I don't know much about falconry. Is there a huge movement by special interests to ban ownership of falcons? If not, it's not the same situation. I'm not trying to be argumentative, I'm trying to understand how "self-regulation" is going to make any difference in stopping the forces against us. I'd appreciate if someone could address my questions. None of the discussions I've seen ever seem to go beyond "we need self regulation" or "it's gonna take a lot of work" rhetoric.



Maybe attacking the corrupt scientists won't succeed (probably nothing will at this point), but self-regulation certainly won't either, since imo it won't do anything to stop the AR nuts and their government buddies. That's, of course, assuming this mythical system of self regulation can ever be implemented and agreed on by everyone in the hobby.



I'm not only talking about directly attacking the AR nuts. I'm also talking about educating the public to stop the hysteria. Everyone of us should go do a presentation at a local school. Or write a letter to a local newspaper countering a stupid article saying pythons will invade 1/3 of the country.



Thanks,

Ed









>>Falconry is an example of self regulation, for the most part they police themselves (the way they apprentice members etc) and they are not just involved, but frequently invited to participate in any federal or state regulations that will impact them.

>>

>>And now to be clear I did not say we should limit to a reactive strategy at all, I said it is what we will be dealt. It is the nature of protecting something as opposed to conquering it. Instead we need to keep up our defenses and be ready to respond, and anything we initiate simply needs to be well planned and executed. I for one do not believe that a campaign to attack the architects for AR groups or others with agendas will succeed. With that we will only end up with a dirty fight and may even lose ground in the public (and legislative) eye.

>>

>>Now what do I think we can do? Well there are some very established herp societies around the country, they should be talking to each other to combine resources and present some ideas. We will never escape the thought that the government needs to be involved for our own good, so we should make our proactive plan to use that as an inroad. In other words we should work with our representatives to draft the legislation before the AR groups do. This will be far more effective in the proactive sense than taking on the AR groups themselves. What will be the challenge there is keeping them from twisting anything we draft into something else... they do have a lot of political connections.

>>

>>

>>>>Thanks for the reply. I respect your opinion, but I completely disagree. Of course we would have to have some organization and thought put into a media campaign, I didn't mean to imply a free-for-all. What some of these government "scientists" (ie, Rodda, Snow) have done is inexcusable. It's not even about snakes, it's much bigger than that; it's about abuse of power and corruption. Not only do I think we should address that, we as Americans have an OBLIGATION to address that. If there is some

>>>>mudslinging, then so be it.

>>>>

>>>>IMO, a reactive strategy won't work. I just think that people don't have the time for (or will get tired of) writing 300 letters and making dozens of phone calls every 6 months for the next 30 years. While this is a life altering issue for many, for others like me, it's extremely important, but not one of the top 3 priorities in my or my family's life.

>>>>

>>>>Regarding self-regulation, I've seen that mentioned many times, but I don't know what it means. What is it? How would it be implemented? How would it prevent anything that would otherwise have happened without self regulation? Who will make the rules? Will everyone follow the rules? How would it stop the AR wackos from attacking us?

>>>>

>>>>Thanks!

>>>>Ed

>>>>

>>>>>>In a sense the AR groups have to be proactive because it is the nature of taking away rights. Holding on to what you have is most often a reactive stance, if we are not careful a proactive stance could become a mud slinging deal so we will need to move anything along with great consideration. I guess the best proactive plan would be work towards self regulation of our interest/hobby and there is a very long road in front of something like that.

>>>>>>-----

>>>>>>___________________________

>>>>>>Herp Conservation Unlimited

>>>>>>

>>>>>>If people really learn from their mistakes, I should be like the smartest guy in the world

>>-----

>>___________________________

>>Herp Conservation Unlimited

>>

>>If people really learn from their mistakes, I should be like the smartest guy in the world

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