All,



Both Robroy and Sam come here and herp. Sam comes and catches all kinds of stuff as a paid employee of Glades. Robroy comes for vacation and picks up a few things but Sam comes to get invertebrate stock and most anything else he can catch. I also know that one other person supplies Glades with stuff on a regular basis and he is a well known alterna hunter. But Sam's trip is once a year and he only catches what he can find and I don't think it is enough to worry about. So overall, Glades harvests a resource in, probably, sustainable numbers. Both contribute to the businesses of west Texas and they pay for their licenses and permits.



The people who catch stuff to make up trip expenses also probably do not amount to much over all. Remember, most herps are killed on the road. A few are harvested and a few are rescued and that is about the size of it. Collecting from the roads is NEVER going to be a conservation concern. Systematically raping a river or pond of turtles is probably the only concern with collecting herps.



The problem with people catching herps to cover trip expenses is that they sell their catch way under true market value and they keep the market in the toilet.



Mike Welker

El Paso, TX

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