Enforcement of Wildlife Protection Has "Slumped"

A fourth TRAC report released Monday tracks enforcement of wildlife protection laws under the Bush administration. As it turns out, "enforcement of the federal laws designed to protect migratory birds, endangered species, marine mammals and other kinds of wild life has slumped during the Bush Administration, according to authoritative Justice Department data." Filings of felony charges for violations of wildlife protection laws fell by 20 percent during the Bush years and filings of misdemeanors fell by 40 percent. The trend in legal filings varied depending on the statute. The wildlife protection law that is most often used in criminal prosecutions, a law protecting wildlife against the taking, killing, or possessing of migratory birds, has witnessed the greatest decline in filings; filings under the law dropped by 47 percent under the Bush administration.
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