Hunters successful in landing a polar bear will be able to legally import their trophy to the U.S. thanks to the efforts of the CSF, SCI, NRA and various other hunter's rights organizations.

Congratulations are in order to the Congressional Sportsmen's Caucus in the US House of Representatives for leading the charge to overwhelmingly defeat an animal rights effort to ban the importation of legally hunted polar bear trophies. Sending a powerful message that the rights of hunters will not be infringed upon, the House of Representatives voted 242-188 against an amendment that attempted to withhold funds for the issuance of US import permits for sport-hunted polar bears from viable populations in Canada.

Although purporting to "protect polar bears," the net effect would not have reduced the number of polar bears harvested each year, as the trophy hunting quota comes from within the quotas provided to the local, indigenous communities. Instead, it would have hurt polar bear conservation funding which is derived solely from fees paid by sport hunters, and would have had a disastrous impact on the local communities that depend upon this revenue. This vote is also a benchmark in the 110th Congress affirming the North American model of wildlife management, allowing science-based management to prevail.

Numerous sporting and conservation organizations rallied to oppose this amendment, including Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation, Safari Club International, and the National Rifle Association, among others.

Also allied in opposition to this amendment were the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, the Government of Nunavut (where many healthy populations of polar bears reside), and the federal Canadian government, which issued a strong letter of opposition to the amendment co-sponsors.

A website has been developed to counter the misinformation campaign and emotional, non-scientific arguments put forth by anti-hunting legislators, and the anti-hunting groups they support. This site can be found at www.polarbearfacts.org.

The battle next goes to the Senate, where we will again be looking to the leadership of the Senate Congressional Sportsmen' Caucus to defeat this effort and protect the rights of America's sportsmen in the US Congress.