"Like it or not, invasives cause untold damage to ecosystems in this country, and we'll get nowhere by denying this. Biologists are deeply worried about invasives, and they are going to insist that something be done."

I think it might be time for the Reptile Nation to consider Dave and Tracy Barker's solution to the invasive problem in Florida, which is:

"Is there any action that might prevent still more species of plants and animals from establishing in South Florida?

Yes, there is one very practical solution.

Miami is the primary American port of entry for imported plants and animals, especially tropical plants and animals. Because of this, Miami is full of and surrounded by wholesalers and distributors of exotic plants and animals. At any given time, an inventory of exotic plants and animals with a cumulative value in the hundreds of millions of dollars can be found in Miami. Florida has made a lot of money from the importation business. Every shipment, every box, is stamped and cleared by USFWS, Customs, and for some cargo, even USDA.

Some plants and animals come into the port and are nearly immediately shipped on to other destinations in the United States. Others, including exotic trees, fruits, palms, cycads, vegetables, ornamental shrubberies, exotic grasses, reptiles, mammals, birds, and tropical fish are maintained in South Florida for commercial propagation, agriculture, and captive breeding. Miami is seething with exotic species.

The problem is that South Florida has the most tropical climate in the continental United States. Many species of escaped plants and animals thrive outside the nurseries and cages of the distributors and wholesalers. Released and breeding in South Florida are literally thousands of species that can survive nowhere else in the United States. And it’s all because Miami is the port of entry.

The solution is to remove the status of the Port of Miami as an agricultural port and a port of entry. Move the port of entry north, maybe to one of the New England ports.

If Senator Nelson really believes that exotic species are a terrible problem and if he wants to remove the chance of future introduction of snakes or any other exotic species into his beloved Everglades, then his choice is clear. As the Senator from Florida, he needs to spearhead a political movement to stop the importation of more exotic plants and animals into the Port of Miami. For the sake of nature and on behalf of the environmentalists, he needs to move this lucrative business out of his state to a place where the chance of alien invasion is minimized.

It isn’t going to happen. It would cost Miami and Florida too much money and too many jobs. But is it a better strategy to attack the rights of hundreds of thousands of American snake owners, destroy thousands of successful American small businesses, and give millions of tax dollars to the invasive-snake biologists?"

Source: www.vpi.com/sites/vpi.com/files/OnBurmese_Florida_compressed.pdf

At least floating the above idea in the media would probably make sense to a lot of scientists and scare the sh** out of Florida politicians, like Sen. Bill Nelson.

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