I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 631 

To amend the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 to allow the 

importation of polar bear trophies taken in sport hunts in Canada. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 28, 2021 

Mr. YOUNG introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To amend the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 to 

allow the importation of polar bear trophies taken in 

sport hunts in Canada. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Restoration of the 

5 U.S.-Russia Polar Bear Conservation Fund Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) The United States Fish and Wildlife Service 

9 estimates that the polar bear population is currently 


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1 at 20,000 to 25,000 bears, up from as low as 5,000 

2 to 10,000 bears in the 1950s and 1960s. 

3 (2) A 2002 United States Geological Survey of 

4 wildlife in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Coast5 al Plain noted that the polar bear populations ‘‘may 

6 now be near historic highs’’. 

7 (3) A permit fee for importing polar bears will 

8 invigorate the public-private funding partnership for 

9 the United States-Russian Polar Bear Conservation 

10 Fund. 

11 (4) TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring 

12 network, has stated both that ‘‘the global population 

13 of Polar Bears is not small and the species’ area of 

14 distribution is not restricted,’’ and ‘‘[t]rade does not 

15 appear to be a significant threat to the species.’’. 

16 TRAFFIC also recommended that the polar bear 

17 not be uplisted to appendix 1 at the 16th Conference 

18 of the Parties of the Convention on International 

19 Trade of Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora 

20 (CITES). 

21 (5) The International Union for Conservation of 

22 Nature (IUCN)/Species Survival Commission (SSC) 

23 Polar Bear Specialist Group (PBSG), has stated 

24 that further trade restrictions on the polar bear are 

25 ‘‘unlikely to confer a conservation benefit, and could 


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1 have a negative impact on socioeconomic systems as 

2 well as domestic and international partnerships’’. 

3 (6) The International Union for Conservation of 

4 Nature has found that ‘‘hunting is a form of wildlife 

5 use that, when well-managed, may assist in fur6 thering conservation objectives by creating the rev7 enue and economic incentives for the management 

8 and conservation of the target species and its habi9 tat, as well as supporting local livelihoods’’. 

10 SEC. 3. PERMITS FOR IMPORTATION OF POLAR BEAR TRO11 PHIES. 

12 The Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 is 

13 amended— 

14 (1) in section 101(a)(3)(B) (16 U.S.C. 

15 1371(a)(3)(B)), by inserting ‘‘or under section 

16 104(c)(5) of this title’’ after ‘‘paragraph (5) of this 

17 subsection’’; and 

18 (2) in section 102(b)(3) (16 U.S.C. 

19 1372(b)(3)), by inserting before the semicolon the 

20 following: ‘‘, except that this paragraph does not 

21 prohibit the importation of polar bear parts under a 

22 permit issued under section 104(c)(5) of this title’’. 

Æ 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS