I emailing you to express my deep reservations about HB 2414 that just made it out of committee as it relates to hunting from a public roadway in Texas. My general thought is that the current wording is far to broad and will reach well beyond a reasonable goal of safety and conservation. In an effort to be brief my concerns are as follow:
1 – Most Universities have a collection of native wildlife that is a reference on populations of animals going back for decades. The vast majority of those reptile and amphibian specimens are taken from the roadways. Many of those are found DOR (Dead on Road) and preserved. I am confident that this law will limit our ability to maintain studies over time of native species as it will prevent their legal collection.
2 – Texas is known and loved worldwide by “Herpers” people that come here on their vacation and holiday to visit with other herpers and look for reptiles and amphibians along rural back roads. Most herpers photograph everything, leave most animals where they found them and only take a few select animals for captive propagation that is the other part of the hobby. The simple fact is that only place to practice this hobby is along our right of ways, and collecting along these right of ways is a time honored tradition dating back to the founding fathers of herpetology.
3 – This will have a negative financial impact on local business in areas that are in the towns that herpers visit. I am personally concerned about Roy Engledorf at the Outback Oasis Motel in Sanderson TX. He is a friend of mine and he stands to lose a great deal on this proposed legislation. Quite frankly herpers are the vast majority of his business during the spring and summer months. Roy also knows that other business will be impacted in other areas because of an effective loss of tourism during an otherwise lean time of the year.
4 – This law does not seem to address anything other than the take of reptiles that is not already illegal under some other existing statute. So it really makes us feel like we are being singled out or targeted. Without this law it is illegal to discharge firearms or hunt game along roadways anyway.
5 – There is already a studied and thought out process in place for conservation of native reptiles and amphibians in Texas. In order to sell native animals you need a permit and you need to keep records of your dealings. They have legislation that will take effect September 1st that sets up a “White List” and “Black List”. On the Black list no take or trade is permitted, on the White List trade is permitted (Which most of the time is a captive produced animal) and things that are not listed can be taken but not sold. It is well thought and will address concerns such as declining box turtle populations.
6 – I do not think there are any records of injury or fatalities because somebody was collecting reptiles along a public right of way or roadway. At least not in the 15 years I have been doing it.
I appreciate you taking the time to look over my concerns, please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or would like to discuss any specific points in more detail.
Thanks
Lance Benton
