Number: 1979-18
WHEREAS, wildlife and other international resources have increasingly become the subject of world conservation and political concern; and
WHEREAS, the parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora are presently meeting to consider the protection, and import and export regulations for certain U.S. species such as the bobcat, lynx, river otter, and American alligator; and
WHEREAS, a meeting will soon be convened in West Germany to ratify a worldwide convention for the protection of migratory species, many of which will be endangered or threatened, and some of which will be native to the U.S.; and
WHEREAS, negotiations are continuing toward the conclusion of international treaties affecting the natural resources of the seas and the Antarctic continent; and
WHEREAS, animal protection groups involved in the negotiations of international agreements will base their recommendations on emotions rather than biological fact or necessity, as evidenced by the recent determination of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals that sport fishing as well as hunting should be banned, and the recent distribution of a charter on animal rights erroneously represented to have been adopted by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO);
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation, in annual meeting assembled March 22-25, in Toronto, Ontario, consider these international actions as serious threats to the recreational harvest of fish and wildlife in the country and that they become more involved in international activities affecting wildlife; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation try to enlighten U.S. and foreign delegations to these conventions that the real plight of wildlife is the disappearance of world ecosystems, especially tropical rain forests, and that prohibitions against the consumptive use of wildlife only divert attention from the real threat to wildlife today.