White House Python Ban Petition

The good folks over on RI got your email Rich and helping spread the word to get sigs:
http://www.reptileinsider.com/showthread.php?t=27351

Originally Posted by AbsoluteApril

wow, I'm surprised by the response from Dr. Kerry Kriger,

ah... SavetheFrogs (which does do some good conservation work) is very against non-natives and is working to get the bullfrog banned here in CA... so I guess I now understand why he wouldn't support the petition.

Originally Posted by AbsoluteApril

The good folks over on RI got your email Rich and helping spread the word to get sigs:
http://www.reptileinsider.com/showthread.php?t=27351



ah... SavetheFrogs (which does do some good conservation work) is very against non-natives and is working to get the bullfrog banned here in CA... so I guess I now understand why he wouldn't support the petition.

The guy never did tell me how far down the line he was to getting on the boat to leave the USA as a non-native species himself.....

I love it how people can talk about eliminating ALL non-native species and apparently be in complete denial about Homo sapiens being the MOST invasive non-native species EVER on this continent.... But heck, that's apparently OK and they want the line drawn AFTER their ancestors colonized this land.

Just because a species may be a non-native doesn't necessarily mean it is BAD in all respects. Everything had to come from somewhere else originally. Not unless every living thing just spontaneously popped out of the air or ground where it is now found. So the question is, of course, are non-native species ONLY bad when they are introduced by humans (either purposely or accidentally), which are a non-native invasive species themselves? And ONLY bad when measured against some arbitrary range map that says where everything is supposed to belong at THIS point in time? If it is OK for human beings to spread out over every possible livable niche in the world, then why is it bad for other species to do the very same thing?

I guess the guy would just flip if he knew I have non-native bamboo groves on my property that I planted myself.....

Really just playing devil's advocate here. I don't like the non-native fire ants and love bugs that have infested Florida neither.....

I've been getting a substantial number of email replies from people complaining that they were unable to either register on the White House site or sign the petition after registering.

I guess this is pretty much par for the course for anything the government does, though. But obviously it does seriously deflate the numbers on the petition of people cannot access it when they try to.

I did lodge a complaint via the site, but I'm not holding my breath expecting a resolution. I know it may come as a shock to some, but the government REALLY doesn't care what we peons think and say.

As for those trying to sign the petition, please just keep at it. Many people can get through, so it's certainly not impossible to accomplish.

Got this today from Senator Udall

January 26, 2012

Dear Mr. Blount,

Thank you for contacting me regarding non-native snakes under the Lacey Act. I appreciate hearing from you on this important issue.

The Lacey Act was enacted in 1900 to prevent hunters from killing game in one state and escaping prosecution by crossing state lines. It has evolved into a law that prohibits import, export, transport, purchase, or sale of species when that action would violate state, federal, tribal, or foreign law. Under the wildlife provisions of the Lacey Act, the U.S. Department of Interior is authorized to regulate the importation and interstate transport of wildlife species determined to be injurious to humans, the interests of agriculture, horticulture, forestry or to wildlife resources of the United States.

On January 17, 2012, Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar announced a final rule that would ban the importation and interstate transportation of four non-native constrictor snakes. The final rule was issued following a public comment period, an economic analysis, and an environmental assessment. It lists the Burmese python, the yellow anaconda, and the northern and southern Africa pythons as injurious wildlife under the Lacey Act in order to restrict their spread in the wild in the United States. The non-native species constrictor snakes have the potential to cause wide-spread damage to the ecosystems of many environmentally sensitive areas within the United States, such as the Everglades National Park. Burmese pythons have established breeding populations in the Everglades and have posed risk to native species, including endangered species.

In 2010, the U.S. Department of Interior proposed listing five other non-native snakes; the reticulated python, boa constrictor, DeSchauensee's anaconda, green anaconda and Beni anaconda. The new ruling does not affect these species. Those who currently own these species of snakes will be allowed to keep them dependent on state law. However, owners cannot take, send, or sell them across state lines. Please know I will continue to monitor this issue carefully and will keep your thoughts in mind should any related legislation come before the Senate for a vote.

Thank you again for sharing your thoughts with me. Please feel free to contact me with your concerns regarding any federal issue by visiting my website at www.tomudall.senate.gov. For more information, you may also visit my Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Senato...l/106433512869 and receive up to the minute updates through my Twitter page at http://twitter.com/senatortomudall.

Very truly yours,
Signature
Tom Udall
United States Senator

Only 4,880 signatures on that petition to date. Pretty pathetic.....

After sending out email notices to all registered members here (around 50,000), and even considering that 2,435 members alone logged into this site within the past 24 hours, getting only 4,880 signatures on a petition is the BEST that this industry can do? Not to mention all the rest of the sites out there bringing this issue to light?

Like I said, pretty pathetic.......... Or should that be pretty "apathetic"?

Oh well, apparently apathy is contagious..........

Agree with Rich. We are sorry lot indeed when we can't even get 5,000 sigs. I put this on lizard forums, snake forums, facebook and did a small donation to usark. I figured there would be 25,000 burm owners with their hands up by now and maybe another 25,000 reptile hobbist that just want to help in the fight.

Yeah, I don't know what to do. I have posted on Craigslist and facebook. I guess people really don't care what happens. Kinda sad. Oh well. When they take everything, then they will whine and complain but it will be their own fault.

I know I'll probably get some flak for this, but I'm a little ambivalent toward the American bullfrog thing. It's a common misconception that the bullfrog is native to all of North America and they do a remarkable amount of damage. In fact, the damage they wreak is comparable to the cane toad (Bufo marinus) in some areas. I can certainly understand why some areas would want to ban them considering it is far more likely for people to knowingly release a bullfrog thinking they're doing a good thing rather than a 12 foot burm. You have to know you're doing a bad thing releasing a python because it's common sense they're not from around here. Bullfrogs? Less so. I would personally let the bullfrog thing go and concentrate on the snakes. Seeking to point fingers at people who disagree with us on a philosophical level really doesn't do much to address the politics of the burm problem.

Thank you for tolerating my (probably minority) opinion, and please, be gentle.

I'm not fighting or arguing on the bullfrog thing, just using it to explain why that person was so against signing the petition to stop the ban of the pythons (since they are against keeping any non-native species)

BTW, if some people find that they are unable to register on the White House webpage, or not able to sign the petition after registering, there is a FEEDBACK link on that page that you really should use to lodge a complaint detailing your problem. If a substantial number of people cannot sign the petition because of deficiencies in the coding of the website, they really need to be made aware of that problem, and consider the number of logged signatures accordingly.