[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 65 (Wednesday, May 20, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5218-S5219]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. ALLARD (for himself and Mr. Chafee):
  S. 2094. A bill to amend the Fish and Wildlife Improvement Act of 
1978 to enable the Secretary of the Interior to more effectively use 
the proceeds of sales of certain items; to the Committee on Environment 
and Public Works.


           FISH AND WILDLIFE REVENUE ENHANCEMENT ACT OF 1998

  Mr. ALLARD. Mr. President, I am introducing a bill today to amend the 
Fish and Wildlife Improvement Act of 1978.
  This bill will allow the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary 
of Commerce to more effectively use proceeds from the sale of forfeited 
and abandoned wildlife items.
  Mr. President, there is a warehouse in Commerce City, Colorado, 
operated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which is filled with 
wildlife parts and products.
  It is the National Repository for items that have been forfeited or 
abandoned to the U.S. Government and are being held for disposition by 
the Service.
  Some of these items are quite unusual: mounted rhinoceros, coral 
jewelry, stuffed alligators, elephant foot footstools.
  Some of these items are endangered or otherwise protected by law, and 
it is illegal to import them into the United States.
  Those companies or individuals who were caught trying to do so either 
abandoned the items or they were forfeited to the U.S. Government 
through a legal process.
  The Service distributes these wildlife items to museums and to 
schools for conservation education programs around the country.
  Anyone who flew through Denver's old Stapleton Airport, for instance, 
might have seen a display in the main terminal reminding travelers 
about various laws regulating importation of wildlife and wildlife 
products.
  A similar display is being erected at Denver International Airport.
  In addition to the unusual wildlife specimens stored at the Service's 
Colorado Repository are some more familiar items such as leather boots, 
jackets, purses, watchbands, and sea shells.
  These are in the possession of the Service because, in many cases, 
the required foreign export permits were not obtained or the items were 
falsely identified.
  Although it is legal to possess and sell many of these wildlife 
items, there is, of course, a procedure for importing them. This 
includes obtaining the required foreign export permits prior to 
importation and properly declaring the items.
  If these procedures are not followed correctly, then the items can be 
seized.
  Abandonment or forfeiture actions are then initiated with title being 
transferred to the Government.
  Many times, however, the people who try to bring them in will just 
abandon them to the Service.
  These items are retained by the Service at the Commerce City facility 
until an appropriate disposition can be made.
  I want to take just a moment here to point out that the Repository in 
question is located on the Rocky Mountain Arsenal northeast of Denver.
  This inactive military facility is in the middle of a transformation 
from a Superfund site to the largest urban wildlife refuge in the 
country.
  The Arsenal, which once produced nerve agents and chemical weapons, 
is now a haven for eagles, migratory birds, deer, and other wildlife.
  I've been told that there is hope to one day introduce bison back 
into the 27 square mile facility.
  The old Arsenal will become a new gem in the National Wildlife Refuge 
System, and an excellent resource for the people of Colorado.
  A Service priority for disposing of these wildlife items is to 
utilize them in scientific and educational programs.
  There are, however, many items in the Repository inventory excess to 
the needs of these scientific and educational programs.
  Those excess items which are not given a high level of protection--
those that are not endangered, or marine mammals, or migratory birds--
can legally be sold on the open market.
  If these surplus items were sold by the Service at an auction, they 
would generate proceeds which could be used to offset operational costs 
of the Repository, thereby allowing for a more efficient use of 
appropriated funds by the Service and a saving of money for the tax 
payers.
  But there is a hitch. Current law mandates proceeds from the sale 
except for those that can be used for rewards, must be returned to the 
General Treasury.
  This sounds fine, until you consider the mechanics of holding an 
auction.
  An auctioneer charges a commission which is usually a percentage of 
the proceeds from a sale.
  Since the Service estimates that they have about one million-dollars 
worth of surplus wildlife items on hand, which is a 10 year backlog, 
they can expect to pay the auctioneer a commission of around 15 percent 
or about $150,000.
  Now, the budget for the Repository in Fiscal Year 1998 is $310,000 
with salaries alone costing 80 percent of that number. They simply 
cannot pay about half of their funding towards an auctioneer's 
commission, and that is what they would have to do under current law.
  Although a sale would bring in money, the majority of the proceeds 
would go to the General Treasury, and the Service would have to use 
money already in their operational budget to pay for the sale.
  Needless to say, there are not enough funds to pay the auctioneer's 
commission, so the auction does not take place and the wildlife 
property sits and decays.
  What this bill would do is allow the Fish and Wildlife Service, and 
the National Marine Fisheries Service under the Commerce Department, to 
keep the proceeds from the selling of wildlife products at an auction.
  The money would be used for very specific purposes.
  These purposes, except for one, are all related to the task of 
storing, shipping and disposing of the forfeited and abandoned items 
located around the country.
  The other uses of the funds I will explain in just a minute.
  This bill specifically says that the Services can use the proceeds of 
the sale for:
  (1) Shipping items from one location to another;
  (2) Storage and security of the items;
  (3) Appraisal of the items;
  (4) Sale of the items--this is necessary to pay an auctioneer's 
commission; and
  (5) Payment of any valid liens against the objects.
  As you can see, this will not allow the Services to establish a slush 
fund for their use.
  The bill requires the money may be used only to continue paying for 
rewards, storage and shipping of the property, and to facilitate the 
disposal of the items, thereby making them available for the people of 
the United States.
  The other use for the proceeds is very special.
  The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service administers a program that 
provides for the distribution of dead eagles to Native Americans so 
they may be used for religious and cultural purposes.
  As you probably know, bald and golden eagles are highly protected and 
it is illegal for anyone to kill an eagle or possess an eagle carcass 
or its feathers.
  The way the program is set up, dead eagles are sent to the National 
Eagle Repository, which is also located on Rocky Mountain Arsenal in 
Commerce City, Colorado.
  There they are cataloged, processed, and shipped to Native Americans.
  Even though the Repository distributes about 1,000 eagles to Native 
Americans each year, there is currently about a three year wait to 
receive an eagle carcass. This is because of the limited number of 
eagles being received at the Repository.
  Most have been trapped, or electrocuted, or have collided with power 
lines and cars--they are not in very good shape.
  When an eagle is received by the Repository, attempts are made to 
match

[[Page S5219]]

the type of eagle with that being requested, i.e. bald or golden, 
immature or mature.
  Requests for individual feathers are also filled.
  The Repository is so concerned about customer service that they will 
replace any broken or missing feathers with whole ones from another 
bird.
  The cost to box and ship an eagle is about $50. This cost is absorbed 
by the Service rather than being passed on to the Native Americans.
  This bill will allow the Fish and Wildlife Service to use the 
proceeds from an auction to assist the eagle program by paying for 
boxes, dry ice, and other costs associated with shipping the eagles.
  For instance, some of the proceeds could also be used to purchase 
chest freezers to be placed in regional collection points.
  This would be for short term storage of the eagles near where they 
are initially found.
  This would hopefully increase the number of eagles being sent to the 
Repository and subsequently increase the number being shipped to the 
Native Americans, thereby reducing the waiting period to receive an 
eagle.
  Before I close here, let me stress--the auctions will only be selling 
wildlife items that are legal to possess and sell in the U.S., items 
like boots, belts, wallets, purses, shell products, etc.
  These items have a valid place on the U.S. market.
  Items that have a higher scientific or educational value will be 
distributed to museums and schools.
  No products from endangered species, eagles, marine mammals, or 
migratory birds will be sold.
  The Fish and Wildlife Improvement Act already gives the authority to 
sell those items that are surplus for scientific and educational needs.
  The Act is silent, however, as to what happens to the proceeds from 
the sale of abandoned items, so by default they go to the General 
Treasury.
  The Services are therefore precluded from being able to utilize these 
funds.
  If this bill is enacted, the proceeds from the sale of forfeited and 
abandoned items will aid in the shipping, storing, and disposing of 
wildlife products to scientific and educational programs and the 
distribution of eagles to Native Americans for religious and ceremonial 
purposes.
  I hope this bill can be moved quickly in the Senate.
  Mr. CHAFEE. Mr. President, I am pleased to cosponsor this bill with 
my colleague Senator Allard. This bill represents a move towards 
efficient use of government funds, and support for the valuable 
programs carried out with those scarce funds. The bill would initially 
generate approximately $1 million for the Service through the sale of 
items derived from fish and wildlife that are currently stored by the 
Service. This money would be used to cover the costs of disposing of 
these items--which is now a financial drain on the Service--and to fund 
programs that loan these items to schools and Native American groups 
for educational and religious purposes.
  Each year, the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) receives hundreds 
of thousands of items derived from fish, wildlife and plants, such as 
skins, furs, feathers, jewelry, etc. These items can be seized, 
forfeited or abandoned during enforcement of Federal wildlife laws, and 
they are eventually shipped to the National Wildlife Property 
Repository in Colorado. The Repository currently has about 150,000 
items, with about 50,000 items stored elsewhere.
  Under current law, the Service may dispose of fish, wildlife or other 
items forfeited or abandoned to the U.S. government, either by loan, 
gift, sale or destruction. There are certain restrictions on disposal 
of those items. For example, items made from threatened or endangered 
species, marine mammals and migratory birds cannot be sold according to 
the laws that apply to those particular species.
  Revenue from the sale of forfeited items go to the Service for 
certain program operations; however, revenue from the sale of abandoned 
items go to the General Treasury, and are not available to the Service. 
More than 90 percent of the fish and wildlife items are abandoned, so 
that the Service would receive very little revenue from sales of these 
items. Indeed, under current law, the costs of selling these items 
would outweigh any revenue, so that the Service has no incentive to 
sell them.
  The Service must further expend funds for the shipment, storage and 
disposal of the items that it acquires. In addition, the Service will 
make many of these items--those that cannot be sold under law--
available for Native American religious and ceremonial purposes, 
educational purposes, and research, but must expend its own funds to do 
so. The Repository was appropriated $310,000 for operations last year. 
After overhead, only $61,000 was available for disposal of these items.
  Disposal includes two programs in particular. The first, known as 
Cargo for Conservation, provides wildlife specimens to schools for 
educational programs. Under this program, the Service has distributed 
almost 400 educational kits to various organizations. The second 
program provides eagle carcasses and parts to Native Americans for 
religious and ceremonial purposes. Under this program, the Service has 
filled almost 1,500 requests for eagles, eagle parts and other raptors 
in 1997 alone, although there is currently a two year backlog in 
filling orders for some eagle carcasses.
  The bill would specifically amend the Fish and Wildlife Improvement 
Act in two ways. First, it would authorize the deposit of proceeds from 
the sale of forfeited and abandoned items into Service accounts rather 
than into the general treasury. Second, it would expand the use of 
funds received through these sales to include costs incurred by 
shipping, storage and disposal of these items, as well as payment of 
any liens on these items.
  I would like to note that this bill does not change existing 
authority with respect to items that may be sold by the Service. It 
does not allow the sale of items derived from threatened and endangered 
species, marine mammals, or migratory birds. The Service already has 
authority to sell certain items for which it is lawful to do so. This 
bill merely allows the Service to keep revenues derived from any items 
it sells, and to use those revenues for certain programs. This is a 
bill representing efficient use of government funds.
  At the same time, this bill is not intended to imply that the Service 
should sell everything that it lawfully can in order to maximize 
profits. It is my understanding that the Service has no intention to 
sell items derived from sensitive species, including those that are 
candidates for listing as endangered or threatened. It is also my 
expectation that, in considering which items to sell, the Service would 
take into account the biological status of any species used for that 
item, and any implications that the sale may have for conservation 
efforts relating to that species. For example, any sale by the Service 
should not encourage new markets that may undermine protections 
elsewhere. Lastly, the Service should ensure that the sale of these 
items does not undermine enforcement efforts within the U.S.
  In summary, I am pleased to cosponsor this bill with Senator Allard. 
Our staffs have worked closely with each other and with the 
Administration in drafting this legislation, and I look forward to 
working on this bill in the future.
                                 ______