USARK & Reptile Nation Save 5 of 9 species from FWS Constrictor Rule!

Originally Posted by rodneynboalich

do you just follow webslave around from thread to thread kissing his ass.

Rodney has been escorted out of the building. I've been trying to use kid gloves to guide him (and everyone else) into a mature and professional discussion. Obviously that didn't work, so other means appear to be necessary.

Both of us got warned about our behavior.
One of us heeded those warnings.
The other one didn't.


Anyway back on topic.
Whether we saved 5 or we lost 4. It is all just half empty or half full. Half is half no matter what. We gave it our all. At least judging by what the opposition says about us. I think this is all a good wake up call.

USARK is absolutely dwarfed by the forces it's fighting, and I absolutely do not think they deserve any condemnation for what happened. FWS used a loophole to list 4 species because the estimated economic impact was low enough that those 4 wouldn't require a vote to list, once separated from the other 5.
If it were not for USARK's efforts, they would have listed all 9, because there would have been no one to refute their deliberate underestimation of the economic impact of listing all 9.
USARK is most likely frantically researching what will be necessary to continue the fight. I can only hope that they're up to it. They only have a hope of that if we continue to stand behind them.
They really are our only hope, you know.
We've done well in SOME places fighting these things locally (not so well in others), but the deluge isn't letting up, and that just isn't enough anymore. We need them.

If we can't get people to voting on the White House Petition, then we don't hope to get this over turned either, because it won't warrant their attention otherwise. 25,000 needed, we haven't hit 4K yet.

Saw a post earlier that made a lot of sense...25,000 vote will not get a lot of attention if any...let me see if I can find it...
Travis

Here it is...it came from a different forum....if we do not get every single breeder of every single reptile to sign and all the customers that they can contact and their family and friends to log in and sign and until we can get it to a point fo signatures to draw real attention..so reach out, reach deep....think outside the box and get it going. Here is what the post said...

25,000 is barely enough to get a California Senator to pay attention. Diane Feinstein is on record as saying "until I get 25,000 phone calls they do not have my attention". Likely an online petition would not get her attention at 25,000 if at all.

The fact is the USA has 300,000,000 people. The industry believes 3-10% own herps. If we stick with the low end of 3% that is 9,000,000 people owning herps. If you set your goal at 25,000 you are PROVING to opposition how insignificant you are. Specially if you fail! You seek 0.2% of all herp owners sign your petition.

Get 1,000,000 to sign and now you have a shot at getting their attention. Less and you show too much to opposition.

Post by hugh_jass from a different site.

It made a lot of sense.
Travis
Lair of Dragons

I do find the issue with the Everglades versus Big Sugar really facinating. It sucks that big money has so much crushing power. The thing I find the most powerful however is how a group of people, who have such a passion for big snakes and their husbandry, can have such little concern for a fragile natural ecosystem (such as the Everglades). I was under the impression that we are interested in snakes partly because they bring a tangible awareness to a larger group of animals (not just reptiles) that are in serious danger of being wiped out. As if we see the beauty in these creatures and where they live while the rest of the world could just as soon plow over, pave over, burn down, etc., because "its just some $#^#ing swamp". And lets not forget about the level of habitat destruction in the areas where our snakes are indigenous to. Amazon, anyone? Southeast Asia?

The ban is a horrible example of reationary policy being pushed through with the misguidance of ignorance, bad judgement, and crappy politics. But we as a community of reptile hobbyists, natural history buffs, and junior zoologists did little to be proactive while this legislation came down the line. And we have seen it coming for almost six years. Instead of trying to mitigate ourselves and our industry's practices, work toward an ownership permit system (or perhaps some good ole' fashioned self control), we clenched our fists in defiance and half-assed waded into a battle we could never have won. "It'll never happen! They'll have to pry our snakes from our cold dead hands..." Add in a healthy dash of apathetic bury-your-head-in-the-sand anti governmentalism, and VOILA! No more pythons. Next, no more anything-that-isnt-a-dog-or-cat.

http://www.eagletribune.com/newhamps...dealers-fuming

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