictive than the federal act being discussed today. I 

 believe New Jersey's experience is pertinent to todays discussion 

 since we have had to deal with the same concerns, issues, 

 questions and misconceptions which have resulted in this 

 oversight hearing today. 



New Jersey is an Equal Opportunity Empio 

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