Republican Kurt Wright represents me as my Vermont House Representative from Burlington’s New North End and as my city councilor of Ward 4. He and I have disagreed with one another quite often over the years. But in this session, he’s co-sponsoring a bill banning the sale of ivory in Vermont and I have to say, I couldn’t possibly be more proud to have him represent me right now.
This entire winter I’ve commuted between Burlington and Nairobi, Kenya, for work. On those trips I’ve had the extreme good fortune to visit Amboseli National Park and the Maasai Mara where I’ve been able to observe herds of elephants, up close. To see these massive, slow moving, social animals, traveling in families is one of the most awe-inspiring experiences of my life. They are breathtakingly beautiful.
On two occasions I’ve visited the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust in Nairobi where I saw orphaned baby elephants whose mothers’ tusks made them targets for poachers. And let me tell you, puppies and kittens come in a poor second to baby elephants. To see them is to simply fall in love.
According to Dame Daphne Sheldrick, we’ve lost 75% of African elephants to slaughter. She estimates that at this current rate of poaching for ivory, elephants could be extinct in less than 10 years. I feel lucky to have seen them before they’re all gone.
So I have nothing but disgust for Tusk Poachers, who make up some of the most venal and morally corrupt groups in the world. I can hardly think of a punishment strong enough to fit that crime.
But here in the Vermont House, Wright and Joan Lenes have sponsored a bill that would outlaw the sale of more than 200 grams of ivory. Opponents of the bill claim that it would unfairly criminalize otherwise law-abiding citizens of Vermont. The intention is to stifle trade in ivory and tusks, trade that ultimately benefits poachers and militant groups around the world. Four other states have similar laws. The ban would take effect in 2018
It’s a small step to take. It might cause some minor inconvenience. It might not have a profound impact right away. But that’s usually what doing the right thing feels like. And that’s also why it’s so hard to do.
So I’m proud of Representative Wright. He didn’t choose the easy way but instead chose to do the right thing. I like to think that the big GOP elephant would be proud of him too.
