Georgia DNR Charges 7 with 113 Counts in South Ga. Poaching Investigation

Georgia Department of Natural Resources officers charged seven people with a total of 113 poaching-related counts in Dodge and Laurens counties this week.

The investigation sparked by complaints and started in March resulted in search warrants served at the Rentz home of Michael Warren and a home and cabin owned by William Stacy Jones of Eastman on May 18. Evidence seized varied from computers to animal parts, said Sgt. Keith Byers of the DNR’s Wildlife Resources Division. The counts range from hunting deer at night to possession of illegally taken wildlife, hunting out of season and taking over the bag limit. Most involved deer or turkeys.

“In my 28 years (with the division), I’ve never seen anything like this,” Byers said of the amount of evidence and scope of violations.

Those charged were William Stacy Jones, 31, of Eastman (70 charges); Mary Michelle Warren, 28, of Eastman (17 charges); Michael Warren, 30, of Rentz (nine charges); Cody Coleman, 21, of Marietta (six charges); Durwood “Trey” Graham III, 29, of Eastman (four charges); Summer Page, 28, of Rentz (four charges); and, Brandon Brisco, 31, of Eastman (three charges).

Each misdemeanor count carries a maximum penalty of up to a $1,000 fine and up to a year in jail. Other charges are possible. Most were filed in Dodge County. Michael Warren faces five counts in Laurens County.

Byers said complaints about the suspects increased in February. An investigation was opened in March. Two months later, Cpl. Johnny Ashe and Rangers 1st Class Rodney Horne and Barry Britt served search warrants at the homes of William Stacy Jones and Michael Warren, leading to the arrests and the array of charges.

Byers explained that such investigations take time. Rangers spent hours working the case, sorting evidence and making charges. “When looking at evidence you have to basically connect the dots that lead you back to a suspect,” Byers said. “In this case, there were a lot of dots to connect.”

Bonds for the suspects range from $1,500 to $15,000.

Georgians can report game and fish violations by calling the TIP hotline, 1-800-241-4113, or by e-mailing TurnInPoachers@dnr.state.ga.us. For more information, visit www.georgiawildlife.com (select the TIP logo on the bottom of the home page), contact your local Wildlife Resources Division Law Enforcement office or call (770) 918-6414.

-----
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
www.artsacrossgeorgia.com
Arts Across Georgia

Ivory Auctions Condemned

The Humane Society of the United States and its global arm, Humane Society International, condemn auctions of African elephant ivory by four southern African nations to buyers from China and Japan. The first of four auctions started October 28.

The auctions, part of an agreement reached in 2007 by the United Nations Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), began in Namibia October 28, to be followed by one in Botswana on Oct. 31, in Zimbabwe on Nov. 3 and in South Africa on Nov. 6.

Each country is permitted by CITES to auction a specified amount of stockpiled ivory totaling 107,769.94 kilograms, equivalent to the tusks of an estimated 14,642 African elephants. The stockpiled ivory originated from a variety of sources including seizures, natural mortality and government culls, or killing, of elephant herds. The 2007 CITES agreement also included a component that will stop further ivory trade from these four countries for at least nine years after the sale of this stockpile of ivory occurs.

African elephants are a threatened species with fewer than 600,000 remaining in the wild. CITES banned the international commercial trade in African elephant ivory in 1989—the trade in Asian elephant ivory had been banned earlier.

Between 1979 and 1989, the number of African elephants was decreased by half due to poaching to supply the then-legal international trade in ivory. CITES tried but failed to regulate the ivory trade during the decade preceding the ban. Ivory from poached elephants was funneled into the legal ivory trade, which provided cover for the illegal ivory trade. Some estimated that more than 90 percent of the ivory on sale in 1989 was from poached elephants.

Since then, CITES has allowed only one other such sale of ivory, which was in 1999, from three southern African countries to Japan. A surge in illegal ivory trade followed that sale, indicating renewed demand. Between 20,000 and 23,000 African elephants are poached every year to supply the illegal ivory trade.

"We are deeply concerned that the influx of ivory into Japan and China will only serve to stimulate demand," said Teresa M. Telecky, Ph.D., policy director for Humane Society International. "The sales will only fuel poaching of elephants to supply the bloody ivory trade, just like the last time. No one needs ivory trinkets," said Telecky. "We ask consumers to think about the elephant who died a horrible death to create an ivory bracelet."

Facts:

Ivory objects in trade are most commonly made from the tusks of African or Asian elephants, but the term can also be used to describe the teeth of other animals including walrus, hippos and whales.

The auctions are scheduled to occur as follows:
o Namibia: Oct. 28 (9,209.68 kg)

o Botswana: Oct. 31 (43,682.91 kg)

o Zimbabwe: Nov. 3 (3,755.55 kg)

o South Africa: Nov. 6 (51,121.8 kg)

Asian elephants are an endangered species with fewer than 32,000 remaining in the wild. African elephants are threatened species with fewer than 600,000 remaining in the wild.
An investigation conducted by Care for the Wild and cosponsored by The HSUS and HSI reported that the United States is the world's second largest ivory marketplace. The investigators found thousands of ivory retail markets in 16 American cities that they visited in 2006 and 2007. More than 24,000 ivory objects were found for sale, almost half of them in New York City alone; other top cities included Honolulu, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Most ivory objects for sale were jewelry or small carved figures, an estimated one-third of which were carved and imported illegally from China in the past 18 years, during which the international trade in elephant ivory was banned by CITES. The objects were often mislabeled as "antiques" or "mammoth ivory." Sale of such ivory, if genuine, is allowed by U.S. law. This confirms the findings of a 2002 HSUS report which examined the U.S. ivory trade and demonstrated that ivory marketers use false labeling to take advantage of loopholes in U.S. laws and regulations. Ivory is sold in the United States at flea markets, on the Internet, at craft exhibits and at stores.

-----
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page