Brad and All,



There are some TX issues you failed to recognize. First, of all the turtle breeders got screwed. The hype and propaganda of shutting down the Asian turtle market coupled with the hype and propaganda pushed by the AR like group The Box Turtle Coalition ended up ONLY harming the turtle breeders and collectors. The Asian food market is still getting their turtles. At the present time turtle breeders can’t breed their turtles or acquire new blood. PIJAC and recreational groups dropped the ball on that one. The Black and White List are horribly flawed regulations as well. Outlawing captive reproduction of any species is wrong. Making it illegal to commerce in common species like the eastern garter snake and others is ridiculous. Where were PIJAC and the recreational groups when it came to the Black and White List?



Recreational groups do not support the rights of ALL herpers so they can NEVER be a national group that protects the rights of ALL herpers. The stances they take in regards to the sale of wild caught, and the buying and selling of imported animals makes them counterproductive to the herp industry as a whole. Denying the economic realities of the herp industry, by recreational groups, only alienates the commercial interests. Recreational herpers, who by supporting the slippery slope of AR group like academics and regulatory biologists, only helps their agenda in taking away the rights and privileges of law abiding, tax paying citizens. They, most definitely, are not the answer the herp industry needs.



Herps can be sustainably harvested. Most herp species are so difficult to find in number that collecting for any reason is not an issue. The amount that can be sustainably harvested is the amount that can be sustainably harvested…..period! It doesn’t matter what you do with those animals after they are harvested as far as wild populations are concerned…..period! Those are the facts and that is the reality. The recreational folks could be trying to close the market so they can reap all the benefits. There are a whole host of reasons why we should keep the sale of wild caught open. The main reason being it doesn’t cause any harm to populations in most cases. In the few cases that it does acceptable bag limits based on real, geographically relevant science can determine that number and NOT AR group biased scientists and uninformed recreational folks brown nosing these decision-makers. I do think we need to work with decision-makers I just don’t think we need to agree with everything they put forth. Do you recognize how they started with the turtle folks with the apparent support of the recreational snake folks? Beware my friends beware.



The bottom line is that recreational herp groups DO NOT in any way represent the herp industry as a whole and never can with their current constitutional stances…period!



Mike Welker

El Paso, TX

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