Don Young: “as the sponsor of H.R. 39, I rise in strong support of this important conservation legislation to reauthorize the…”

“as the sponsor of H.R. 39, I rise in strong support of this important conservation legislation to reauthorize the African Elephant Conservation Fund. I am pleased that I have been joined in this effort by Speaker Newt Gingrich and our colleague from California, Duke Cunningham. For the past 9 years, this fund has been the only continuous source of new money for elephant conservation efforts. While the act authorizes up to $5 million per year, in reality the Congress has annually appropriated less than $900,000 to save and conserve this flagship species of the African Continent. This money has been used to finance some 50 conservation projects in 17 range states throughout Africa. These projects have been sponsored by a diverse group of conservation organizations including the African Wildlife Foundation, Safari Club International, Southern Africa Wildlife Trust, and the World Wildlife Fund. These funds have been used to purchase antipoaching equipment for wildlife rangers, to establish a database on elephants, to develop effective conservation plans, to undertake various elephant population surveys, and to move elephants from certain drought regions. While the world community has been successful in halting the widespread slaughter of this magnificent animal, the fight to save the African elephant is far from over.”