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In 2014, Safari Club International filed a lawsuit against the State of California to challenge its ban on importing mountain lions into California (Import Ban). The Import Ban has been in effect since adopted by voter initiative in 1990. The U.S. District Court in California recently issued a ruling that requires us to seek additional help from SCI members. On April 28, 2015, the court dismissed our case but granted us the opportunity to amend our complaint. The court is looking to us to make additional factual allegations to further support our claims. We have been given only a limited time to do so. Many California SCI members have already provided information about their interest in either (1) actually importing into California a mountain lion already harvested outside of California, or (2) if the Import Ban was not in place, hunting mountain lions in another state (or country) in the future and bringing it back to California. To amend our complaint and improve our chances of moving forward with this case, we now need more specific information. Specifically, we must demonstrate the adverse economic impact caused by the Import Ban, including because of the fact that California residents are not participating in mountain lion hunts outside the state. For example, the costs involved in hunting mountain lions outside of California include travelling to the hunt (e.g., transportation, food, lodging, incidentals), ammunition and supplies, tags and licenses, guiding services, taxidermy services (inside California or outside), transport of trophy, and anything else of a commercial nature associated with the hunt. In addition, those who have already hunted a mountain lion are potentially not spending money to have taxidermy work done and not paying for shipping to California. Because of the court’s ruling, it is no longer enough for us to know that people would like to hunt/import mountain lions but cannot. Now we need more specifics about what kind of funds SCI members would spend, but are not spending, because of the ban or, for providers of services, are not receiving because of the ban. We need your help and we need it right away. Please contact Doug Burdin, SCI Litigation Counsel, at [email protected], if one or more of the following apply. Provide as much detail as possible concerning what you are not spending/did not spend/did not earn (outfitters). See list of possible expenses above. You have not provided us with information previously, and you either (a) have already hunted a mountain lion outside of California and wish to import it, or (b) would hunt mountain lions outside of California and import it if the Import Ban was not in place. Whether you have provided information before or for the first time, You have already hunted a mountain lion outside of California. Please detail actual expenses incurred and projected expenditures (e.g., transport of trophy, taxidermy work) that you would make if you could import your mountain lion into California You would hunt mountain lions outside of California if the Import Ban was not in place. Detail projected expenditures that you would make. You are a service provider (outfitter, guide, taxidermist, transporter of goods, travel agent, etc.) associated with mountain lion hunting outside of California. Please detail the lost revenue due to the fact that most California residents will not hunt mountain lions outside of California because of the Import Ban (e.g., how much does a nonresident mountain lion hunt costs, what is the cost of having a mountain lion taxidermied). Safari Club has to file its amended complaint by May 13, 2015. Please provide the requested information as soon as possible. Note that this alert is going out to all SCI members as the Import Ban could affect some residents of other states (e.g., outfitters).
I talked to the SCI attorney Marc Fong about this as he is in our chapter- crazy the mentality they are up against....but he is a cool head and thats what it takes to deal with these issues.
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