SCI President Craig Kauffman Addresses Senate Democratic Steering and Outreach Committee on Sportsmen’s Issues
Safari Club International 05.15.14
On May 14, Safari Club International (SCI) President Craig Kauffman joined with other leaders from the hunting and conservation community to meet with the United States Senate Democratic Steering and Outreach Committee at the U.S. Capitol. Senator Mark Begich (D-AK) led the discussion along with 15 of his Senate colleagues. The meeting served as an opportunity to discuss legislative priorities for hunters and anglers for the remainder of the 2014 legislative session.
“SCI was presented with a unique opportunity to continue highlighting the baseless policy decisions made by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which recently banned the importation of sport-hunted elephants from Tanzania and Zimbabwe. The FWS decision affects more than 800,000 families in Zimbabwe and it undercuts the anti-poaching funding on over 60% of Tanzania’s lands, so I asked them how they would resolve this situation to protect the communities of Africa that depend on revenue from international hunters,” said SCI President Craig Kauffman. “The response from the Senators present was underwhelming, but SCI will continue fighting to have this ban repealed as soon as possible, in any way possible, so that the communities of Zimbabwe and Tanzania are not further harmed by the FWS decision.”
Senators who attended the DSOC meeting included: Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.), and Senators Debbie Stabenow (Mich.), Mark Udall (Colo.), Tom Udall (N.M.), Sheldon Whitehouse (R.I.), Jeff Merkley (OR), Richard Blumenthal (Conn.), Michael Bennett (Colo.), Chris Coons (Del.), Kay Hagan (N.C.), Jon Tester (Mont.), John Walsh (Mont.), Amy Klobuchar (Minn.), Mary Landrieu (La.) and Joe Manchin (W.Va.).
Protecting hunters’ rights and promoting wildlife conservation, SCI’s two areas of focus, historically has been the interest of hundreds of individuals long before SCI was established. But how did SCI as an organization begin?
Forty years ago, there were many safari clubs across the country made up of local, unaffiliated groups of hunters. One such was Safari Club of Los Angeles, which was formed in April 1971 by forty-seven individuals. In early 1972, an out-of-towner from a similar club in Chicago attended one of the monthly Wednesday night meetings, and it was decided that the L.A. club should attempt to combine with the one in Chicago to make it an affiliated chapter. The founder of Safari Club of Los Angeles, C.J. McElroy, went to the Windy City and instituted the new chapter.
Eleven months after the formation of Safari Club of Los Angeles, on March 9, 1972, the name was changed officially to Safari Club International. SCI continued to reach out to other independent safari clubs throughout the United States in an effort to combine them into a single overall organization.
Today, interest in SCI’s two primary missions has grown a worldwide network. Subsequent involvement and promotion of these missions is rooted in each of our 55,000 members, supported through each of our 190 membership chapters found across the globe, and put into action by government representatives and personnel both nationally and internationally.
In this way, we can encourage an appreciation for nature and wildlife so that conservation efforts remain strong, while also fighting to protect our rich hunting heritage. Big changes can be achieved through the endeavors of many who are united in a mission – the mission of Safari Club International.
