All,



Any law that shuts down captive propagation is anti-conservation. All of you that have commented about how good this "White List" is have obviously been mislead or you are uneducated. The "White List" protects certain species into extinction and it bans the commercial harvet of common and wide ranging species like the Leopard Frog and the Cricket Frog. This is assine. Further the goal of this action was to stop the mass exodus of turtles to Asia. It did nothing to stop this as RES, Softshells and Snappers are still allowed to be shipped out by the hundreds. And it has shut down the captive propagation of Box Turtles, Diamondback Terrapins and Map Turtles which are very popular with hobbyists.



The "White List" allows commercial harvest in species that are in high demand while banning the sale of species with low or no demand. Okay you college educated folks you can certainly see how backwards this is, right? Let me say it again because so many folks on these forums apparently don't get it. They have allowed commercial take in species that are in high demand but banned the commercial take of species with low or no demand. That is ass backwards! This is one of the most poorly designed conservation regulations I have ever heard about.



The ignorance among hobbyists is amazing on this issue. We all know that most folks in the academic arena want to shut down all harvest. They say they want to stop commercial harvest and then next will be personal use until they protect species into extinction meanwhile they refuse to address the true causes of decline like development, roads, human population growth and others because they don't want to make any waves and get their funding cut off.



Those people that don't keep and breed herps are for the "White List". People who do keep and breed herps are against it except all those holyer than thou snake guys who can still collect as much as they want. If they didn't have alternas, lepidus and subocs on the "White List" they would be raising holy hell and would not support it. You can bet that!



All herps are a renewable resource and they can be harvested at some level. I think that herps should be managed like Crocs. The Fish and Game agencies work with Croc breeders and they are able to harvest wild animals and eggs, captivly propagate and commerce. That is intelligent, fair and reasonable and Croc populations are doing great.



Take Care,



Mike Welker

El Paso, TX

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