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NH News
US Fish and Wildlife Service E-Mail Correspondence
For More Links on the FWS Controversy
NRA Supports Bill to Clean Up FWS
-----Original Message-----
From: Bowana <bowana@netzero.net>
To: megan_durham@fws.gov <megan_durham@fws.gov>
Date: Monday, October 18, 1999 5:52 PM
Subject: US Fish & Wildlife supporting animal rights
group!
Attention United States Fish and Wildlife Service and US Congressmen:
The USFWS has been changing course away from supporting our fisheries and game animals as was their original mission. Saving endangered species is an integral part of the program but NOT TO THE EXCLUSION OF GAME SPECIES!
USFWS Director Jamie Rappaport Clark refuses to make fisheries one of the organizatons top priorities.
The USFWS is redistributing funds from fish stocking to endangered species funds.
More disturbing, perhaps, is the case of Jim Beers, an employee of the USFWS Division of Federal Aid. Beers was responsible for reviewing and approving grants under the Federal Grant in Aid program. In that capacity, Beers refused to fund a grant proposed by the Fund For Animals-an animal rights group.
The USFWS disavowed any wrongdoing, but did provide Beers $150,000 compensation, plus legal fees, back leave, full retirement and a letter of apology.
Also according to Rep. Ken Calvert in the House of Representatives THURSDAY, JUNE 24, 1999
"During ESA's (Endangered Species Act) 26 years, over 1,154 animals and plants have been listed as endangered or threatened, yet only 27 species have been removed from the list. 27! That is a recovery rate of 2 percent, which leads me to believe that either the Fish and Wildlife Service is not keeping up with their mandate to review the list every five years and remove recovered species, or their best efforts to conserve habitat at the expense of billions of dollars to taxpayers are failing. Either conclusion is unacceptable. The DROP Species Act would take the de-listing process out of the hands of politicians and place it in the hands of a well-respected, independent panel of scientists."
I have not researched the Drop Species Act yet, but what this representative is saying makes a lot of sense when it comes to the US Fish and Wildlife Service!
It is sportsmen's money like ours that has supported this program from the beginning and if this course continues we will have to stop our money from going to this program.
Please support us in stopping these practices!
Sincerely,
Kenneth Goodall
Bowana@netzero.net
-----Original Message-----
From: Megan_Durham@fws.gov
<Megan_Durham@fws.gov>
To: Bowana <bowana@netzero.net>
Date: Tuesday, October 19, 1999 9:55 AM
Subject: Re: US Fish & Wildlife supporting animal rights
group!
>
>Thanks for your e-mail. Doubt I'm going to change your
mind about
>anything, but here's some things for your to consider:
>
>Fisheries is included in the Director's priorities within her
invasive
>species, wildlife refuges, and ecosystem approach
priorities. She has been
>devoting a great deal of time to fisheries recently in an
effort to
>strengthen our fisheries program. As you know, our
national fish
>hatcheries have significant operational and maintenance
backlogs -- a
>situation the current director did not create, but
inherited. We also have
>significant challenges facing aquatic species and habitats
across the
>board. Many native fish, which are not endangered, and
which have
>potential for recreational fisheries, are among those that
are declining.
>We have asked the Sport Fishing and Boating Partnership
Council (composed
>of BASS, American Sportfishing Association, and other groups)
to help us
>develop a long-range blueprint to strengthen our hatcheries
and prepare
>them for the 21st century. I know you care about this
issue and hope you
>will follow it as this effort develops.
>Please be assured however that we are not
"abandoning" recreational
>fisheries, as you may have read.
>
>We have not redistributed funds from fish stocking to
endangered species
>funds.
>
>We have not granted any Federal Aid money to animal rights
groups, nor did
>we intend to do so.
>
>With regard to endangered species, I hope you will consider
that by the
>time most species are listed, they have been declining for
many years and
>face multiple threats. Many have slow reproductive
cycles and do not
>increase in number at a great rate, even under the best of
circumstances.
>The ESA has, however, been spectacularly successful at
stabilizing
>declining species and slowing the rate of extinction.
Nearly half of the
>species listed the longest are now considered to be stable or
increasing.
>You also need to be consider how statistics are used in
referring to
>endangered species, because a large number of species (mostly
plants) have
>been listed in the last 5 or 6 years and have had little time
to recover.
>Those recently listed species bring down the percentages of
species that
>are stable or recovering.
>
>Thanks, sincerely, for your concern about conservation and
the outdoor
>traditions. There are too many people who just don't
care -- and that
>makes it even more important for those who do to stay
involved, as you
>have.
-----Original Message-----
From: Ken <bowana@netzero.net>
To: Megan_Durham@fws.gov <Megan_Durham@fws.gov>
Date: Wednesday, October 20, 1999 8:46 AM
Subject: USF&WS Funds
I am sending my comments to you first. If I am wrong I will admit it!
Sounds to me that the government allows 6 to 8% adminstration fee in the budget for all funds. The USF&WS automatically takes the FULL 6 to 8%! They "run the business" then with whatever is left over they grant funds to the groups that these people really want to fund!
They're attitude is that they saved the money in adminstration so THEY deserve to allocate those monies as THEY see fit!
If Jim Beers is telling the truth then The Fund for Animals really was going to get money to run an Anti-Hunting Education Course with our money!
AND IF THEY DID THAT WITH ANY MONEY FROM THE USF&WS FUND I WOULD BE FURIOUS!
NOW did any money from the USF&WS go to an Anti-Hunting
Group and/or the Fund for Animals?
Kenneth Goodall
Bowana@netzero.net
-----Original Message-----
From: Megan_Durham@fws.gov
<Megan_Durham@fws.gov>
To: Ken <bowana@netzero.net>
Date: Wednesday, October 20, 1999 9:02 AM
Subject: Re: USF&WS Funds
>
>No Federal Aid money was granted to Fund for Animals.
>
>The only grant I am aware of that ever went to them - and
this has become
>confused with the Federal Aid issue -- was out of the African
Elephant
>Conservation Fund, and it was used to help fund
transportation of surplus
>military trucks from Germany to Africa for use by authorities
there in
>anti-poaching activities. Most hunting organizations, I
think, support
>control of elephant poaching by ivory-hunters, but in any
case this was not
>Federal Aid or "sportsmens" money in any sense.
>
>Please be aware that the administrative grants, using Federal
Aid money,
>were supported by the States, who wanted a mechanism to fund
projects that
>benefitted more than one State. A committee of the
International
>Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies reviewed those
grant proposals
>and recommended which ones should be funded. So this
was not a matter of
>the FWS deciding that it should grant administrative funds to
whoever it
>wanted because we had money "left over."
>
>Administrative costs for the Federal Aid program have been
slightly higher
>in the last few years for a variety of reasons; we
increased audits of
>State expenditures (after problems came to light in a couple
of States); we
>are modernizing the computer tracking system which had really
never been
>brought up to snuff (plus we had Y2K concerns with the old
system); and
>costs for running the National Survey of Fishing, Hunting,
and Wildlife
>Associated Recreation are higher in some years than others --
mostly they
>are higher in years when we collect the data, mostly recently
FY 96 and 97.
>
>I hope this answers some of your concerns.
-----Original Message-----
From: Ken <bowana@netzero.net>
To: Megan_Durham@fws.gov <Megan_Durham@fws.gov>
Date: Friday, October 22, 1999 8:06 AM
Subject: USF&WS Supported The Fund for Animals!
To: Meagan Durham Chief of Fish and
Wildlife Service Public Affairs Megan_Durham@fws.gov
When asked if the US Fish & Wildlife Service supported an anti-hunting group your standard answer is:
"The Service did NOT use Federal Aid dollars for a grant to an anti-hunting group" or "No Federal Aid money was granted to Fund for Animals."
When asked if ANY USF&WS Money was given to The Fund for Animals or any anti-hunting group you finally answered: "The only grant I am aware of that ever went to them - and this has become confused with the Federal Aid issue -- was out of the African Elephant Conservation Fund"
WELL THIS ALONE IS VERY UPSETTING!
To give money to any organization that actively fights the activities of sportsmen is absolutely wrong!
You may have spent the money towards Elephant Preservation, but for every dollar that you gave The Fund for Animals is a dollar that they could spend somewhere else like on fighting NH Youth Hunter Day which is sponsored by the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department AND the Fund for Animals IS ACTIVELY fighting this event!
The money that you gave to The Fund for Animals meant that they could devote other money of theirs to fight our Youth Hunting Day which is supported by NH Fish and Game.
According to you the USF&WS spends 500 million annually on State Wildlife services and that is wonderful that you help the sportsmen that support you, but how much of that money do we have to spend to combat the barrage of anti-hunting and anti-fishing groups that you may be supporting elsewhere?
If your organization's core belief is to support sportsman and wildlife, then to give any money to an organization that has an obvious anti-sportsman agenda is ridiculous! We (sportsmen) now have to spend our dollars to battle these groups who now are using some of our own money against us!
There are enough Wildlife Organizations in this world who support sportsmen with-out giving ANY money to one that is so BLATANTLY against hunting, fishing, and trapping!
AND don't tell me that it makes a difference that "No
Federal Aid Money was given to the Fund for Animals" because
if you didn't get Federal Aid you would not have been able to
send this OTHER money to the Fund for Animals in the first place!
Kenneth Goodall
Bowana@netzero.net
-----Original Message-----
From: Megan_Durham@fws.gov
<Megan_Durham@fws.gov>
To: Ken <bowana@netzero.net>
Date: Friday, October 22, 1999 5:08 PM
Subject: Re: USF&WS Supported The Fund for Animals!
>
>The money we gave to Fund for Animals meant they could join
in a
>partnership with the Army & us to move surplus military
equipment to Africa
>to protect elephants.
>
>Are you against protecting elephants from ivory poachers?
-----Original Message-----
From: Ken <bowana@netzero.net>
To: Megan_Durham@fws.gov
<Megan_Durham@fws.gov>
Cc: george.miller-pub@mail.house.gov
<george.miller-pub@mail.house.gov>;
resources.committee@mail.house.gov
<resources.committee@mail.house.gov>;
jim.mcgovern@mail.house.gov
<jim.mcgovern@mail.house.gov>;
senator@kennedy.senate.gov
<senator@kennedy.senate.gov>;
jmoakley@mail.house.gov
<jmoakley@mail.house.gov>;
martin.meehan@mail.house.gov
<martin.meehan@mail.house.gov>;
Rep.Sununu@mail.house.gov
<Rep.Sununu@mail.house.gov>;
cbass@mail.house.gov
<cbass@mail.house.gov>;
mailbox@gregg.senate.gov
<mailbox@gregg.senate.gov>;
opinion@smith.senate.gov
<opinion@smith.senate.gov>
Date: Saturday, October 23, 1999 7:20 AM
Subject: Re: USF&WS Supported The Fund for Animals!
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Megan_Durham@fws.gov
<Megan_Durham@fws.gov>
>To: Ken <bowana@netzero.net>
>Date: Friday, October 22, 1999 5:08 PM
>Subject: Re: USF&WS Supported The Fund for Animals!
>
>
>>
>>The money we gave to Fund for Animals meant they could
join in a
>>partnership with the Army & us to move surplus
military equipment to
Africa
>>to protect elephants.
>>
>>Are you against protecting elephants from ivory poachers?
>>
>>
>
>"Are you against protecting elephants from ivory
poachers?"
>
>WHAT KIND OF REPLY IS THIS FROM THE CHIEF USF&WS PUBLIC
RELATIONS?
>
>AGAIN you do not need to support an anti-sportsmen group when
there are so
>many that work with sportsmen!
>
>EVEN TO STOP POACHING OF AFRICAN ELEPHANTS!
>
>AND We (the sportsmen) are the ones that allowed the
USF&WS to expand
>expenditures to help animals around the world!
>
>This policy may need reviewing! After all it is "THE
UNITED STATES Fish and
>Wildlife Service" Isn't it?
>
>ALSO try reading Outdoor Life! The last few months have dealt
with the
>serious problem with poachers in THIS COUNTRY!!!
>
>
>Kenneth Goodall
>Bowana@netzero.net
I have had no further replies from The United States Fish and Wildlife Service since 10/22/99
It's Time for Jamie Rapport Clark Director of The United States Fish and Wildlife Service to be removed!
-----Original
Message-----
From: Ken <bowana@netzero.net>
To: Rep.Sununu@mail.house.gov <Rep.Sununu@mail.house.gov>; cbass@mail.house.gov <cbass@mail.house.gov>; mailbox@gregg.senate.gov <mailbox@gregg.senate.gov>; opinion@smith.senate.gov <opinion@smith.senate.gov>
Cc: george.miller-pub@mail.house.gov <george.miller-pub@mail.house.gov>; resources.committee@mail.house.gov <resources.committee@mail.house.gov>; jim.mcgovern@mail.house.gov <jim.mcgovern@mail.house.gov>; senator@kennedy.senate.gov <senator@kennedy.senate.gov>; jmoakley@mail.house.gov <jmoakley@mail.house.gov>; william.delahunt@mail.house.gov <william.delahunt@mail.house.gov>; john_kerry@kerry.senate.gov <john_kerry@kerry.senate.gov>; martin.meehan@mail.house.gov <martin.meehan@mail.house.gov>
Date: Sunday, October 31, 1999 12:35 PM
Subject: USF&WS Director should be removed!
In 1997 Jamie Rappaport Clark was appointed as director of the USFWS. She had formerly served as assistant director of the Division of Ecological Services, an arm of the agency that is known to be unfriendly toward consumptive uses of wildlife.
This May 25, 1999, memo was written by Clark, and was anonymously faxed to state wildlife agency officials by someone inside the USFWS.
"It appears that the current Fisheries mitigation program may be divided into two distinct programs/groups," Clark's memo reads. "One of the programs would be mitigation that utilizes native fish species (Salmon, cutthroat trout, etc.). This would correspond to in-kind mitigation. As delineated under our current Fisheries priorities any mitigation program using native fish species could be coded as RESTORATION -- thus representing one of the higher fisheries priorities . . ." the memo continues.
" The other program would be mitigation that utilizes non-native species (rainbow trout, brown trout, etc.). This would correspond to out-of-kind mitigation. As delineated under our current Fisheries priorities any mitigation program using non-native fish species could be coded as MITIGATION -- representing one of the lower fisheries priorities."
Meagan Durham Chief of Public Relations for the FWS E-Mailed:
"We have asked the Sport Fishing and Boating Partnership Council (composed of BASS, American Sportfishing Association, and other groups) to help us develop a long-range blueprint to strengthen our hatcheries and prepare them for the 21st century"
I think the Sport Fishing and Boating Partnership Council should make ABSOLUTELY SURE that their money is going toward STOCKING Hatcheries and not some Endangered Species!
ALL ENDANGERED Species are covered under the Endangered Species Act and get their share of money. This director's idea of cutting back on Stocking Fisheries is un-bearable.
Along with the National Wilderness Institute, the Texas Wildlife Association and the Unified Sportsmen of Pennsylvania, I believe it is time to demand the removal of Jamie Rapport Clark as Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service!
Whether this memo exists or not, there is too much evidence to ignore!
There are several USF&WS employees testifing in the US House Resources Committee on the mis-management of funds and personal abuses against them.
To have the US Fish and Wildlife Service give money to an anti-hunting group that actively protests against my own State's Fish and Game Department is enough to demand a resignation or TERMINATION!
Meagan Durham Chief of public relations admitted in an e-mail that they gave money to the Fund for Animals, but that it went toward "Preventing Elephant poaching". The money STILL ended up in an anti-hunting groups hands!
AND SOME OF IT WAS MINE!
PLEASE REMOVE JAMIE RAPPORT CLARK as Director of the US Fish and Wildlife Service NOW!
Sincerely,
Kenneth Goodall
Exeter NH 03833
Bowana@netzero.net
I have STILL had no further replies from The United States Fish and Wildlife Service since 10/22/99.
Outdoor Life Online---Special Report: Misplaced Trust- Outdoor life on the USF&WS controversy! December 1999
----------Conservation Issues: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service --USF&WS Replies Outdoor Life Magazine! 12/3/99
My reply to The Director of the FWS, Jamie Rappaport Clark's attack on Outdoor Life Magazine's article:
To: The Director of the USF&WS and the Chief of Public Relations for the USF&WS
RE: The Directors reply to Outdoor Life magazine.
Here are several problems that I believe you have trouble explaining:
1) The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) is cutting back on fish stocking programs in favor of environmental programs.
2) Travel expenses at the FWS are out of line. Thousands of dollars for FWS trips to Puerto Rico! It's only a territory not even a State!
3) The Fund for Animals is an International anti-hunting group and they were working on African Elephant Conservation and received funds from the FWS. THE FWS DID GRANT MONEY TO AN ANTI-HUNTING GROUP!
4) Jamie Rapport Clark, Director of the FWS admitted in a recent Outdoor Life article that their "record keeping has been less than appropriate". This from a federal branch of the government that is responsible for dispersing federal funds.
5) The FWS took the full 6 to 8 percent of federal money available for "Administration Costs" and spent part of that money on the programs they liked. I.E.: Spotted owls, Re-introduction of wolves, monitoring of wolf packs, and the African Elephant Conservation fund. Just to name a few!
6) The General Administrative Services fund or GAS account was badly mis-managed! This is the administration fund from #5 above and according to Ms. Clark the director of the FWS, the original accounting chart given to the US Congress was wrong. Good accounting!
7) The whole Wolf re-introduction plan has been a nightmare. Paying agents to monitor wolf packs and trap them for transplantation when they start killing cattle and paying for cattle that are killed by wolves.
8) The FWS absolutely mis-treated at least two employees. Jim Beers and Bonnie Kline. Mr. Beers received a letter of apology and a SETTLEMENT!
Whenever anyone from the FWS says "No Federal Aid Money" or "No Sportsman's Dollars", I wonder, with their accounting, how do they know?
Only after pressuring the FWS over the course of several e-mails did the FWS admit that one grant went to the Fund for Animals for the preservation of elephants, but added "No Federal Aid money was granted to Fund for Animals."
I am sorry, but this is a Government Organization and ANY MONEY that this organization receives is FEDERAL MONEY!
All in all if every excuse that the Director, Ms. Clark, And the Chief of Public Relations, Ms. Durham, gave were true, then you still have to deal with the employee abuse of Jim Beers!
HE WON! A settlement, legal fees, back pay, AND A LETTER OF APOLOGY FROM THE USF&WS!
NOW WHO IS BEING "MIS-LEADING"?
I have STILL had no further replies from The United States Fish and Wildlife Service since 10/22/99.
United States Fish and Wildlife Service:
megan_durham@fws.gov Megan Durham, Chief of Fish and Wildlife Service Public Affairs.
Honorable George Miller Ranking Minority Member Committee on Resources House of Representatives Washington, D.C. E-MAIL Address: george.miller-pub@mail.house.gov
US House of Representatives Committee on Resources e-mail address: resources.committee@mail.house.gov
Copy & Paste the next line into your e-mail address line:
megan_durham@fws.gov; george.miller-pub@mail.house.gov; resources.committee@mail.house.gov
AND for your local congressmen:
NH US REPRESENTATIVES
Representative John Sununu's E-Mail---- Rep.Sununu@mail.house.gov
Representative Charlie Bass's E-Mail---- cbass@mail.house.gov
NH US SENATORS
Senator Gregg's E-Mail ------------------mailbox@gregg.senate.gov
Senator Bob Smith's E-Mail --------------opinion@smith.senate.gov
Copy and paste to Address line to send to all NH Reps:
Rep.Sununu@mail.house.gov ; cbass@mail.house.gov; mailbox@gregg.senate.gov; opinion@smith.senate.gov
MASSACHUSETTS CONGRESSMEN
Rep. James McGovern (D-MA-3rd) E-mail: jim.mcgovern@mail.house.gov
Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) E-mail: senator@kennedy.senate.gov
Rep. Joe Moakley (D-MA-9th) E-mail: jmoakley@mail.house.gov
Rep. William Delahunt (D-MA-10th) E-mail: william.delahunt@mail.house.gov
Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) E-mail: john_kerry@kerry.senate.gov
Rep. Marty Meehan (D-MA-5th) E-mail: martin.meehan@mail.house.gov
Copy and paste to Address line to send to all MA Reps:
jim.mcgovern@mail.house.gov; senator@kennedy.senate.gov; jmoakley@mail.house.gov; william.delahunt@mail.house.gov; john_kerry@kerry.senate.gov; martin.meehan@mail.house.gov
To Find your REPS from other States:
FIND YOUR UNITED STATES CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATIVES
For More on the FWS Controversy:
Congressional Committee Unanimously Passes Bill to Curb FWS Abuses of Conservation Funds - March 16th, 2000 Now let's get congress to pass this one!
New Documents Show Extensive USFWS Looting of Hunting & Fishing Funds - 3/15/2000 Not only is the problem worse then expected, but there are documents showing that the US Fish and Wildlife Service had plans to let the st. Lawrence River freeze to allow the "natural" re-introduction of wolves into the Northeast! New Hampshire has already passed a law banning the re-introduction of wolves into the state!
US House of Representative Resources Committee - 10/26/99 - Demands more detailed information on the Misuse & Illegal Expenditures Of Fish & Wildlife Conservation Funds by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. http://www.house.gov/resources/press/1999/991026post-hearingfwsmismanagement.htm
Outdoor Life Online --Special Report: Misplaced Trust- Outdoor life on the USF&WS controversy! http://www.fieldandstream.com/tactics/olmisplacedtrust.html
---------------Conservation Issues: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service --USF&WS Replies to Outdoor Life Magazine! http://www.fws.gov/issues/outlife.html
Conservation Groups Say Fish and Wildlife Service Director Must Go -10/26/99-- Washington, DC - Three conservation organizations, the National Wilderness Institute, the Texas Wildlife Association and the Unified Sportsmen of Pennsylvania, have called for removal of Jamie Clark as Director of the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Keep those letters going! http://www.nwi.org/PressReleases/26October99.html
Bowana News- This webmaster's correspondence with the USFWS!
Fish & Wildlife Officials Loot Conservation Funds ---9/29/99--- "Millions from these funds have been looted for everything imaginable. Secretary Babbitt is responsible for these funds but under his tenure the Interior Department has abandon its conservation obligations and betrayed the public's trust," said National Wilderness Institute Executive Director Rob Gordon. http://www.nwi.org/PressReleases/29September99.html
September 29th, 1999 -- Ex-biologist for US Fish and Wildlife Service, Jim Beers -- Clean up the administration of the Dingell-Johnson (Sport Fish Restoration) Act and the Pittman-Robertson Act and give States some contro; of their wildlife funds - Jim Beers http://www.house.gov/resources/106cong/fullcomm/99sep29/beers.htm
September 29th, 1999 -- Bonnie Kline, an eight-year Fish and Wildlife Service employee testifies she was ordered to destroy computer records & told not to cooperate with the Federal Bureau of Investigation or other federal investigators, including the Resources Committee investigation. http://www.house.gov/resources/press/1999/990929posthearingfundmisuse.htm
July 20, 1999 -- Ex-biologist for US Fish and Wildlife Service, Jim Beers, Testifies in Resources committee of the House of Representatives. USF&WS federal aid abuses! http://www.house.gov/resources/106cong/fullcomm/99jul20/beers.htm
July 20th 1999 Mr. David K. Langford, Executive Vice-President, Texas Wildlife Association, Testifies in Resources committee of the House of Representatives. USF&WS federal aid abuses! http://www.house.gov/resources/106cong/fullcomm/99jul20/langford.htm
July 20th 1999 Mr. Rob Gordon, Executive Director, National Wilderness Institute, Washington, D.C, Testifies in Resources committee of the House of Representatives. USF&WS federal aid abuses! http://www.house.gov/resources/106cong/fullcomm/99jul20/gordon.htm
July 20th 1999 Mrs. Becky Norton Dunlop, Vice President, External Relations, The Heritage Foundation and Former Secretary of Natural Resources, Commonwealth of Virginia, Washington, D.C., Testifies in Resources committee of the House of Representatives. USF&WS federal aid abuses! http://www.house.gov/resources/106cong/fullcomm/99jul20/dunlop.htm
US House Resource Committee Press Release July 20, 1999 - Bipartisan Criticism Expressed Regarding Irresponsible Spending Of Conservation Funds By Fish & Wildlife Service. General Accounting Office & Whistleblowers Testify About Waste In Pittman-Robertson & Dingell-Johnson Programs. http://www.house.gov/resources/press/1999/990720usfwslushfund.htm
Response to Representative George Miller --US Fish and Wildlife Service ( FWS ) response to Rep. Gearge Milller ranking minority leader of the US House Resources Committee. http://www.fws.gov/issues/millet.html
ANIMAL WRONGS AT INTERIOR DEPT. - August 2, 1999 edition of Investor's Business Daily article submitted to the US House Resources Committee! http://www.house.gov/resources/press/1999/990802investorsbusinessdaily_doi_prdj.htm
Your Tax Money Going To Radical Animal Rights Groups March 11th 1996 - The American Animal Welfare Foundation (AAWF), an organization promoting the humane use of animals, has issued a strong letter to the US Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) director Mollie Beattie in response to grant awards given by the Service to Friends of Animals, a radical animal rights group. FWS has awarded two conservation grants, the most recent in the amount of $39,514.00, to Friends of Animals. http://www.allianceforamerica.org/tax.htm
US House of Representatives Bill HR3671- Tightening the reins on the US Fish and Wildlife Service
Federal Bill HR3671 - A bill to amend the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act and the Dingell-Johnson Sport Fish Restoration Act to prevent any further mis-use or mis-direction of funds by the US FWS (United States Fish and Wildlife Service)
Is this really enough?
The bill states that it wants to correct the problem "by eliminating opportunities for waste, fraud, abuse, maladministration, and unauthorized expenditures for administration and execution of those Acts,"! If just one of these acts occured in the private sector, these people would be out of work and possibly under indictment! Waste and maladministration are the only two that wouldn't get someone thrown in jail. Fraud, Abuse, and Unauthorized Expenditures could all be considered criminal!
If it can be proven that the FWS took money marked for administration costs and diverted it to other projects that they considered important, this alone should be grounds for suspension at the least!
H.R.3671
Sponsor: Rep Young, Don (introduced 2/16/2000) don.young@mail.house.gov
Latest Major Action: 2/16/2000 Referred to House committee
Title: To amend the Acts popularly known as the Pittman-Robertson
Wildlife Restoration Act and the Dingell-Johnson Sport Fish
Restoration Act to enhance the funds available for grants to
States for fish and wildlife conservation projects and increase
opportunities for recreational hunting, bow hunting, trapping,
archery, and fishing, by eliminating opportunities for waste,
fraud, abuse, maladministration, and unauthorized expenditures
for administration and execution of those Acts, and for other
purposes.
This bill is in the US House of Representatives Resources Committee
(Click the blue line below to mail to The Resources Committee)
http://www.nraila.org/grassroots/20000218-AntiGunGroups-001.shtml
P-R FUND ABUSE ADDRESSED BY YOUNG
U.S. Representative (and NRA Board Member) Don Young (R-Alaska) has introduced H.R. 3671, the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Programs Improvement Act of 2000, a bill supported by NRA that seeks to protect the interests of sportsmen by ending the abuse and mismanagement of money used to administer the Pittman-Robertson (P-R) Trust Fund. Since 1937, the P-R Trust Fund has imposed excise taxes on firearms and ammunition, and the revenue collected is made available to state wildlife agencies for wildlife restoration projects, hunter safety training, and range construction -- all projects which benefit sportsmen who bear the brunt of the tax. More than $3.5 billion have been collected and disbursed by P-R to state agencies for wildlife restoration projects. In 1999, at Representative Young's request, the General Accounting Office (GAO) audited the P-R administrative fund and uncovered waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement involving tens of millions of sportsmen's tax dollars. Instances include expensive foreign travel junkets and large bonuses for U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USF&WS) employees. One career USF&WS employee testified before the House Resources Committee that he was pressured to approve hand-outs of P-R money to an "animal rights" group that aggressively works to destroy hunting. Even worse, another USF&WS employee testified that she was directed by high-level Clinton-Gore bureaucrats to destroy computer records that could have shed light on these abuses and on those responsible. "The administrative abuses uncovered by Representative Young constitute a fundamental breach of trust between America's sportsmen and their government, if not outright illegality," said ILA's Baker. "I want to thank him for introducing this important legislation and for his diligence on this issue....The P-R Trust Fund deserves much of the credit for hunting's continued popularity, because it has brought back numerous game animals from the brink of extinction. I am looking forward to working with Congress to get H.R. 3671 passed into law." Contact your U.S. Representative and urge him to co-sponsor or support H.R. 3671. You can contact your U.S. Representative by calling (202) 225-3121, or use the "Write Your Reps" tool on the NRA-ILA website (http://www.nraila.org).
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TO: US Congressmen
RE: HR3671- Cleaning up the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act and the Dingell-Johnson Sport Fish Restoration Act to prevent any further mis-use or mis-direction of funds by the US FWS.
Rep. Don Young has an excellent bill in HR3671 and I would like to see all of your support for this action! If we are not going to clean house on these people that mis-spent the publics' money on their own pet projects, then the least we can do is tie their hands and not let this happen again!
PLEASE SUPPORT HR3671 WHICH IS IN THE HOUSE RESOURCES COMMITTEE AT THIS TIME!
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Last revised: November 25, 2002.