H.R. 2406 (The SHARE Act) is related to the Sportsmen’s Act (S.405, S.659, S.556) in the Senate, but contains several different provisions.
PLEASE SIGN AND SHARE:
WE THE PEOPLE PETITION THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION TO: VETO H.R. 2406
bit.ly/VetoTheShareAct (signature must be verified by email)
Bill Description (scroll down for tweets as well as a simple cut and paste email to send to your Senators and President Obama):
This omnibus bill combines many bad bills related to environmental resources into one. There are several problematic portions with dire implications for wildlife and the ecosystems they need to thrive. This is Congress at its worst: pandering to special interests and sacrificing smart conservation policy for political cache (adding insult to injury, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that enacting this foul piece of legislation would cost $24 million over the 2016-2020 period and $1 million after 2020, assuming appropriation of the authorized and necessary amounts).
One portion of H.R. 2406 would make it impossible for the Department of the Interior or the Department of Agriculture to consider the effects of any “chemical substance” in pistol, revolver, firearm, shell, cartridge, or sport fishing equipment, as outlined in the Toxic Substances Control Act. This bill would prevent federal agencies, and the scientists that work for them, from carrying out their duty to evaluate and protect the public and the environment from toxic substances. This is particularly relevant to our fight to eliminate lead from hunting equipment, because of its deadly effects on wildlife that ingest it. Federal agencies must retain the ability to make decisions based solely on the best available science, not guided by an uncalled for and unscientific bill.
Another section would allow the importation of 41 polar bear sport trophies from Canada. Between the proposal to list polar bears as threatened in 2006 and the final threatened listing in 2008, 41 hunters killed polar bears – despite repeated warnings from hunting organizations and government agencies that trophy imports would likely not be allowed as of the listing date. If Congress passes this new waiver on sport trophies and allows these hunters to import their kills, it would be rewarding their risky and ecologically unsound behavior. It would also set a precedent for Congressional leniency on the import of animals being considered for threatened or endangered listing, which could accelerate the pace of killing for any species proposed for listing in the future.
One of the most devastating provisions contains several alarming rollbacks of long-standing federal environmental and public land laws including the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Wilderness Act, and the National Forest Management Act. In the process, it reduces or eliminates important protections for America’s public lands that have been in place for decades. For example, the bill would including trapping under the definition of hunting, conflating two entirely different activities and thereby opening hundreds of millions of public lands to cruel trapping. In addition, the bill would force land managers to prioritize hunting and trapping above other outdoor activities, effectively excluding a large proportion of the American public from enjoying national spaces that belong to all of us. This and other changes in H.R. 2406 are in direct conflict with the stated purpose of the Wilderness Act, which is to establish areas “where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain.”
The African Elephant Conservation and Legal Ivory Possession Act, rolled into H.R. 2406, would halt efforts by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to crack down on the illegal ivory trade, particularly by undoing the restrictions on U.S. ivory imports and exports. African elephants are facing the greatest poaching crisis since the 1980s: more than 100,000 were killed from 2010 to 2012 – an average of one every 15 minutes. The appalling scale of poaching is intertwined with violent militias, organized crime, and government corruption in Africa. A crucial element of halting this ongoing slaughter is addressing the demand for ivory within our own borders. The regulations proposed by the FWS prohibit most imports and exports, and limit other commercial actions to ivory that was lawfully imported prior to 1990 (the date that elephants’ endangered status was elevated by the Convention on the International Trade of Endangered Species). Prohibiting FWS from implementing these vital regulations would be an enormous step backward in the U.S.’s response to the wildlife trafficking crisis.
Other provisions in this huge bill would prevent the public from having a say in National Wildlife Refuge decisions, and waive important environmental reviews for this system as well. Such blind dedication to implementing recreational killing is detrimental to both conservation efforts and the public interest. As of Friday, February 26th, two additional, extremely troubling, amendments were voted on favorably and included in the SHARE Act. One, from Representative Don Young, which would roll back new federal rules on hunting predators on Alaska’s national preserves, and a similar proposed rule for refuges (National Park Service). The federal government wants the new rules to protect wolf and bear populations, while the state wants to control predator numbers to allow for more moose and caribou. The other added amendment would strip wolves of their federal protections in four states under the Endangered Species Act, subverting the judicial process and subjecting hundreds of wolves to hostile state practices such as baiting, hound hunting, and painful steel-jawed leghold traps. This amendment was offered by Congressman Reid Ribble.
As this bill has passed the house with a final vote of 242 ayes to 161 nays the following tweets will be directed to the upper branch of Congress. For those of you who are new to my tweetstorms, all tweets are “click to tweet” just tap “Tweet4Wolves”. For ease of tweeting please open this blog on your browser and close your twitter window. In advance, thankyou for your time and support~In the shadow of the wolf.
Tell #Congress Don’t Gun Down Protections 4#Wolves: ow.ly/YDeNO pic.twitter.com/UDmChL23Bn Tweet4Wolves
.@POTUS Please Veto H.R.2406 #SHAREAct #Lead poisoned Bald #Eagle that did not survive-Raptor EducationGroup. pic.twitter.com/yMbeFuL3SQ Tweet4Wolves
Veto H.R.2406 #SHAREAct please sign: wh.gov/iG1Cv #Wolves
pic.twitter.com/sjUKKFyhLh Tweet4Wolves
.@SenateDems #Elephants #Wolves #PolarBears #Wildlife #EnvironmentalToxins
#SHAREAct
There’s nothing sporting about … fb.me/7Eywks2VQ Tweet4Wolves
#Wolves #Wildlife
#HR2406 #SHAREAct has passed the House with a vote of 242 ayes to 161 nays. Please contact…fb.me/2p41nwxoQ Tweet4Wolves
.@SenateDems Please vote NO #SHAREAct #HR2406 #wolves have fought their way back from near-extinction… fb.me/7KYenUdiU Tweet4Wolves
.@POTUS Please VETO #SHAREAct #HR2406 #wolves have fought their way back from near-extinction… fb.me/7KYenUdiU Tweet4Wolves
.@POTUS Please #VetoExtinction #SHARE Act #HR2406 #Elephants pic.twitter.com/Sinj0mqmwF Tweet4Wolves
#SHAREAct blocks @USFWS from making decisions about cruel/inhumane “predator control” on Alaska’s national wildlife refuges @SenateDems Tweet4Wolves
.@SenateDems #StandForWolves and wildlife in #Alaska Vote NO #SHAREAct #HR2406 pic.twitter.com/0F8ultP5rh Tweet4Wolves
#SHAREAct If #Congress caves in 2 the trophy-hunting lobby & passes this scam of a bill, we call upon @POTUS to give it a clean kill shot. Tweet4Wolves
.@SenateDems The #SHAREAct would open millions of acres to #Trapping Vote down #HR2406 pic.twitter.com/7KVUg3cj1N Tweet4Wolves
.@POTUS The #SHAREAct would open millions of acres to #Trapping Please VETO #HR2406 pic.twitter.com/7KVUg3cj1N Tweet4Wolves
#SHAREAct @BarackObama #VetoExtinction Use your pen as your sword and cut this bill down! Veto #HR2406 pic.twitter.com/o0OU8u1XOk Tweet4Wolves
.@POTUS This amendment has been added to #HR2406 VETO the #SHAREAct #Wolves #Alaska fb.me/7Cu2DJfz3 Tweet4Wolves
.@SenateDems This amendment has been added to #HR2406 VETO the #SHAREAct #Wolves #Alaska Tweet4Wolves
.@POTUS @SenateDems Please set this bill aside! #HR2406 #SHAREAct #EnvironmentalToxins #LeadPoisoning #Eagles bit.ly/1TLypie Tweet4Wolves
.@SenateDems #HR2406 is an abomination! Vote NO to the #SHAREAct #animalcruelty #Trapping pic.twitter.com/SZF3Vr8TgK Tweet4Wolves
.@POTUS @SenateDems Please oppose any legislation that seeks to delist #wolves #SHAREAct #HR2406 & #S659 bit.ly/1Qhellk Tweet4Wolves
The #SHAREAct strips #wolves of their federal protections in 4 states under the #ESA among other harmful provisions @SenateDems Tweet4Wolves
The #SHAREAct subverts the judicial process & subjects hundreds of #wolves to hostile state practices! @POTUS pic.twitter.com/9tgIKPQ76A Tweet4Wolves
The #SHAREAct subverts the judicial process & subjects hundreds of #wolves 2 hostile state practices! @SenateDems pic.twitter.com/9tgIKPQ76A Tweet4Wolves
The #SHAREAct would deny proper oversight of toxic #lead in the environment. @POTUS @SenateDems #Eagles bit.ly/1TLypie Tweet4Wolves
.@SenateDems Vote NO to the #SHAREAct #HR2406 This is what happens when #wolves R #delisted: bit.ly/1RCTWJQ
pic.twitter.com/R9gHwS09Qh Tweet4Wolves
.@POTUS VETO the #SHAREAct #HR2406 Delisting #wolves = extirpation: bit.ly/1RCTWJQ
pic.twitter.com/R9gHwS09Qh Tweet4Wolves
The #SHAREAct #HR2406 blocks carefully considered rulemaking to protect animals on national wildlife refuges! @POTUS @SenateDems Tweet4Wolves
The #SHAREAct is grab bag of appalling items that the trophy hunting lobby cannot secure in free standing bills. @POTUS @SenateDems Tweet4Wolves
The #SHAREAct would both subvert judicial processes & undermine the ESA, one of our nation’s bedrock environmental laws @POTUS @SenateDems Tweet4Wolves
The #SHAREAct delists #wolves When delisted in 2012, 20% of the Wisconsin #wolf pop was wiped out in 3 hunting seasons! @POTUS @SenateDems Tweet4Wolves
Oppose the #SHAREAct When #Wisconsin #wolves were delisted 17 *entire* family units were wiped out! @SenateDems pic.twitter.com/IpPtaZx5Xn Tweet4Wolves
VETO the #SHAREAct When #Wisconsin #wolves were delisted 17 *entire* family units were wiped out! @POTUS pic.twitter.com/IpPtaZx5Xn Tweet4Wolves
NO to #SHAREAct Clearly, federal oversight is necessary 2 provide adequate protections 4 #wolves as required by ESA. @POTUS @SenateDems Tweet4Wolves
The #SHAREAct would help 41 wealthy #polarbear trophy hunters import the heads of rare polar bears they shot in Canada. @POTUS @SenateDems Tweet4Wolves
Disgraceful! The #SHAREAct encourages trophy hunters to kill rare species worldwide via import allowances! @POTUS @SenateDems Tweet4Wolves
The #SHAREAct encourages the kill of #EndangeredSpecies because a congressional waiver will allow importation! @POTUS @SenateDems Tweet4Wolves
The #SHAREAct is an atrocious bill which the Senate should take no further action on. @POTUS @SenateDems pic.twitter.com/IpPtaZx5Xn Tweet4Wolves
#SHAREAct Fed. court put a stop 2 reckless #wolf slaughter. Politicians shouldn’t undercut judicial review of delisting actions! @POTUS Tweet4Wolves @SenateDems: Tweet4Wolves
The #SHAREAct is an ugly grab-bag of giveaways 2 special interest groups & is disgraceful! @POTUS @SenateDems pic.twitter.com/9tgIKPQ76A Tweet4Wolves
The #SHAREAct would destroy years of work done by animal protection advocates, environmentalists, and conservationists @POTUS Tweet4Wolves @SenateDems Tweet4Wolves
The abhorrent #SHAREAct #HR2406 would deny proper oversight of toxic #lead in the environment @POTUS Please #VETO this bill! Tweet4Wolves
.@POTUS #HR2406 #SHAREAct threatens the interests of wildlife, conservation and public lands. Please #veto this bill. Tweet4Wolves
The #SHAREAct will subject hundreds of #wolves to hostile state practices such as baiting @POTUS @SenateDems Tweet4Wolves
The #SHAREAct will subject hundreds of #wolves to hostile state practices such as hound hunting @POTUS @SenateDems pic.twitter.com/9tgIKPQ76A Tweet4Wolves
#SHAREAct will subject #wildlife & #wolves 2 hostile practices such painful steel-jawed leghold traps. @SenateDems pic.twitter.com/SZF3Vr8TgK Tweet4Wolves @POTUS Tweet4Wolves
#SHAREAct would declare millions of acres of public lands automatically open 2 hunting & trapping @SenateDems pic.twitter.com/7KVUg3cj1N Tweet4Wolves
VETO #SHAREAct would declare millions of acres public lands automatically open 2 hunting & trapping @POTUS pic.twitter.com/7KVUg3cj1N Tweet4Wolves
VETO the #SHAREAct and #S659 Senate version @POTUS see the link between hunting & #ChildAbuse: exm.nr/1StD5sj @SenateDems Tweet4Wolves
#SHAREAct blocks @USFWS from making decisions about cruel/inhumane predator control on Alaska’s national wildlife refuges @SenFeinstein Tweet4Wolves
@SenatorBoxer Tweet4Wolves
@SenBennetCO Tweet4Wolves
@SenBlumenthal Tweet4Wolves
@ChrisMurphyCT Tweet4Wolves
@SenatorCarper Tweet4Wolves
@ChrisCoons Tweet4Wolves
@SenBillNelson Tweet4Wolves
@SenBrianSchatz Tweet4Wolves
@maziehirono Tweet4Wolves
@SenatorDurbin Tweet4Wolves
@SenDonnelly Tweet4Wolves
@SenAngusKing Tweet4Wolves
@SenatorBarb Tweet4Wolves
@SenatorCardin Tweet4Wolves
@SenWarren Tweet4Wolves
Vote NO #SHAREAct strips #wolves of federal protections in 4 states under the #ESA @SenMarkey @stabenow @Peters4Michigan @jontester Tweet4Wolves
Vote NO #SHAREAct strips #wolves of federal protection under #ESA in 4 states @amyklobuchar @alfranken @clairecmc @jontester @CoryBooker Tweet4Wolves
Vote NO #SHAREAct strips #wolves of federal protection under #ESA in 4 states @SenatorBaldwin @Sen_JoeManchin @PattyMurray @SenatorCantwell Tweet4Wolves
Vote NO #SHAREAct strips #wolves of federal protection under #ESA in 4 states @MarkWarner @timkaine @SenatorLeahy @SenSanders Tweet4Wolves
Vote NO #SHAREAct subverts the judicial process & subjects hundreds of #wolves to hostile state practices!
@SenBobCasey @SenToomey Tweet4Wolves
Vote NO #SHAREAct subverts the judicial process & subjects hundreds of #wolves to hostile state practices!
@RonWyden @SenJeffMerkley Tweet4Wolves
Vote NO #SHAREAct subverts the judicial process & subjects hundreds of #wolves to hostile state practices! @SenatorMenendez @CoryBooker Tweet4Wolves
#SHAREAct blocks @USFWS from making decisions about cruel/inhumane predator control on Alaska’s national wildlife refuges @SenatorMenendez Tweet4Wolves
#SHAREAct blocks @USFWS from making decisions about cruel/inhumane predator control on Alaska’s national wildlife refuges @CoryBooker Tweet4Wolves
Oppose the #SHAREAct which would deny proper oversight of toxic #lead in the #environment @SenateDems VETO #HR2406 @POTUS Tweet4Wolves
#SHAREAct would help 41 wealthy #polarbear trophy hunters import the heads of rare polar bears they shot in Canada VETO #HR2406 @POTUS Tweet4Wolves
.@SenateDems More than 60 conservation organizations signed an open letter opposing the Sportsmen’s Act. VETO #HR2406 #S659 @POTUS Tweet4Wolves
.@SenateDems #SHAREAct Threatens #Wolves, #Elephants, #PolarBears, #Birds, People and pets! VETO #HR2406 @POTUS pic.twitter.com/o0OU8u1XOk Tweet4Wolves
.@POTUS #Alaska voters oppose cruel methods of killing wildlife: bit.ly/StopTheCrueltyAlaska VETO #SHAREAct @SenateDems @lisamurkowski Tweet4Wolves
#SHAREAct “If this misguided legislation is enacted #elephants are likely to go #extinct in our lifetime” on.fb.me/1LFdDPY @POTUS Tweet4Wolves
#SHAREAct “If this misguided legislation is enacted #elephants are likely 2 go #extinct in our lifetime” on.fb.me/1LFdDPY @SenateDems Tweet4Wolves
VETO the #SHAREAct There’s nothing sporting about #wolf slaughter, #elephant poaching or #LeadPoisoning pic.twitter.com/Sinj0mqmwF @POTUS Tweet4Wolves
#SHAREAct creates dangerous loophole allowing trophy-hunted polar #bears 2 be imported. @POTUS @SenateDems pic.twitter.com/XrtZ8vq0N1 Tweet4Wolves
VETO #SHAREAct Two-thirds of PolarBears are expected to be wiped out by 2050 due to #ClimateChange @POTUS pic.twitter.com/3xsvdGCPXC Tweet4Wolves
NO #SHAREAct Two-thirds of PolarBears are expected to be wiped out by 2050 due to #ClimateChange @SenateDems pic.twitter.com/3xsvdGCPXC Tweet4Wolves
.@POTUS #Alaska voters oppose cruel methods of killing wildlife: bit.ly/StopTheCrueltyAlaska VETO #SHAREAct pic.twitter.com/0F8ultP5rh Tweet4Wolves
.@SenateDems #Alaska voters oppose cruel methods of killing wildlife: bit.ly/StopTheCrueltyAlaska NO #SHAREAct @repdonyoung Tweet4Wolves
*Legislative action may be occurring on S.659 in lieu of or in parallel to action on this bill. Please find a list of tweets against this legislation here, where you will also find a list of all U.S. Senators twitter handles, should you care to send a personalized tweet.
Please send a simple cut and paste email to your Senators. Find their email address here. If you prefer you can send an email via democracy.io, here.
Email President Obama here.
Feel free to personalize and use this sample email:
H.R. 2406 SHARE Act
Please oppose H.R. 2406 SHARE Act. The SHARE ACT (Sportsmen’s Heritage and Recreational Enhancement Act, the House version of the Senate’s Bipartisan Sportsmen’s Act) is comprised of numerous, irresponsible, pro-hunting and anti-environment regulations, and represents a clear assault on wildlife with (as of Friday, February 26th) two additional, extremely troubling, amendments. One, from Representative Don Young, which would roll back new federal rules on hunting predators on Alaska’s national preserves, and a similar proposed rule for refuges (National Park Service). This amendment would override a proposed rule from FWS which “clarifies how existing mandates for the conservation of natural and biological diversity, biological integrity, and environmental health on refuges in Alaska relate to predator control; prohibits several particularly effective methods and means for take of predators”. This would formally establish a goal of biodiversity as the guiding principle of federal management of wildlife refuges (The Fish and Wildlife Service says the rule makes clear it would have no impact on subsistence hunters). The amendment, would allow Alaska to continue intensive predator management to allow for more moose and caribou turning our wildlife preserves into game farms.
The other added amendment would strip wolves of their federal protections in four states under the Endangered Species Act, subverting the judicial process and subjecting hundreds of wolves to hostile state practices such as baiting, hound hunting, and painful steel-jawed leghold traps. This amendment was offered by Congressman Reid Ribble.
This omnibus bill combines many bad bills related to environmental resources into one, and contains numerous problematic portions with dire implications for wildlife and the ecosystems they need in order to thrive. This bill panders to special interests and sacrifices smart conservation policy for political cache. H.R. 2406 would prevent the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of the Interior, and the Department of Agriculture from regulating lead (a potent and dangerous neurotoxin) in fishing tackle and ammunition (An estimated 10-20 million animals die from lead poisoning each year in the United States after ingesting lead shot, bullet fragments, and sport fishing waste). *It would define trapping (outlawed in nearly 90 countries as barbaric, cruel, and inhumane) as a form of hunting which would open up more federal lands to the setting of steel-jaw leghold traps and other body-gripping traps that pose grave risks to public safety, wildlife, endangered species and pets. *This bill would declare that millions of acres of public lands are automatically open to hunting and trapping without any scrutiny. Public land managers seeking to disallow these activities in order to protect wildlife, habitat, and the public would face enormous bureaucratic hurdles. *The SHARE Act would compel the National Park Service to allow private hunters to shoot bison in the Grand Canyon National Park as part of its management plan. These are just several of the horrific provisions of this bill, which would destroy years of work done by animal protection advocates, environmentalists, and conservationists to protect endangered species and other wildlife. Other provisions in this huge bill would prevent the public from having a say in National Wildlife Refuge decisions, and waive important environmental reviews for this system as well. Such blind dedication to implementing recreational killing is detrimental to both conservation efforts and goes against the wishes of the majority of Americans, and their desire to protect the wilderness and wildlife. This is a disgraceful bill which I ask that you set aside permanently.
Thankyou for your time and consideration of this extremely important matter,
Your name
Thankyou for being a voice for the voiceless. Please feel free to send off these tweets as often as you like until these horrible proposals are dismissed.
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