Restoration of the U.S.-Russia Polar Bear Conservation Fund Act
Bill: H.R.631 | Sponsor: Rep. Young, Don (R-AK)
Policy area: Animals

Summary:
Restoration of the U.S.-Russia Polar Bear Conservation Fund Act
This bill allows the importation of polar bear parts taken legally in sport hunts in Canada.

To amend the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 to allow the 
   importation of polar bear trophies taken in sport hunts in Canada.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Restoration of the U.S.-Russia Polar 
Bear Conservation Fund Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) The United States Fish and Wildlife Service estimates 
        that the polar bear population is currently at 20,000 to 25,000 
        bears, up from as low as 5,000 to 10,000 bears in the 1950s and 
        1960s.
            (2) A 2002 United States Geological Survey of wildlife in 
        the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Coastal Plain noted that 
        the polar bear populations ``may now be near historic highs''.
            (3) A permit fee for importing polar bears will invigorate 
        the public-private funding partnership for the United States-
        Russian Polar Bear Conservation Fund.
            (4) TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network, has 
        stated both that ``the global population of Polar Bears is not 
        small and the species' area of distribution is not 
        restricted,'' and ``[t]rade does not appear to be a significant 
        threat to the species.''. TRAFFIC also recommended that the 
        polar bear not be uplisted to appendix 1 at the 16th Conference 
        of the Parties of the Convention on International Trade of 
        Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora (CITES).
            (5) The International Union for Conservation of Nature 
        (IUCN)/Species Survival Commission (SSC) Polar Bear Specialist 
        Group (PBSG), has stated that further trade restrictions on the 
        polar bear are ``unlikely to confer a conservation benefit, and 
        could have a negative impact on socioeconomic systems as well 
        as domestic and international partnerships''.
            (6) The International Union for Conservation of Nature has 
        found that ``hunting is a form of wildlife use that, when well-
        managed, may assist in furthering conservation objectives by 
        creating the revenue and economic incentives for the management 
        and conservation of the target species and its habitat, as well 
        as supporting local livelihoods''.

SEC. 3. PERMITS FOR IMPORTATION OF POLAR BEAR TROPHIES.

    The Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 is amended--
            (1) in section 101(a)(3)(B) (16 U.S.C. 1371(a)(3)(B)), by 
        inserting ``or under section 104(c)(5) of this title'' after 
        ``paragraph (5) of this subsection''; and
            (2) in section 102(b)(3) (16 U.S.C. 1372(b)(3)), by 
        inserting before the semicolon the following: ``, except that 
        this paragraph does not prohibit the importation of polar bear 
        parts under a permit issued under section 104(c)(5) of this 
        title''.
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