Institute for Justice’s Post

A new report not only highlights the significant increases in wildlife trafficking – described as “off the scale” on some routes – but also the successes of a financial taskforce which is using traditional anti-money laundering and proceeds of crime techniques to target and disrupt offenders and supply chains, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports. ❝Efforts to tackle the crimewave will see an ‘increasing trajectory of arrests and convictions for wildlife crimes’ that will continue to rise as investigations are completed using traditional anti-money laundering and proceeds of illegal goods techniques.❞ ❝Our connected societies are driving the expansion of sourcing for wildlife trafficking and the inclusion of so many people who may not necessarily think of themselves as criminals or as part of an organized crime group, but who are now involved in wildlife trafficking.❞ - Patricia Raxter, Ph.D, United for Wildlife ❝Compounding the challenge is the public end consumer misconstruing the issue of wildlife trafficking into one that is limited to the high-profile media reports about iconic species trafficking, such as elephant ivory and pangolin scales.❞ - Patricia Raxter, United for Wildlife ❝A seizure is now a starting point to go deeper and connect the source and destination countries with the players and transactions involved in the trafficking trail, all the way through to the monetization of the crime.❞ - Geraldine Fleming, Financial Taskforce Manager, United for Wildlife [SUBSCRIBER ARTICLE] https://lnkd.in/epSgH6xW #lawenforcement #policing #police #crime #wildlifecrime

Is it really too much to ask Wyoming to prevent another Cody Roberts? Public outrage erupted after Cody Roberts used a snowmobile to brutally run down, torture, and kill a young wolf in #Wyoming. Yet, the disturbing practice of “wolf whacking”—using vehicles to chase down and kill wild carnivores like wolves and coyotes—astonishingly remains legal. Cody Roberts' act was not an isolated one. Even worse, no current draft laws propose an end to this barbaric behavior. Instead, the latest draft legislation (initiated in response to public outrage) merely requires that anyone who runs down a predatory animal must kill them quickly. This weak response is vague and falls far short of what’s ethical and needed. It won’t prevent countless wolves, coyotes, and other wildlife from being chased, tortured, and killed—the same fate Roberts inflicted upon a yearling wolf in March. 📣 On September 30, the Wyoming Travel, Recreation, Wildlife & Cultural Resources Committee will hold a legislative meeting. Follow Wyoming Wildlife Advocates and visit https://lnkd.in/dzspx2iG to demand real protections for wildlife! #WolfWednesday #RelistWolves #ProtectAmericasWolves #GrayWolves #WyomingWolfIncident 📷 Josh Shandera, #CaptureCoexistence Contributor | @joshshandera

Due to federal protections being restored by a federal judge in February 2022, Minnesota wolves cannot currently be hunted. However, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources intends to hold a wolf hunt once our state’s wolves lose those protections. A recent peer reviewed paper showed that wolves continued to be killed illegally long after the legal wolf hunts ended. In other words, wolf hunts simply cannot be controlled. Right now, wolves in our region are under attack in Congress. We need to let our lawmakers know that federal protections need to be strengthened, not eliminated. Take action at https://lnkd.in/gZ89hhrG and raise your voice to #BanWolfHunting.

When it comes to species of conservation concern, threatened and endangered species, it shouldn’t be a state’s rights BS issue. The Feds should step in and tell the state how to manage populations and the Feds need to listen and act on solid science and not politics, neither local, state nor federal. Then again, I know some federal agencies that need to be reworked and there are times when states and Tribes have to fight the Feds when they’re on the wrong side of an issue. Until we separate management decision making from politics, we’re always going to be fighting this uphill battle. It’s a battle we must continue to fight. It really is up to us. Voting does matter. I acknowledge we still need to call and pressure politicians to do the right thing but it would be a lot easier if we just started electing better class politicians in the first place. I think the real work going forward is going to be in the Courts mostly. Ultimately, we need to change laws though to change SCOTUS in America if we want true protections. This election matters. Voting matters. Until then, keep fighting! Your work matters and it’s important and I wish outside pressure would work in Wyoming and other states that favor hunters and cattle over all others

How to Handle Support Animals at Your Rental Properties in Portland, OR Use this guide to safely navigate the laws and protections regarding support animals at your Portland area rental properties. https://lnkd.in/eqe5zgPy #kerrproperties #leaseportland #portlandpropertymanagement #propertymanagement101 #landlordtips #propertymanager

After extensive lobbying from BASC, we were pleased to see several amendments passed during Stage 3 of the Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Bill this week, ensuring the following: • NatureScot will have to provide reasons for refusing, modifying, suspending or revoking licences for wildlife traps. • NatureScot will have to provide reasons for refusing, modifying, suspending or revoking a licence to shoot grouse. • A Sheriff hearing an appeal can make interim orders in respect of grouse shoot licenses, strengthening the statutory right to appeal. • Prospective appellants have a full 21 days to decide whether to appeal a licensing decision, extending the statutory right to appeal. • A new licensable purpose will allow muirburn to reduce wildfire risk on non-peatland habitats. • The ability to use muirburn out of season under licence if it is necessary, providing land managers with greater flexibility. #BASC

All wildlife crime suffers from absurdly low detection and prosecution rates in the UK. In many rural areas where shooting and hunting are habitual (pigeon racing too sometimes) there is widespread and widely accepted collusion and a culture of silence. The police get little or no support in the investigations quite often. Ask them. The culture of silence in some rural communities (sometimes family led - heard that before with an Italian accent) is no different to nor any less corrupt than the cultures of silence, cover up and intimidation which exist on so-called sink estates. Yet while we all happily condemn those codes of silence, we go out of our way to make soppy excuses for the more corrupt, far more entitled bully boy culture found in some green leafy lanes. Other residents are cowed into silence. Resentment builds up. Then those folk don't turn out to pro-landowner protest marches. They buy direct from trustworthy small producers. This is part of the culture wars - and they are in part criminality stoked. Important to recognise your real opponents.

.'Help protect wildlife in Colorado!' 'It's no secret that wildlife across the globe are in trouble, with populations decreasing and species disappearing at alarming rates. Human development has destroyed or damaged critical habitat to the point that some populations are at serious risk.' 'These issues are hitting home in a major way in Colorado. There, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is preparing to update its management plans statewide to protect wildlife from oil and gas, but their draft plan is not nearly enough to make the necessary difference. BLM manages over 8 million acres of public lands in Colorado, and roughly half of that estate is critical habitat for elk and mule deer—yet the draft management plan would leave 86% of high priority wildlife habitat open for leasing.' 'This draft plan falls short on policies that would truly protect wildlife from harm. Meanwhile, time is running out as officials warn that some state wildlife populations are currently vulnerable.' https://lnkd.in/ePGKGiU6 #saveanimals #biodiversitymatters

In a demonstration that America’s outdoors and recreational shooting sports pastimes still bring people together, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 615 in a bipartisan vote, sending the Protecting Access for Hunters and Anglers Act over to the U.S. Senate for consideration. The bill is strongly supported by NSSF and would require the Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture to provide site-specific peer-reviewed scientific data that demonstrates traditional lead ammunition or fishing tackle is causing detrimental wildlife population impacts before prohibiting their use on federal lands. U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) spoke out against H.R. 615 in a House Rules Committee hearing prior to the legislation’s passage. During her testimony, the progressive firebrand recited a false statement that is demonstrably proven untrue by any examination of the data available about traditional lead ammunition. Read the full blog post by NSSF’s Matt Manda on how Rep. Ocasio-Cortez fails Science 101. ⬇️ https://lnkd.in/ge365kPu #conservation #TraditionalAmmunition

Great news! After 4 long years, an epic Supreme Court battle to protect critical habitat after the bushfires has finally come to an end. Representing Wildlife of the Central Highlands (WOTCH) against state-owned logging agency, VicForests, EJA lawyers have settled this case – which is a great result for our client and a huge win. Threatened species like Greater Gliders, Sooty Owls, Powerful Owls, and Smoky Mice can keep calling their extraordinary habitat home. This was the first ever case to protect threatened animals in the wake of the catastrophic 2019-2020 black summer bushfires, which destroyed almost six million hectares of forest and an estimated three billion animals nationally. The case involved long trials with complex and powerful evidence from experts and WOTCH citizen scientists and court injunctions to protect over 23 unburnt forest areas. This is testament to the relentless dedication of our clients and formidable forest litigators working tirelessly over the years. And it’s thanks to the generosity and determination of people like you – who stood with us during this long battle. Read more about this case: https://ow.ly/SlVE50Qx2hb