The only concern with all the folks who have replied "short and sweet" from either side, is for the most part, it will mean nothing to the folks at USFWS, no more then the antis who are replying "Snake keeping is sick, and you need to stop it!" -

As Snakesitter (Cliff Earle) said before on here, these replies need MEAT to them, and substance - >

"While I agree we all need to respond, and I've made every effort to spread the word lately (including blasting the news out to over 100 California herp organizations), I worry that concentrating on the "13 questions" supplied by the Government on Pages 7-8 is a mistake. Read that list again, every questions. The vast majority of those do not address the fundamental concerns of whether a ban is justified or would prove effective. (The only exceptions were #11 and #12.)

Only much later, starting on Page 15, does the Government list the real issues: We use the criteria below to evaluate whether a species does or does not qualify as injurious under the Lacey Act.

Factors that contribute to being considered injurious:
- The likelihood of release or escape;
- Potential to survive, become established, and spread;
- Impacts on wildlife resources or ecosystems through hybridization and competition for food and habitats, habitat degradation and destruction, predation, and pathogen transfer;
- Impact to threatened and endangered species and their habitats;
- Impacts to human beings, forestry, horticulture, and agriculture; and
- Wildlife or habitat damages that may occur from control measures.

Factors that reduce the likelihood of the species being considered as injurious:
- Ability to prevent escape and establishment;
- Potential to eradicate or manage established populations (for example, making organisms sterile);
- Ability to rehabilitate disturbed ecosystems;
- Ability to prevent or control the spread of pathogens or parasites; and
- Any potential ecological benefits to introduction.

I really hope people address these issues in their responses as well, or we're just blowing hot air."

^ And, those are some VERY questions, and some important "concerns". The more folks who put time & thought into these issues from our side, the more we can accomplish towards showing that we really are responsible for our charges and concerned for the state of the environment.

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