As a scientist and an avid conservationist who serves on the boards of several foundations and cares deeply about the herpetofauna of west Texas, I've watched the cycles of misinformed wildlife management come and go the past 35 years in Texas and Arizona. There are enough data at this point to provide reasoned management of the herps in west Texas and it is sad that up to now, the TPW has not used those data. Unfortunately, it is politicians and law enforcement personnel, not biologists who tend to make the regulations. As such, as herpers, we need to play the political game.
I can appreciate the strong feelings of those of you who have been burned by TPW's crazy policies. Last Tuesday when I stopped in to the El Paso TPW office they told me they could not give me a written list or copy of the regulations pertaining to reptile collecting. They said instead I had to rely on talking to a game warden! I was horrified that they would not make it crystal clear for someone trying to obey the law. Obviously there are serious problems with TPW. That said, it will NOT help to deal with things in an emotional manner at this point. (And for what its worth, they got a warden on the line for me right there in the office who went to great lengths to tell me what I could and could not do -- he was exceptionally polite and reasonable.)
I strongly support the approach Joe Forks is taking, trying to be reasonable, offering information, --- essentially lobbying. That is what legislators understand -- lobbying. Please everyone, give that a shot. And if it does not work the first time, do it a second and third time with different strategies and more organization. That's how the political machinery works. It will be to everyone's benefit (including the animals).
I am an out of stater who hunted West Texas extensively from 1971 to 1983 and then returned last week for the first time since then. I saw plenty of crazy TPW things way back then. Let's finally make a difference as herpers and help create a meaningful set of regulations that help guide the hobby.
I suggest one productive avenue would be to organize and fund a scientific symposium at Sul Ross that evaluates the collection of the various species and its impact on wild populations. With a few possible expectations (species with very limited relict populations), such a symposium with invited papers by good field herpetologists would do wonders for a reasoned lobbying effort as it would provide a science-based rather than a biased hobbyist-based rationale for TPW to rely on. The field of biology has come a long long ways from what it was 25 years ago and some of the crazy thoughts back then on the distribution of the species everyone here is interested in have changed. What do you think? Are there good field herpetologists at Sul Ross who might help organize such a thing if they had the bucks?
Joe or others working on this: let me know if there is something I can do to help from afar. --Henry Wallace
