Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Lance asked me to write this. It can be used as a template, etc. I am open for suggestions. I can mail some of these out tomorrow myself - or we can do it as a group. Not sure what would be best.

the letter:

I am taking to time to write today to discuss the implications of HB 2414, a bill pertaining to hunting along public right of ways, for businesses in your community. This bill is currently out of committee and will soon be presented to the floor of the Texas House of Representatives.

Each summer, many reptile enthusiasts venture to the Trans-Pecos of Texas in order to search Texas’ roadways for snakes. For most of these people, the pursuit of snakes represents recreation or a hobby – a passionate hobby, to be sure, but a hobby nonetheless. These visitors to the Trans-Pecos enjoy the wide open spaces, starry skies, and (of course) searching for snakes. For small businesses in the communities of the Trans-Pecos, these visitors represent a financial windfall during an otherwise off season – while most tourist traffic in the Trans-Pecos occurs during the cooler winter, spring, or fall, reptile enthusiasts visit during the warmer summer months.

The expenses of an average reptile enthusiast can be estimated as follows:

Hotel room/night: $50
1 tank of gas/night $40
lunch and dinner/day: $30
Snacks & drinks/day: $15
Totals/day: $135

Assume the average reptile enthusiast (traveling from out of state) spends one week in the Trans-Pecos, this comes to $945 per visitor per week. My visits to your area during the summer suggest that on any given week, from 10-20 visitors to the area will be venturing forth in search of reptiles, bringing an estimated $10-20,000 to businesses in your community each week.

If HB 2414 closes the highways of Texas to the pursuit of reptiles by hobbyists, then most of these law-abiding visitors will spend their vacation dollars in other states that do not impose such restrictions. None of our neighboring states, even those with otherwise more restrictive regulations pertaining to reptiles, prohibits pursuing reptiles by hobbyists from public right of ways – this activity remains legal in Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, California, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana, and each of these states stands to benefit from our loss.

If you find the potential loss of income from reptile enthusiasts taking their vacation dollars elsewhere, please contact Senator Carlos Uresti and Representative Pete Gallego and voice your concerns about this potentially economically damaging piece of legislation. The contact information for each is listed below.

Senate District 19--Senator Carlos I. Uresti
Capitol Office: EXT E1.810
Capitol Phone: (512) 463-0119
Capitol Address: P.O. Box 12068, Capitol Station
Austin, TX 78711
District Address: 2530 SW Military Drive, Suite 103
San Antonio TX 78224
Phone: (210) 932-2568

State District Offices
House District 74--Representative Pete P. Gallego
Capitol Office: CAP 4S.5
Capitol Phone: (512) 463-0566
Capitol Address: P.O. Box 2910
Austin, TX 78768
District Address: P.O. Box 777
Alpine TX 79831
Phone: (432) 837-7383

Sincerely,

Troy Hibbitts
Texas Herpetological Society
Past President
current liason to TPWD

Excellent letter.

Perhaps a similar letter to all area hotels and retailers would also be appropriate. The individual Chambers may or may not notify the area business. Even if they do, they will likely only notify their members, and probably not as quickly as we would like.

When I sit down to write some letters tonight, my focus, as a non-resident writing to the various chambers, is to explain how much I personally have spent in the Transpecos region. I'll add to that some various information about my personal enjoyment in the hunt, but I'll be brief.

Troy has done a very nice job with a general information type outline, which is very much needed. But a personal touch from us all would be good too.

Just something to keep in mind.

Brad Alexander

With gas nearing $3 a gallon, $40 a night may be small. Figure 20-25 MPG and maybe 500-750 miles a night (depending on your style of hunting) and that comes to $75-$90 a night. Not to mention that most out of state hunters probably don't gas up in Las Cruces...meaning that gas money is spent even before the hunt...Sierra Blanca comes to mind.