OPINION/COMMENTARY

The Danger of UN Treaties & Conventions

Anyone that values the American Way of Life, particularly those who live or work in rural areas, own or use plants or animals, or own a gun should read this carefully and understand how it is affecting you. For over 130 years the US Constitution placed the legal authority over all plants and animals (wild and domestic) under State and local governments. Other than on the High Seas or in Interstate Commerce, the Federal government had no authority over plants or animals except on a very few Federal properties that were never under the authority of any State. In 1917 the US President signed, and the US Senate ratified a Treaty with Canada to manage and protect roughly 200 species of birds (certain species of migratory birds like hawks and owls and cormorants were excluded with good reason) that migrate between the two countries. In 1918 The Migratory Bird Treaty Act was passed by Congress and signed by the President to implement this Treaty. The US Constitution says in ARTICLE VI, “ALL Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the Supreme Law of the Land”). In 1973, the United Nations Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species was drafted and signed by, among others the United States. Immediately, the Endangered Species Act was passed to implement the Convention. The US Courts recognized the “Convention” as a “Treaty”. The US bureaucrats and their UN counterparts had counted on this when they drafted both the Convention and the Act. The Act, as implementing the Convention, became the “Supreme Law of the Land”. Things that were formerly protected before the Act was passed soon became powerful possessions of Federal bureaucrats. “Private property” was declared “critical habitat” and owners lost use of their property with no compensation. Not only species, but also subspecies, races, populations, distinct populations, and even distinct population segments were placed under Federal control at the whim of Federal bureaucrats and University professors. Anti-management and anti-use radicals worked with Federal bureaucrats to dismantle State fish and wildlife hunting and fishing programs. All this under the rubric of “implementing CITES”. Today we have bizarre situations like Canadian (also a signatory of CITES) wolves shot on sight because they are unprotected right across the border from the US where ranchers, dog owners, and hunters that protect their property (dog, stock, game animal, etc.) by shooting a wolf risk large fines and imprisonment....