Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey guys, i dont know about you all, but i would be more than happy to help set up/take part in some sort of fund to help aquire land for herping use, my good friend is purchaseing some land 3 miles outside of sanderson (off the highway, west side, right next to the moutains and large draw..) its a large trackt of land and hes HERP FRIENDLY i will be in charge of manageing the land for herper use!

BTW i would also like there to be a organisation set up so that we can perhaps pay a monthly membership the funds of which go into a account used to purchase lease rights to land that is deemed prime herp habitat, the members that pay there monthly dues are allowed to vote on land that has been submitted for possible purchase/lease. The gates would be locked and those that carry a card belonging to the membership/there family and they could use the combonation supplied on the card to gain access to the land.

Just an idea,

Eric
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To you im just the crazy snake guy, but to some I'm a 'Herp'.

Eric-fantastic idea. Let us know how to sign up,fee structures, etc. And if you need any help I'd be happy to assist.

Brad Chambers

I think that in hatching the idea of the herp society that we should set it up much like the VFW, of which I am intimately familiar with the workings of this non profit organization. The treasurer would be in charge of collection of dues, the dues would be split accordingly.

Part 1, membership and general house fund, house fund to be used for items such as food, equipment, advertisement and other necessities used to promote, support and further the organization. 10% of total membership dues.

Part 2, Herper relief fund, this fund is used to support herpers in the event of a legal battle resulting from a eligible violation (eligible violation would be voted upon by the house committee). Other Herper Relief Fund items, (HRF) will be things such as illness in the family, injury, or any other such item deemed reasonable by a vote from the house committee. 40% of total membership funds.

Part 3, Herper Land Rights and Use Acquisition Fund , this fund will be used to gather resources such as lease’s, purchase land, used to persuade ranchers/land owners to allow members to use there land for herping purposes only. Bribes in the form of cash are not allowed, however something along the lines of a new corn feeder, couple bags of feed corn, or other such land improvement items used to establish and promote a healthy relationship with land owners is allowed. 50% of total membership funds.

One of the rules should be ‘Pack it in Pack it out and THEN some!” Take a garbage bag with you, if you see something, pick it up this will help make land owners happier.

Every member must be voted in and approved of by other members of the society, this keeps ‘undesirables’ out of the society, those that would drag the names of the club down. The term ‘undesirables’ and all it encompasses would be voted upon by charter members of the society, and there for be universal. Elections will be held Via phone/fax/e-mail for those that are on the house committee and/or board of directors. It is time to get organized guys, I will give out the ideas, but by myself I am just one person, with many we can make amazing things happen.

Personally I would be willing to pay $20-$40 a month for this sort of service, or perhaps $200 a year or something like that. However the money would HAVE to be used, and not just disappear into someone’s pockets somewhere.

Thank you,
Eric
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To you im just the crazy snake guy, but to some I'm a 'Herper'.

The internet should greatly facilitate the organization of such an entity. I believe first off we need to nominate a small group of individuals to come up with a Name, Charter, and By-laws.

Any volunteers? Especially needed is anyone with experience/background in setting up or running a small nonprofit group. Also those with experience in real estate. Eby comes to mind immediately, but I'm sure there are others.

Finally, we should realize that this is long-term, and we still need to get changes made in HB 12. For all the reasons previously enumerated, herping on private land is no substitute for the restoration of road herping.

Brad Chambers

more information forthcoming....

unless this one is just about land, then go ahead....

I am in, let me know what you need, I will not go quietly into the night! Unless I am hunting a cut legally!
Todd Hughes

This is in the works with tons of ground work being laid out by Troy, Joe, and others.

Also, I received a lease commitment today for 640 acres of state land that I will be donating to the group once the lease is final and the group is formed.

I would hope that others would follow suit by providing special donations to the group (once established) that are explicitly for land and lease acquistion. I'm already looking at other possible state lease land in the hope and expectation that money will become available for funding said leases.

The lease rate on state land varies. However, it is often available for as little as $1.00 per acre annually. We may even be able to get some for less.

Great idea, let me know when it is set up and i will contribute to the cause. We could have a yearly membership and monthly dues of say 20$ or 30$. Clark

Count me in for a lease deal or conservation organization with lease rights etc. Great ideas. I would be willing to contribute. I've been interested for a long time in such things there and did pick up some land -- but then got tied up in a career and family for the past 23 years! Now that I went back for a few days last week, I am hooked again (well, I was never off the hook...just delayed a bit). I am not a keeper anymore. I just want to be free to find the darn things and take photos without getting fined. --Henry W.

Eric, I am lovin' the sounds of this, gettin' out in habitat, owner approved. Herpin' with like minded people, hope the by laws include projects on habitat improvement or some such. Always lookin' for a conservation type project with real meaning to it, sweat equity if you will. I am sure land owners once they get to know us would appreciate good stewardship of their property. Sounds good,how can I help?
Todd Hughes

As far as helping goes, I am working with some people to tentatively suggest the above mentioned items and so far the result has been hugely popular. Sweat equity would be greatly appreciated as far as doing some minor little things to the property while/before herping, I would take care of a lot of it as not many I think are willing to actually go out, and perhaps mend a fence, or fix a wind mill or other item for herping rights. What I find around here works heavily to our advantage…the land owners in this area do not give two damned cents about the snakes on there property, in fact when I ask about going out to just hunt snakes generally I get something along the lines of “take them, take them all, I don’t want them..” and so forth. I work in the oil field business so I meet a lot of land owners with huge tracts of land and/or the leases for such property. At the moment I have pulled together access to over 1,500 acres of private land throughout west Texas. No one from these forums seems to be all that interested in getting in touch with me about how they to can access the land, I would like to talk to others that would like to get this whole organization thing rolling. I grew up in Idaho, I speak ‘Red Neck’ thoroughly and am a hell of a salesman in this area, it isn’t difficult for me to arrange many large areas of land for us to hunt on. The only freaking problem is that it will take 1 just ONE moron throwing trash, gassing a hole, or running over/disrespecting the land owners property and we will forever loose rights to those areas. Right now the counties that I have land we can hunt in are as follows, Ector, Midland, Andrews, Crane, Pecos, Loving, Cockett, and some around River Road.

My contact information is as follows.
Herptohile(at) yahoo (dot)com and
432-634-0248
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To you im just the crazy snake guy, but to some I'm a 'Herper'.

And it would be nice even after we get the ROW's back would be to have access to tracts of lands through herp society memberships. Even if an extra fee was involved it would be a nice place to put that option for folks.

The only concern is once you get off the ROW there are so many things that can go wrong, injury, death, lost etc... we need some way to address the liability without making things expensive or scary for the land owner and manager.

"The only concern is once you get off the ROW there are so many things that can go wrong, injury, death, lost etc... we need some way to address the liability without making things expensive or scary for the land owner and manager."

I think this is a very good point why we should be able to hunt the ROW. IF someone does get in trouble, they are closer to help and easier to find if they are on or just off a roadway. Of course, I don't think they are concerned about our safety.

A smokescreen or a huge missunderstanding.