The Status of Poaching in the United States - Are We Protecting Our Wildlife

Poaching activities in the United States are on the rise, depleting both game and nongame wildlife. Federal laws for protection of wildlife, such as the Lacey Act and the Endangered Species Act, provide some muscle to enforcement efforts, but it is largely the states that must bear the brunt of enforcement of wildlife laws. This article describes the extent of the poaching problem in the United States and compares various types of state laws that can impact poaching. Interviews of enforcement officers in the field and original research regarding the content of and differences between state laws yield an array of proposed solutions and recommendations for action. Among the recommendations are education of the judiciary and prosecuting attorneys, and making state laws consistent in their enforcement of wildlife protection policy. INTRODUCTION: SCOPE OF THE PROBLEM Wildlife suffers from human activities causing habitat loss, but wildlife also suffers immensely from poaching, or illegal taking of wildlife, incidents and commercial operations. Almost nowhere is poaching of wildlife more lucrative, more dangerous and more difficult to control than in the United States, yet the poaching problem in this country seldom receives international attention. The level of poaching has reached a crisis here at home both financially and in loss of numbers of game and nongame wildlife. From the local and state level to federal and international border operations, poaching is causing depletion of our irreplaceable national wildlife resources. It is a situation that must be given prompt and firm attention. * Ruth S. Musgrave, esq. is director of the Center for Wildlife Law ("CWL"), at the University of New Mexico's Institute of Public Law, and is an adjunct professor at the UNM School of Law teaching wildlife law. Sara Parker, esq, is a 1993 graduate of the University of Missouri School of Law, and interned at CWL. Miriam Wolok, esq. is a biologist and staff attorney at CWL. ** This article is a revised version of Chapter 3 of the Center for Wildlife Law's State Wildlife Laws Handbook, published by Government Institutes, Inc. in November, 1993. A report version of the article was also published separately by the Center for Wildlife Law in August, 1992. NATURAL RESOURCES JOURNAL This article analyzes the phenomenon of poaching in the United States. Analysis of the problem includes a review of state and federal laws which attempt to restrict poaching activities, as well as a preliminary review of cultural and economic factors that currently impact the poaching industry in the United States. Although various federal statutes grant authority to federal agents to protect certain wildlife species, it is primarily the states that regulate the taking of wildlife within their respective borders, through their own state fish and wildlife codes. But with poaching on the rise, the effectiveness of both state and federal laws is being questioned. For example, comparisons of states' restrictions, penalties and enforcement powers reveal gaps in consistency and level of enforcement of wildlife protection laws. Poachers can use these gaps between states' laws to their advantage, trafficking illegally taken wildlife through and out of the country. As economic and other pressures make poaching more attractive, methods of dealing with poaching will have to become proportionately more creative and proactive. Our preliminary survey of factors affecting poaching, comparison of state and federal laws and penalties, and interviews with wildlife professionals across the country has produced many recommendations for action and proposed deterrents and other solutions. In attempting to review and compare the states' wildlife laws which can impact poaching, the undertaking is too massive and complex to cover exhaustively in this article. However, the wildlife poaching problem is so immense that an initial overview of the issues, the inconsistencies between laws and the potential solutions is necessary and indeed crucial to outline possibilities for affirmative action. A more in-depth study and analysis of each state's fish and wildlife laws must be done so that a determination can be made about what is and is not working toward solving the poaching problem in the United States. There is an urgent need for states, federal agencies and the public to begin to work together in earnest to protect wildlife from illegal exploitation. In this article workable and reasonable recommendations for action are offered that can be implemented almost immediately. In the meantime and indeed ultimately, it is public awareness and governmental understanding of the problem that is the first step in changing laws, in educating judges and prosecutors and in activating other solutions and deterrents to poaching. MAGNITUDE OF THE POACHING PROBLEM IN THE UNITED