{"id":16556,"date":"2014-06-13T10:16:29","date_gmt":"2014-06-13T16:16:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress-367309-1145705.cloudwaysapps.com\/?p=16556"},"modified":"2014-06-13T10:16:29","modified_gmt":"2014-06-13T16:16:29","slug":"ivory-trade-ban-wont-cost-musicians-instruments-will-save-elephants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/ivory-trade-ban-wont-cost-musicians-instruments-will-save-elephants\/","title":{"rendered":"Ivory Trade Ban Won’t Cost Musicians Their Instruments… but Will Save Elephants"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Heard the one about the Obama administration wanting to confiscate musicians’ instruments when they return from international tours, auditions, etc.? If you’ve spent any time following right-wing media in April, you probably have… and not as a joke. Sites like The Daily Caller<\/a><\/em> claim that the new regulations from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service designed to fight the international ivory trade<\/a> \u00a0have “made it nearly impossible for orchestras, symphonies and individual performers to travel with [their instruments].” Translation: those silly liberals in the White House care more about elephants<\/a> than working musicians<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Yep, this sounds a bit overly-simplistic, but there are musicians worried about losing very expensive and treasured instruments, according to the Washington Post<\/em><\/a>. It also has many of them concerned about merely owning such instruments, or attempting to sell them.The Obama administration has issued a revision<\/a> to the rules to ensure that musicians don’t have to fear having their instruments taken away in any of these cases, but the word about that hasn’t traveled quite as quickly (imagine that!).<\/p>\n

The International\u00a0Fund for Animal Welfare<\/a> wants to give the real story of the ivory ban a bigger push, and figured\u00a0a musician might be the best person to speak to the rules involving instruments. So drummer Matt Sorum<\/a>, who’s played for bands ranging from the Cult, to Guns ‘n’ Roses, to Velvet Revolver, and who’s passionate about wildlife and environmental issues, wrote an open letter<\/a> to his fellow music makers explaining the regulations concerning\u00a0ivory on instruments. According to Sorum.<\/p>\n