Safari Club International ROAR Rapid Outdoor Advocacy Report Volume 1 No.2 Download the latest "The Wild Life" cartoon by Roy Doty. Publish it FREE with our thanks. (Click for color (Click for B&W Welcome ROAR is Safari Club International's E-bulletin. The inaugural issue of the periodic tip sheet was down loaded by more than 500 outdoor writers, and the initial tongue-in-cheek editorial cartoon by Roy Doty was down loaded by journalists at more than 280 newspapers. We hope you find this issue equally valuable, and we will work to make future issues of ROAR chalk full of items worthy of column mention or feature treatment. Safari Club International stands ready to provide expert commentary on all subjects covered in this and future issues of ROAR. We appreciate your consideration. BIRTH CONTROL FLOPS A three-year study on immunocontraception for deer population control near Mumford, Connecticut has turned up flat. The study, which was sponsored and conducted by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), and included the University of New Hampshire and the Connecticut Wildlife Division, found using birth control as a method of wildlife management far too "time consuming, expensive, and difficult" to be effective. At best, only 70 percent of does in the target group were successfully inoculated. According to the Connecticut Wildlife Division, even if birth control had been 100 percent successful in the inoculated group, the failure to treat 30 percent meant enough fawns were born to maintain deer population in a community that needs a significant reduction. Sport hunting remains an effective tool for wildlife management professionals. As a result, elected officials in this Connecticut town have once again expanded the legal hunting that, through permit fees, generates extra income for wildlife research and conservation efforts. CLINTON WOUNDS SPORTSMEN On December 5, 2000, President Clinton signed an executive order banning recreational fishing from approximately four million acres in the northwest Hawaiian Islands and restricting another 80 million. With angler fishing already strictly regulated, this order not only represents a betrayal to the islands' recreational anglers, but also may generate severe economic consequences. According to the American Sportfishing Association, angling annually generates approximately $238 billion in Hawaii, a sum that will no doubt be seriously affected by his decision. "Hunting is under attack by Clinton measures, now fishing," states Rudy Rosen, Ph.D., executive director of Safari Club International. "What next? Are even bird watchers safe anymore as this 'lock it up mentality' toward America's fish and wildlife resources rages on in these final days as President Clinton desperately seeks a legacy?" Safari Club International is concerned about too much Federal involvement in state wildlife management decisions. With conservationists from coast-to-coast, SCI supports United States congressional bill S3234, the Freedom To Fish Act. WILD SALMON CLASSIFIED AS THREATENED Federal officials recently labeled the wild Atlantic salmon in eight Maine rivers as officially threatened. Citing threats from their farm-bred brethren and other factors, the action makes it a federal violation to fish for the salmon in Maine's rivers. The Nov. decision brought the ire of Maine's leading government officials. Governor Angus King (Ind.) said the decision was based on "questionable science" and would negatively impact Maine's "fish-farming and blueberry industries." United States Senators Olympia J. Snow (Rep.) and Susan M. Collins (Rep.), in a joint statement, said the money that should go toward conserving the salmon would instead be wasted satisfying Endangered Species Act requirements. It's too early to measure the net effect of this Federal decision on Maine's agricultural industry, but having the Federal government issue guidelines on sport fishing in states where area wildlife management professionals have substantial and counterbalancing data is an intrusion with potentially far-reaching impact. ORV RESTRICTION SOUGHT The National Park Service has proposed regulations that would keep hunters and other sportsmen out of most of the Big Cypress National Park Preserve in Florida. Citing the need to protect the park's delicate ecosystem, without providing concrete examples of damage, the regulations would restrict the use of off-road vehicles (ORVs) in the area. Since the vast majority of hunters obey ORV access protocols, and fines could address the few who don't, ORVs have little, if any, impact on the ecosystem. By reducing ORV access to the preserve largely created through sport license fees, the ill-conceived regulations will severely limit the well documented area in which hunters can harvest game this will hamper the contribution sportsmen and sportswomen make to wildlife management. As a result, the proposed have the potential to foster more re-ecological damage than the ORVs being targeted. Interview Congressional Leaders at SCI Convention Prominent national legislators are scheduled to attend Safari Club International's 29th Annual Hunters Convention. Each has agreed to do interviews with outdoor journalists on a request basis. Should you like to interview US Senator Larry Craig (R-ID), and/or US Congressmen Don Young (R-AK), Mike Thompson (D-CA), Jim Gibbons (R-NV), John Dingell (D-MI), Richard Pombo (R-CA), Duncan Hunter (R-CA), Colin Peterson (D-MN), or Charlie Norwood (R-GA), please contact SCI Public Relations. Of course, you're also invited to attend what will be SCI's largest convention to date, with over 400,000 square feet of exhibit space and some 20,000 exhibitors and hunters. If you or a colleague would like credentials to attend this convention as a representative of the working media, please contact: Jim Brown Director of Public Relations Safari Club International & Safari Club International Foundation 4800 W. Gates Pass Road Tucson, AZ 85745 520-620-1220, ext. 477 520-618-3565 (fax) jbrown@safariclub.org Download the most recent "The Wild Life" cartoons by Roy Doty. Publish it FREE with our thanks. (Zipped .JPG 200ppi Contact: Jim Brown, SCI/SCIF Director of Public Relations (520-620-1220, ext. 477; jbrown@safariclub.org) If You: 1. Prefer to receive ROAR by fax or mail 2. Want expert commentary on wildlife management or hunting-related issues 3. Need leads on hunters involved with conservation, education and humanitarian projects 4. Wish to be removed from the ROAR distribution list (roar@safariclub.org 520-618-3565 fax) More on Safari Club Founded in 1971, Safari Club International is a 501(C)(4) nonprofit association dedicated to protecting the rights of 45 million hunters worldwide. With some 200 chapters around the globe, SCI is a tireless advocate for these sportsmen and sportswomen who, through their legal hunting activities, represent the single largest source of money necessary to maintain wildlife populations and habitats, to conduct wildlife research and to enforce wildlife laws. For more information about SCI, visit www.safariclub.org or its government relations Web site at www.sci-dc.org. The Safari Club International Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that promotes wildlife conservation, education about the outdoors, and humanitarian services for people in need. For more information about SCIF and the hundreds of projects it funds each year call 1-800-377-5399; visit http://safariclubfoundation.org/ or its International Wildlife Museum Web site at www.thewildlifemuseum.org.