Federal ivory ban hampers music industry

In a back office on the second floor of world-renowned Gruhn Guitars is a Martin guitar, at least 117 years old, waiting to be shipped to an eager buyer in Sweden.

But new federal regulations aimed at curbing the illegal ivory trade have put the sale of the guitar in doubt. Because the guitar contains small amounts of ivory derived from African elephants, a federal official told Gruhn Guitars last week the new rules would prevent the store from getting the permit needed to export the instrument to the buyer.

The new ivory ban, the details of which still are being ironed out by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, could be especially impactful in Nashville, where the music industry has an annual economic impact of nearly $10 billion.

Besides vintage music shops, professional musicians, such as those playing in the Nashville Symphony, could be impacted by the regulations when they travel abroad with their instruments. So could serious instrument collectors such as country music star Vince Gill, who has expressed concerns about the regulations.

In order to get the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service permit required to ship the guitar, a guitar shop owner must prove the ivory came into the country at one of 13 federally approved ports designated for the import of such bona fide antiques. That's a special challenge in this case for Gruhn Guitars, since the ports didn't receive that designation until 1982, roughly 90 years after the guitar was built.

And while it's commonly accepted in music circles that Martin guitars used ivory from African elephants until the early 1970s, a federal regulator told the instrument shop it must find a scientist to prove so, because the commercial export of antiques containing Asian ivory is prohibited.

The difficulty for Gruhn Guitars to sell one guitar priced at $1,750 highlights a brewing storm facing the vintage music industry after President Barack Obama's administration announced a sweeping crackdown on the import, export and domestic sale of ivory in February.

In addition to pre-1970s Martin guitars, which can command six-figure price tags, vintage pianos and old violin bows also contain ivory, though frequently the material constitutes a small percentage of the instrument. George Gruhn, owner of Gruhn Guitars, estimates the typical Martin guitar contains ivory equaling less than 1 percent of the total materials used in its manufacture. African elephants weren't added to the Endangered Species Act, the federal law guiding the commercial trade of animals and animal products, until 1989.

"The fact of the matter is there was nothing illegal about the ivory when it was used in the construction of these Martin guitars," George Gruhn said. "There was nothing illegal about selling the guitar, or reselling the guitar. And now the government wants to retroactively make it illegal."

Poaching problem

Craig Hoover, chief of the wildlife trade and conservation branch at the FWS, said the world is in the middle of an elephant ivory poaching crisis with about 35,000 of the animals illegally killed annually.

"We're seeing a scale of poaching and a scale of illegal trade that we have not seen in decades, if ever," Hoover said. 'That is driven primarily by demand for ivory in Asia. But there is ample evidence that there is a significant U.S. role in the illegal ivory trade as well. So we're trying to address our role in that problem."

In February the Obama administration took three critical actions in order to address the issue.

The administration banned the commercial import of all ivory and limited exports to antiques that are at least 100 years old. The FWS also announced it would, for the first time, significantly restrict the sale of items containing ivory across state lines.

Ironically, limited sport hunting of African elephants still will be allowed, and hunters will be permitted to import two trophies per year.

The details of the interstate sales restrictions won't be announced until this summer, when the FWS will unveil its next administrative action in response to Obama's 2013 executive order that put the wheels in motion for the sweeping new ban.

'What's fair'

The regulations have drawn strong reactions from stakeholders representing the music industry, including U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Nashville, who said moving toward protecting endangered species, including elephants, is a good thing.

"But (it) raises questions about antiques built with now-threatened materials such as ivory," Cooper said. "What's fair? Most Nashville musicians own instruments with now or soon-to-be-forbidden parts. Some own many. Do these become contraband?

"The best solution is to allow these antiques to be used, not destroyed or devalued, and to prevent new instruments from harming the environment. That way we protect what people have purchased innocently, and protect today's endangered species."

The National Association of Music Merchants, a nonprofit organization representing a number of groups including instrument retailers such as Gruhn Guitars, has been in regular communication with federal officials finalizing the next administrative action that will determine whether the interstate sale of Martin guitars, and other instruments, with small amounts of ivory will be completely outlawed.

NAMM believes logical concessions by federal regulators would allow vintage instrument dealers to stay in business without watering down the government's mission of curbing elephant poaching.

"The two issues we're looking at is the definition of antique, which is a common-sense definition that doesn't have these restrictions about having had to come through a designated port," said NAMM counsel Jim Goldberg. "The other part would be some kind of exemption for items that contain small amounts of ivory like the Martin guitar, violin bow, piano keys, where the instrument was never bought because of the ivory."

Hoover said the next administrative action by the FWS will attempt to accommodate certain activities that "we believe are not a threat to African elephants," and stakeholders will get a chance to weigh in during a public comment period. But Hoover acknowledged that officials are considering a complete revocation of a special rule regarding African elephants under the Endangered Species Act. Because of the special rule, the sale of pre-1990 ivory has been legal, though subject to special permits to ship overseas.

Gruhn Guitars operations manager Sarah Jones said that permitting process costs $75 and typically takes about two months.

If the special rule for African elephants is revoked instead of merely revised, then all sales of instruments containing ivory across state lines would be banned, and intrastate sales would be limited to bona fide antiques at least 100 years old. Gruhn said such action would possibly put Gruhn Guitars, founded in 1970, out of business, because his business is built around selling vintage guitars. The exception for antiques at least 100 years old does Gruhn little favor because he said it is rare he sells instruments that old.

If the special rule for African elephants is merely revised, it's unclear how instrument dealers would be impacted.

"They seem to be creating a situation where there may not be an out-and-out ban, but there is an effective bureaucratic ban because we cannot prove the provenance of an instrument back to its port of entry," said Gruhn, an animal lover whose office features several tanks with pet snakes. "And none of these actions saves a single elephant since we're talking about ivory that is at least 40 years old."

Worried musicians

In an April 16 letter to Department of the Interior Secretary Sally Jewel, U.S. Rep. Edward Royce, R-California, urged FWS to work with "average Americans" such as musicians and collectors.

"These industries caution that the proposed exception for 'bona fide antiques' over 100 years old is insufficient to accommodate those who cannot produce detailed records regarding the age of such items and cannot afford scientific testing," Royce wrote in the letter.

Instrument dealers aren't the only music-based professionals swept up in the new regulations. Though FWS has required special permits to travel abroad with ivory instruments, attention to the new ban has ramped up enforcement and created concerns among professional musicians who frequently play overseas.

Gill, an avid guitar collector, expressed worry last month about what the new regulations would mean for him and other professional musicians. The Nashville Symphony has not taken an official position on the matter, but Alan Valantine, its president and CEO, said the issue is of great importance to its musicians and those hosted at the Schermerhorn Center.

"We certainly care about the issue this ban is meant to address — the senseless slaughter of African elephants for the harvesting of ivory," Valantine said. "But we would hope the federal government would modify the language of the ban by working with the music community to develop new language that would support the goals of protecting endangered species while simultaneously protecting international cultural activity."

Fight against ivory trade

The Obama administration has begun taking actions in order to curb the illegal ivory trade.

• The administration banned the commercial import of all ivory and limited exports to antiques that are at least 100 years old

• The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced it would, for the first time, significantly restrict the sale of items containing ivory across state lines.

• Limited sport hunting of African elephants still will be allowed, and hunters will be permitted to import two trophies per year.

The details of the interstate sales restrictions won't be announced until this summer when the FWS will unveil its next administrative action.

Reach Nate Rau at 615-259-8094 and on Twitter @tnnaterau.