I spoke w/ the aforementioned Katherine Frolow from state rep Pete Gallego's office this evening. While I am unsure of Mr. Gallegos' district, I do know that he represents a fair amount of west Texas, including here in my new home town of Alpine. Ms. Frolow was very cordial on the phone and listend patiently to what turned into a bit of an unstructured rant on my part.
Some of the topics I hit upon were the following:
1. I asked her, rhetorically of course, if she knew which reptiles were decreasing and in which areas.
2. Have there been any studies, of any kind, to determine if any reptiles have decreased in numbers and if so where can these studies be found. Ms. Frolow did not know of any studies.
3.I asked her about TPW being neutral on proposed law. Ms. Frolow commented that it was not unusual to have government agencies comment on or suggest legislation.
4.I mentioned that it was ridiculous to make, listen to, believe, or accept unsubstantiated notions about reptile populations as if they were fact. There are absolutely no facts in evidence to suggest that any reptile numbers have decreased due to roadside collection. Certainly TPW has no clue as to reptile populations here in west Texas despite what any officer thinks he or she may know.
5.I commented that here in Brewster county, which is the size of CT & RI put together, there is essentially 2 main north south roads and 2 east west roads that allow any signifcant roadside access. That it was preposterous to think that the amount of collecting done in this county, or any other county in west Texas, would decrease reptile populations when more than 99% of Brewster County is either privately or state held land.
6.I mentioned that for 20 years I made 2 to 3 trips each year to west Texas before moving here last summer. That one of the reasons for moving here was so I could enjoy one of my hobbies on a more regular basis. I also told her during those 20 years I may have taken back to FL 15 or so snakes, and that the alterna I happened to stumble across over the years cost me roughly 7K or more per animal. I'm confident it would have been significantly less per animal should I have been one of you east range hunters. LOL
7. I mentioned that as an out of state hunter, until last year, licenses were purchased just like other types of hunting. I mentioned that in my estimation 90% or more of the out of state hunters are not collecting commercially and not taking significant numbers of any species of reptile.
8. I commented that if this is really about out of state commercial collecting than bag limits should be instilled, if not already, and strictly enforced.
9. I told her that we were a relatively small group of people, but that we were going to be vocal and not go down w/out a fight. I mentioned that talk of legal representation is currently being discussed on this forum and suggested she go here to review the discourse on this bill. She was already aware of Kingsnake.com, but I got the impression that she had not reviewed the content.
Ms. Frolow said that she would look into my questions and get back to me w/ a response, whether it be answers or direction of where to go next. I for one appreciated her time and seemingly taking interest in what I said.
If there is more to update from the promised forthcoming response from Ms. Frolow, I will share it here.
DB
