The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has made a significant move towards banning the importation and interstate transport of Boa Constrictors and Pythons in the United States. Quietly published in the Federal Register, the agency is accepting public comments until April 30th. If enacted this will devastate an already hard hit industry, dealing a fatal death blow to a large number of businesses dependent on this segment of the industry and drying up the supply of these pets to pet owners across the United States. Noted herpetologist, author, former zookeeper, and one of the leading private researchers and breeders of pythons in the United States, David Barker, had this to say...
"This is the formal notification and request for public comments regarding the intention of USF&W Service to place ALL snakes in the genera Boa, Python, and Eunectes on the Injurious Wildlife List of the Lacey Act.
If enacted as regulation, this will ban the importation of said snakes into the USA , and ban all interstate transportation of said snakes.
There is a request made for public input and we feel it will be very important that all keepers with an interest in boas and pythons make written response before 30 April.
This is VERY important. Don’t take this lightly." Once the importation and inter-state transport has been banned, there will be a rapid exodus of breeders of these species, and eventually they will disappear from the marketplace along with a significant number of businesses and jobs. Pet owners will feel the pinch as dry goods suppliers and caging manufacturers stop producing products for that segment of the hobby, and eventually it will be impossible to obtain a new pet boa or python.
To review the USF & W Service proposal, please look at the following document. It can by found on their website here:
http://www.fws.gov/policy/library/E8-1770.html or you can read it on the
FWS Notice Of Inquiry page of my website.
"SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service or We), are reviewing available biological and economic information on constrictor snakes in the Python, Boa and Eunectes genera for possible addition to the list of injurious wildlife under the Lacey Act. The importation and introduction of constrictor snakes into the natural ecosystems of the United States may pose a threat to the interests of agriculture, horticulture, forestry; to the health and welfare of human beings; and to the welfare and survival of wildlife and wildlife resources in the United States. An injurious wildlife listing would prohibit the importation into, or transportation between, States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or any territory or possession of the United States by any means, without a permit. Permits may be issued for scientific, medical, educational, or zoological purposes. This document seeks comments from the public to aid in determining if a proposed rule is warranted."
UPDATE:
On Friday, February 29, at 10 PM Eastern, in kingsnake.com's Chat Room,
kingsnake.com will host a special chat on the proposed federal regulations detailed above. Invitations to participate as panelists have been submitted to the following individuals and organizations. As panelists are confirmed we will update this message and the guest list for Chat Week. More panelists may be added as required, and panelists that are unavailable will be removed from the list.
Invited Panelists:
PIJAC ~ confirmed
Reptiles Magazine
David/Tracy Barker - Vida Preciosa Intl. ~ confirmed
Kamuran Tepedelen - Bushmaster Reptiles ~ confirmed
Kevin McCurley - N.E.R.D. ~ confirmed
Jeff Ronne - The Boaphile ~ confirmed
Rich Ihle - Salmonboa.com ~ confirmed
Ralph Davis - Ralph Davis Reptiles ~ confirmed
Jeff Barringer - kingsnake.com ~ confirmed
USF&W Service - Erin Williams ~ confirmed
Brian Sharp - Brian Sharp Reptiles ~ confirmed
Bill Brandt - Gourmet Rodent ~ confirmed
Wayne Hill - National Reptile Breeders Expo ~ confirmed
Eugene Bessette - Ophiological Services
Bob Clark - Bob Clark Reptiles ~ confirmed
Brian Potter - NARBC/Chicago Reptile House ~ confirmed
As the Federal Register outlines, only comments submitted in the format that they have specified will be reviewed. Comments on message boards, blogs, and petitions will not be accepted or reviewed. We recommend that everyone focus their efforts on submitting comments using the required procedure rather than methods that will not produce tangible results. Individuals and businesses may submit their comments at
www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main?main=SubmitComment&o=09000064803a565f.
Please take time to review the proposal in full, and only submit comments relevant to the specific requests. General comments and abusive comments are liable to be discarded, unread. Please spell check your comments before submitting them.
To receive updates by email please sign up for our Herp Law Alerts mail list. We will be using this mail list to send out alerts regarding this and other reptile law issues, as well as requests for volunteers and assistance. If you are interested in volunteering to help, please sign up for the mail list and watch for volunteer call messages.
PLEASE NOTE: We have removed the comments listed on this post. We appreciate all the comments, some of them were very good, too good in fact. We have kept all of the comments on file and will be contacting many of you who volunteered or posted strategies we would like to use.
We ask that everyone RESERVE their comments for now, instead, save them to be posted officially when we get closer to the end. Please remember that public comments are just that, public, and can be used to both support the cause or discredit the cause.
Further updates regarding this issue will be posted shortly, in our Herp Law/CITEs forum located at
http://forums.kingsnake.com/forum.php?catid=13