Elephants ~ #BanIvorySales



#BanIvorySales
Updated April 23, 2015


Information pertaining to opposition, 
or questioning of the USA ivory ban:

Comprehensive list of the language of the ivory ban bills in the USA states working to ban ivory ales .
Ty @AntiqueDigest 

Feb. 2015: Antique dealers wary of ivoryban bill

2014: Ivory ban hurts musicians, collectors

Aug. 2014: The NRA Is Quietly Fighting For Your Right To Kill Elephants For Their Ivory

April 2014: NRA gunning for more than just right to bear arms 


Via NRA-ILA
Ivory

Feb. 2014 : Obama Administration's Proposed Ban on Domestic Sale of Ivory Could Impact Gun Owners

March 2014: Ivory Ban Fact Sheet

June 2014: Important Update on the Obama Administration's Proposed Ban on the Domestic Sale of Ivory and Importation of Elephant Trophies





Here are the twitter accounts , email addresses, and telephone contacts, of the senators and representatives in the 25 states that have no legislation to ban trade of ivory and rhino horn.

If you live in one of those states, please contact them, and implore that they begin a bill to ban ivory sales and trade of rhino horn in your state.
Thank you!

#BanIvorySales
Updated April 7, 2015.

Please take the time to read this incredibly well written, comprehensive article concerning the complexities of the USA ivory ban, 
and why we need to ban ivory sales, 
state by state.


Citizens Spur States to Ban Trade 
in Ivory and Rhino Horn
From Vermont to California, grassroots efforts drive state actions to protect elephants and rhinos.
By Laurel Neme, for National Geographic.
Please follow Laurel on Twitter @LaurelNeme, 
and National Geographic at @NatGeo



USA ranks second to China in ivory consumption.
USA federal laws can not force your state to stop selling ivory, but you can help institute a state by state ivory ban.



Thank you to our Elephant Rockstar,  Occupy 4 Elephants ‏@Sniper__Catz for sharing this information to enable us take quick and easy action to ban ivory sales, state by state.



Reposted from :

The poaching crisis has claimed the lives of 100,000 African elephants from 2010 to 2012. Photo by iStockphoto

Ivory Wars – Right Here 
in the United States
March 13, 2015
Last week, we received the extraordinary news that Ringling Bros. http://blog.humanesociety.org/wayne/2015/03/ringling-bros-ends-elephant-acts.html plans to retire the elephants from its traveling circus and place them at its elephant care facility in Florida.  Given the tremendously favorable response to this action from the public and the press, you might think that legislation to stem the sale of ivory and protect elephants in the wild would be a piece of cake. After all, the poaching crisis has claimed the lives of 100,000 African elephants http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/08/140818-elephants-africa-poaching-cites-census/ from 2010 to 2012. But some lawmakers are being bamboozled by the rhetoric of a new front group trying to stop anti-poaching legislation at the state and federal level.

 Last year, New Jersey http://www.humanesociety.org/news/press_releases/2014/06/new-jersey-legislature-passes-ivory-rhino-horn-ban-061614.html?credit=blog_post31415 and New York http://www.humanesociety.org/news/press_releases/2014/08/gov-cuomo-signs-new-york-ivory-rhino-horn-ban-081214.html?credit=blog_post31415 passed legislation severely restricting trade in ivory or rhino horns, helping to dry up the demand for poached wildlife products. This year, similar bills have been introduced in 12 other states, including major ivory-selling markets in California and Hawaii. At the federal level, the Department of the Interior, the State Department, and other agencies have made combatting wildlife trafficking a top priority for the Obama administration. In the next couple of months, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) is expected to release a rule that would add much needed restrictions to the commercial ivory trade.

 As a way to publicize the plight of elephants, the FWS in 2013 destroyed six tons of confiscated ivory http://www.fws.gov/le/pdf/Ivory-Crush-News-Release.pdf before a crowd of journalists. China, http://www.hsi.org/news/press_releases/2014/01/china-destroys-ivory-010614.html the world’s largest market for ivory, followed suit, crushing six tons of ivory it had confiscated. This month, Kenya set fire to 15 metric tons of ivory http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/kenya-destroy-15-tons-ivory-poachers-29354469 to discourage poaching – knowing full well that the destruction of elephants will destroy its enormous wildlife tourism industry.

 But now the Elephant Protection Association, a front group made up of ivory traders and backers associated with the National Rifle Association, has emerged to fight humane efforts at the state and federal levels. Despite hollow claims that it detests poaching, the group is fighting to maintain the current allowances for the trade in ivory, so its financial backers can continue to sell ivory trinkets, jewelry, firearms, and other vanity items. The group hardly seems troubled that elephant scientists and experts, conservationists, and enforcement officials have demonstrated that the legal trade for ivory is providing cover for the illegal trade. The FWS has said, “By significantly restricting ivory trade in the United States, it will be more difficult to launder illegal ivory into the market and thus reduce the threat of poaching to imperiled elephant populations.”

 It’s remarkable that, as we see the mass slaughter of the largest land mammals on the Earth, these antique firearms dealers, trinket peddlers, and others are getting any traction with lawmakers. But they are. Several of the state bills have already been blocked. And at the federal level, Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) has introduced legislation to deny authority to the FWS to work on a rule to restrict the ivory trade any further.
Right-thinking people might consider the enactment of anti-ivory trade bills or rules as a no-brainer. But resistance to this legislation has been fierce, and it’s time for good-hearted people to weigh in and remind lawmakers and the broader public of the terrible toll that this trade is taking on elephants. When the elephants are gone from the wild, Africa will lose billions in tourism revenue a year, since these animals are perhaps the greatest natural and economic treasure these nations have. It’s been exciting to see moves from China http://www.hsi.org/news/press_releases/2014/01/china-destroys-ivory-010614.html to restrict some of the trade. The question is, will the United States continue to be a conservation leader, or will the influence of profit-making ivory dealers prompt enough politicians to gum up these important bills and block their enactment?

Proposal would make most elephant ivory sales a felony

Actions to #BanIvorySales in the U.S.A.

http://wildlifeofafrica.blogspot.com/p/elephants.html

 Save Africa's incredible elephants from the current poaching nightmare.

 All ivory sales should be illegal, please help to make that happen.

Please sign the petitions on this page, send emails to your USA Congress representatives, and share these actions online.

 If you wish to know why this illogical thwart to a 100% ban on ivory sales is happening, you can read here.

http://wildlifeofafrica.blogspot.com/p/ivory-sales-pre-ban-legal.html

http://wildlifeofafrica.blogspot.com/2014/11/we-who-wish-to-keep-ivory-ban-in-place.html

http://www.fws.gov/international/travel-and-trade/ivory-ban-questions-and-answers.html

 Thank you, folks!


March 2015
#IvoryBan Sweeps the Nation
Is ivory trading legal in your state?
https://www.thedodo.com/community/elephantsdc/ivory-bans-sweep-the-nation-1020446911.html



LET'S ASK FOR A COMPLETE BAN ON IVORY SALES, STATE BY STATE, IN THE U.S.A.



Email action we can take, to request state by state ban on ivory sales.
If you are a U.S.A. resident, please take the time to contact your senators and representatives,
to request that they initiate a ban on ivory sales in your state.

You can find your U.S.A. senator email contacts here:
U.S.A. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
EMAIL ADDRESS CONTACTS

You can find your U.S.A. House of Representative email contacts here:
U.S.A. SENATE
EMAIL ADDRESS CONTACTS
http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/

If you prefer to make contact via phone, your 
U.S.A. senator phone contacts are here:
U.S.A. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
PHONE NUMBER CONTACTS

If you prefer to make contact via phone, your 
U.S.A. representative phone contacts are here:
U.S.A. SENATE
PHONE NUMBER CONTACTS

Here is the email we are sending, please feel free to use it, or even better to alter it, and share your thoughts. That's the best way to be heard.


Hello!

I am contacting you regarding the issue of allowing the sale of ivory products to continue to be legal in our state.

Certainly, you are aware that the trade in elephant ivory tusks fuels the illegal poaching industry that threatens to drive our African elephants to the brink of extinction within a few years.
The African elephant population simply can not procreate quickly enough to offset the deadly decimation rendered by ivory poachers.

Please read the statistics provided by National Geographic here:
100,000 Elephants Killed by Poachers in Just Three Years, Landmark Analysis Finds

While we do have a federal of ban of ivory in effect, it is being challenged:
United States Tightens the Noose on the Ivory Trade

The challenge to overturn the U.S.A ban is being spearheaded by the N.R.A.
NRA Campaigns Against The Plan To Save The World’s Elephants

A state by state ban on ivory sales within the U.S.A. would serve to tighten the clamp on ivory poaching by making it illegal to trade ivory.
I am asking that you please initiate and follow through with a bill that would effectively render all ivory sales illegal in our state. New Jersey has already done so, and has included rhino horn in their ban.
New Jersey Passes First Ever U.S. Law To Completely Ban Ivory And Rhino Horn

Thank you very much for taking this dire issue into consideration. I will await your reply.
Sincerely,







PETITIONS TO BAN IVORY SALES
Please sign and share, thank you!



1. End the ivory trade in the state 
of California.





2. Speak out against the U.S. ivory trade:

3. Attacks on the Ivory Ban Growing
Oppose Riders to Block
Federal Ivory Ban







4. Petition to Save the Elephants : 
Stop Bloody Ivory


7. Petitioning CITES General Secretariat, Mr John E. Scanlon
High Time for a Complete and Permanent Ban on All Ivory Trade



Thank you to March4ElesAndRhinos @EleRhinoMarch 




http://wildlifeofafrica.blogspot.com/p/elephants.html




Hey, beautiful folks who wish to see the slaughter of our African elephants end now......
We can contact our Congressional representatives in Hawaii, and implore that they work for a total ban on ivory sales in Hawaii. Please copy this email from our friend @WildLifeVictory, edit as you see fit, and send it to Hawaii before January 21, 2015.

We can do this.

The USA needs to send a loud voice to stop elephant ivory sales, and we need for you to contact our Congressional representatives to make that happen.
Thank you very much!

Send to:

senespero@capitol.hawaii.gov 

 v.delossantos@capitol.hawaii.gov

To: senespero <senespero@capitol.hawaii.gov>
Cc: v.delossantos <v.delossantos@capitol.hawaii.gov>
Sent: Tue, Jan 6, 2015 11:10 pm
Subject: to Senator Will Espero_Petition For 'Total Ban on Ivory Sales' in Hawaii

Dear Senator Will Espero,                                                                                            1-6-2015   11p.m.

Earlier last year, the US government announced it would act to stop commercial ivory trade, sending an unequivocal message that the US will not tolerate the senseless slaughter of elephants and other wildlife - or the global crime syndicates that wildlife trafficking supports.

As skyrocketing demand for illegal ivory, ruthless criminal networks plunder the wild. 
Wildlife crime is continually slaughtering the world's best-loved species.                        

This is about more than elephants: Organized crime has moved into ivory in a big way. Wildlife crime is estimated to be worth $10 billion annually to criminals and it costs the planet some of the world's iconic animal.

It is increasingly controlled by the same criminal networks that smuggle arms, drugs and humans. 
Criminal kingpins involved in illegal wildlife trade distribute guns, intimidate communities, exploit the poor and bribe South African officials to get what they want. 

If we fail to act now, it would allow crime to flourish and fuel regional conflicts—and even fund terrorist groups in some countries.

We are urging Hawaii to help end the devastating slaughter of elephants for their ivory, and to ensure that the United States is not helping to drive the illegal wildlife trade.

Along with 80% of the American people, I strongly support ending commercial trade in elephant ivory in Hawaii. I believe we must take all necessary steps to protect these magnificent creatures from extinction.

Fewer than half a million elephants remain in Africa's savannas and jungles--a 95% plunge over the last 50 years. Recently, the killing has surged: Poachers are slaughtering on average one elephant every 15 minutes, and some populations are now on a path to extinction.

Reports from US intelligence agencies and the UN also show that profits from ivory trafficking are fueling crime, corruption and violence in fragile African democracies and financing organizations that threaten both American and African security.

America's role in the consumption and sale of ivory makes us complicit in this crisis and weakens our moral authority to lead internationally. US is the world's second-largest market for wildlife products, Hawaii is the third largest market for ivory products within the United States.

And significant amounts of illegal elephant ivory have been found entering the American market through Hawaii.  We must strengthen our laws to prevent this from happening and to encourage other states to act with similar urgency.

I thank you in the administration, for your leadership on this issue. Combined with new US efforts to combat wildlife trafficking, the ivory rules proposed to ban ivory sales can help turn the tide for Africa's elephants.

I share the American public's desire to halt the US role in the illegal ivory trade, and I believe that the decision to halt elephant ivory commerce in the US is the right response to the current crisis.

For the sake of the world's elephants, I urge you to help pass a ’Total Ban on Ivory Sales’ in Hawaii.                                
We need your help to act now to end the elephant slaughter.    



What do these two earthly Nirvanas of 
Africa and Hawaii, USA, have in common with our elephants?




Our elephants live in Africa, but their tusks are still being legally sold in Hawaii. Hawaii is the third largest retailer of elephant ivory tusk.

Let’s change that.
Please ask these representatives in Hawaii to #BanIvorySales, and allow our African elephants to survive, without fear of being poached for their tusks to be sold as trinkets. Call them, email them, and tell them please that Hawaii can save our elephants in Africa from extinction by simply banning the sale of ivory in Hawaii. Thank you.

Will Espero ~ http://1.usa.gov/1GYYDWR


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