S1250SEP9

TheWeekInCongress.com

Week Ending September 9, 2005

S.1250 A bill to reauthorize the Great Ape Conservation Act of 2000.

BRIEF

The bill again authorizes funding for a 2000 law that aims to preserve five species of great apes in the wild. The law provides funds for approved projects to conserve the apes and their natural habitats. The funding passes through the US Fish and Wildlife Service that, according to the accompanying report, has funded 110 projects.

The ape population is determined by the Convention on International trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) to be among the 30,000 species worldwide that need protection. The US is a party to CITES.

The UN says that there are now fewer than 100,000 lowland gorillas worldwide and only 30,000 orangutans in S.E. Asia. USF&WS says that only 200,000 chimpanzees remain in Africa when one million lived there in 1960.

The species suffers from E-bola virus, displacement due to human wars, displacement due to natural disasters and they are a food source for some throughout Africa and Asia.

This bill would allow the Secretary of Interior to convene a panel more frequently that once every two years. Also, the spending allowed to administer the program is raised from $80,000 to $150,000 yearly.

The projects that may be approved for funding are those that implement conservation programs, address conflict between humans and apes trying to use the same habitat, enhance laws that prohibit or regulate taking or trade of great apes and develop sound scientific information on methods to monitor the condition and health of the ape habitat, the population numbers as well as projected conclusions on habitat and health and population, enhance inter-governmental and non-government cooperation and address root causes of the threats to the apes.

Sponsor: Senator James Jeffords (I-VT)

Vote: Passed Senate without objection (September 9, 2005)

Cost to the taxpayers: “CBO estimates that implementing the bill would cost $3 million in 2006 and $29 million over the 2006-2010 period, assuming appropriation of the authorized amounts.” The bill authorizes $5 million each for 2006 and 2007 and $7 million for each year 2008 through 2010.