By way of intro: I am 51, a Florida resident, a Texas native and USAF veteran. I have been employed by UF (Go Gators) for the past 20 years and currently manage a small IT shop for UF/IFAS. I've been actively involved with reptiles and amphibians for the past 45 years; my first herp experiences were in pre-Disney south Orlando in the early 60's and rapidly grew as I became more mobile. I began keeping and propagating venomous species while in junior high, much to my devout Protestant parents' chagrin. Please note that I am not, have never been and will never be a commercial collector of herps or any other wildlife.

I started herping in the Trans-Pecos region of Texas in the mid-80's while stationed in Albuquerque, and found my first (and to date the only) gray-banded kingsnake just west of Langtry almost by accident while road-cruising for "buzztails". I recall being amazed that such a spectacular animal could be found in the Chihuahuan desert. Since then I have made as many yearly pilgrimages to the Big Bend region as time and finances permit. I routinely spend a grand or more per trip for gas, lodging, food, licenses and incidentals; the majority of that is spent in Comstock, Sanderson, Marathon, Alpine, Terlingua and other places that benefit in some measure from herpers' dollars. I am also a Texas property taxpayer in that I own 35 acres of Terlingua Ranch.

After working with other herpers online and contacting Texas legislators to confront and defeat changes to the law proposed in HB 2414, under-the-radar passage of HB 12 with the original, unamended language left me feeling monumentally sucker-punched. Add sheer incredulity to that when I read that one of bill's goals was to create "wildlife sanctuaries". I have hooked far too many herps out of the way of oncoming vehicles, and watched others die horribly that I couldn't protect, to believe that any road or right-of-way could be a sanctuary for anything but McDonald's wrappers, empty beer bottles and truck tire shrapnel.

To conclude: Several members of this forum have offered to take you herping with them to experience our passion up close and personal. Think seriously about it -- borrow a hook and light and walk in our shoes for a bit, and possibly we can work together to reverse this injustice. Thanks for your time.

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Bill Cope
O'Brien, FL