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Broadening <br />Conservation <br />Horizons (continued) <br />great importance and is tied to development <br />of the Americas. Degradation of the <br />environment threatens not only migratory <br />species, but the capacity of the nations of the <br />hemisphere to develop their own economies <br />and enhance social welfare. Proceedings <br />from the Conference will be published <br />and distributed widely to Conference <br />participants and decision-makers in Western <br />Hemisphere wildlife conservation. <br />Jeff Flocken, International Affairs <br />Specialist, Washington, DC <br />Gray whale. <br />Celebrating CITES"s Nth <br />An Exclusive Interview with <br />Deputy Director Marshall Jones <br />Prior to becoming deputy director, Marshall <br />Jones served as chief of the Service's CITES <br />Management Authority. In recognition of <br />the 30th anniversary of the negotiation of <br />CITES in Washington, D. C., he shared his <br />thoughts with Fish and Wildlife News. <br />I was not with the Service for the treaty's <br />negotiation in 1973. Russell Train, chairman <br />of the Council on Environmental Quality, <br />headed the U.S. delegation, and Buff Bohlen, <br />then Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fish, <br />Wildlife and Parks, was the lead for Interior. <br />I started with the Service in Endangered <br />Species in April of 1975, and the treaty took <br />effect that July. Rick Parsons, who had been <br />in Law Enforcement, was chosen to serve as <br />Chief of what became the Federal Wildlife <br />Permits Office, the beginning of the U.S. <br />CITES Management Authority. There was <br />no U.S. Scientific Authority then, so people <br />from other programs were drafted to work <br />on the science in preparation for the first <br />biennial Conference of the Parties (COPT), <br />to take place in Switzerland in 1976. I was <br />asked to develop our negotiating positions <br />for proposals involving animals. I didn't <br />actually expect to go to the COP. But as <br />head of the delegation, Buff Bohlen realized <br />scientific expertise would be needed at the <br />meeting. So I was told, "Guess what? <br />You're going to Switzerland." <br />We had no doubt that CITES would stay <br />around because we knew the issues weren't <br />going away and the treaty was well designed. <br />On the other hand we didn't have a clue how <br />contentious things would get, how the world <br />would change in 30 years, and how much <br />CITES would grow in size and importance <br />during those years. <br />CITES evolved quickly, setting the <br />international standard for wildlife trade. <br />Countries that weren't Parties increasingly <br />found it difficult to get documents approved <br />unless they became members. At COP 1, <br />I sat next to the delegation from Zaire. The <br />United States came with stacks of reference <br />material and position papers had prepared <br />and vetted with the scientific community. <br />These two young biologists from Zaire came <br />with one document-an ancient, yellowed <br />wildlife inventory written by some explorer <br />from Belgium in 1890 that they had checked <br />out of the national library. Using my rusty <br />French and their rusty English, we talked <br />through the pending issues every day, <br />and I lent them copies of the United <br />State's position papers (I hope the statute <br />of limitations has run out on leaking <br />documents). I had a sense then that if Zaire <br />cared enough to be at a COP, a lot of other <br />countries would too. Developing countries <br />have an important stake in wildlife trade, <br />but to be in the game they have to be <br />CITES members. <br />Trade bans-suspensions <br />of trade with particular <br />countries-have been <br />CITES most significant <br />innovation; though the <br />country being targeted <br />obviously doesn't often <br />agree at the time. <br />In the beginning, the developed countries <br />dictated most of what happened. But a shift <br />began at COP 4 in Gaborone, Botswana, <br />in 1983. The African countries asserted <br />themselves, particularly Zimbabwe and <br />other Southern Africans (after all, it was on <br />their home turf), who pushed against what <br />they considered the imperialistic domination <br />of the developed countries. The elephant <br />ivory trade became the crux of the debate. <br />This continued at COP 5 in Buenos Aires, <br />Argentina, when Latin Americans expressed <br />dismay at the attention given elephants at <br />the expense of their issues. <br />It's not an accident that an elephant forms <br />the CITES logo, and CITES success or <br />failure was being measured by how it <br />dealt with the ivory trade and its effect on <br />elephant populations. <br />Monarch butterfly.