The controversial International Wildlife Conservation Council (IWCC), a government entity that advises the Trump administration on international big game hunting, has disbanded.
According to The Washington Post, the Interior Department in a court filing stated that the IWCC stopped existing in December when its two-year charter expired.
“The Council will not meet or conduct any business again, it can no longer be renewed, and there [is] no plan to establish another committee with a similar mission or scope in the future,” the document said.
The IWCC was created in 2017, the same year when the White House reversed a ban on elephant trophy imports from Africa.
The Humane Society, the Center for Biological Diversity and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) filed a lawsuit in 2018, accusing the IWCC of having a very disproportionate number of pro-hunting advisers while there is a federal law that commands for a more balanced mix of individuals.
NRDC praised the filing as a victory in a statement on Sunday.
“I have little doubt our litigation spurred the administration’s decision to abandon the IWCC and walk away from its biased and un-transparent practices,” said Zak Smith, the NRDC’s international wildlife conservation director. “We’re glad the Trump administration is closing shop on this ridiculously misguided council and we await a full accounting of its tainted work product.”
Interior Secretary David Bernhardt told council members last year that he hadn’t decided on a path forward for the group.
“I know [former Secretary] Ryan Zinke spent a lot of time thinking about your appointment and he absolutely deeply appreciated your willingness to support it,” he said at the time.
“We will make the best call we can based on where we sit, and you should view that as just an example of life in this day and age,” he said of the lawsuit at the time.
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