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Pay attention Florida residents...we will be getting some kind of a ban, but to what degree depends on how quickly and politely we react to this bill....please do your part.

FLORIDA- Help USARK Fight S373 "PYTHON BAN"
As promised USARK is spearheading a multi-pronged, multi-state, multi-media, grass roots campaign to gain a favorable outcome on S373 the "Python Ban". The recent tragedy in Florida combined with the recent Senate EPW Hearing in Washington, DC has provided Senator Bill Nelson a platform and the momentum to get this bill moving. It could move VERY QUICKLY! We think that it may not move on it's own. It is quite possible that the language from S373 could be added to one of the big spending bills moving through the Senate. Regardless of how it happens, the information we have received from our team of lobbyists on Capitol Hill indicates that there is enough interest in the bill for it to move now.
The first steps need to be taken by Florida citizens. The bill sponsor is Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL). Florida citizens are more likely to influence him than anyone else! I know many are furious about all the misinformation that has been put forward as if it were fact, but this is the time to get past that. It is crucial that the Reptile Nation present itself as reasonable and open to discussion. The language we use will be polite, professional and designed to enlist his cooperation. We need his cooperation. This bill is going to move. There is much sympathy for it in the Senate. Our challenge is to convince Senator Nelson that our suggestions will give him a better bill. Better for him, and better for Florida citizens.
Again, this is only the first step. It is like peppering the battlefield prior to the major assault. To be successful will require the Reptile Nation to do what is required to make our case. I wish it were so easy as to just send out an email and be done with it. Random emails to legislators that are not familiar with the bill will do very little. Email can be effective if used in a very focused and targeted manner; and as part of a larger comprehensive strategy. With all that said, the first step will be an email by Florida Citizens to Senator Bill Nelson. Once this has been done we will be ready for the next step in the strategy USARK has created.
Copy the Sample Letter
Click the link below to email Senator Nelson and choose Position on an Issue
Fill out your info in the provided fields
Choose Everglades Restoration as Topic
Put Please Amend S373 in Subject Line
Paste the Sample Letter into the correct field
Add your signature line to the Sample Letter
Click Submit
Email president@usark.org and let us know you did your part!
Click here to Email Senator Nelson
http://billnelson.senate.gov/contact/email.cfm
Click here to Donate $5 with Zoo Med dollar for dollar matching
http://usark.org/donate.php

SAMPLE LETTER: (copy & paste)
Please Amend S373
Honorable Senator Bill Nelson,
Thank you for your interest and concern regarding Everglades Restoration. Your dedication and commitment to this issue is to be commended. As a reptile keeper and Florida voter I value the Everglades as a wonderland of reptiles and biodiversity. The introductions of invasive species like the feral cat and fire ants have made an unprecedented negative impact on the wildlife and eco-system of the Everglades. I support your effort to gain funding to protect this precious resource.
Currently I must oppose S373 because as written it would end the import and commerce of all pythons. The quality of information that has been provided to you regarding the captive bred reptile community has been poor. There is no credible evidence that most pythons are a problem, or would ever be a problem, in Florida or anywhere else. In your testimony before the recent EPW Hearing you mentioned that you just wanted to stop the import of Burmese Pythons. If that is the case I can support your position. I would suggest that your bill be amended to end the import of ONLY the Burmese Python; with language allowing for the commerce and interstate transport of the Burmese Python to continue. Thousands of Florida families have invested their entire net worth in high quality captive breeding projects. There is a Florida Fish & Wildlife Permit system put in place to mandate secure caging, safety inspections and micro chipping. These animals are securely housed and can be extremely valuable. Destroying this trade would hurt the economy of Florida.
To recap, I would support the ban on the import of Burmese Pythons ONLY. All other pythons should not be a part of this legislation. There should also be a provision for the interstate transport and trade of captive bred Burmese Pythons already in the country to continue.
Thank you for your consideration,
-----
Joel Thomas

Don't tread on me!

Would it not help if more than just florida residents emailed? We know for a fact that once one state starts banning stuff the rest are sure to follow.

It's not just Fl. Florida is just ground zero because Senator Nelson, the sponsor of S373, is from FL and is using recent media hype to get his bill moving.

Don't worry everyone will get their say... Florida is just where it all starts. We are mounting a massive grass roots response to the threat of ALL pythons being banned! Stay tuned to USARK and become part of the Reptile Nation!!
-----
Andrew Wyatt
President USARK

Seems like this issue will just boil down to money changing hands. How much do you think the reptile industry will be taken for in this battle?

Just trying to get clarification....why is it your posistion to offer an import ban on the Burmese to this Sen. Nelson?

Why the compromise?
-----
Joel Thomas

Don't tread on me!

We are not offering anything. Senator Nelson's bill if passed as written will ban ALL pythons. We are trying to limit the damage. Word on the Hill is that S373 has alot of support. We are asking that he modify his bill so that it does not destroy the python trade. If we can limit it to ONLY the import of Burms and save the captive trade in Burms... we have to call that a victory. The alternative is total annihilation. Which would you rather have?
-----
Andrew Wyatt
President USARK

That was a semi loaded question....sorry did not know how to bring it out. I understand that a ban is coming and there is a necessary evil to offer something instead of nothing.

This has seemed to become an unpopular choice, I support the decision to accept this over a complete ban of ownership but people are worried that this is just the beginning of a reptile snatching campaign.

What can you tell us?
-----
Joel Thomas

Don't tread on me!

Let's call my position that of the devils advocate

It seems like you're looking at this situation like this:
If someone was trying to gain popular support to chop your hand off, you'll tell them that you fully support them taking an index finger and your middle finger. In fact, you WANT them to.

To me this makes one COLOSSAL mistake. It admits to them that your index and middle fingers are totally unnecessary and in fact, that you don't even want them.

What's to stop them from assuming that you don't need any of your fingers, as long as they don't cut down at the wrist. And if you don't need the fingers on one hand, might as well take the others because if two fingers are evil, all 10 are 5 times as evil. And now that they think about it, what good are two nubs with no fingers? Might as well cut BOTH hands off!

All it takes for this to move from a python argument to a python AND boa argument is for someone to question their knowledge of what they're doing and ask them if they're really qualified to make decisions about something they know nothing about...

Senator, do you think you should be making decisions about pythons when you haven't addressed their cousins, the boa family? They're not native to the US either and they get just as big or bigger than pythons. I found a reference on the internet that says that the common boa constrictor can reach 15 feet!! Anacondas are even bigger!

The good Senator then says, well, they admitted they don't need to import pythons (he'll have conveniently forgotten to preface that with "burmese" at this point because he'll be on a money hunt), they don't need snakes in the boa family either! While we're at it, why do we need to import venemous snakes??!!

And suddenly we're down to colubrids. Small eating, crapping machines... yay! :|

IMO, if you don't vehemently oppose ALL sactions against the burmese python. You sign a death note for the rest of the hobby. It may not happen immediately, but it'll happen. PETA, the defenders of wildlife, and their supporters will certainly see to that.

I feel that by endorsing a ban on the import of burmese pythons, you endorse cutting off two very necessary fingers. One of which is DEFINITELY needed to visually illustrate what we truly think of their attempts at removing our freedoms!

You say that the alternative is total annihilation. In my mind, the alternative is doing what we've BEEN DOING for decades. The onus is on us to prove that the import, captive propogation, and transport of pythons, when done properly (I do endorse caging and health standards as well as microchipping) does nothing to affect the environment or the well being of people.

I say, as a long time member of the reptile community as well as a member of USARK, THAT'S what we need to do.

Push them to address this as a state issue. Back that with sound science. There's no federal money in that for the Senator of my home state, bad for him, good for the Senators of the other 49 states plus territories!

Thanks,
jb
-----
Jonathan Brady

Well the problem we are facing is the legislating body doesn't want
to understand Boids or snakes any kind.
They don't want to understand the science behind any part of our
hobby, captive propagation,proper husbandry etc...
The Legislators will be like a dog with a bone they have found an insignificant
issue to occupy the public's short attention span.
A subject that has no bearing on the general public's health or well being .
Except those of us in the general public directly connected to this hobby.
These animals when constrained and handled properly are of no threat to humans.
In most cases even unconstrained they pose little threat to humans.
This is of no consequence to the legislative body and others like Sen.Bill Nelson
They have found a hot button issue they can sink their teeth into
and occupy the public's interest.
The general public which has no idea about any of the facts
where Pythons ,large Boids are concerned.
All the public knows is that " they don't like those snakes !".
So whatever dooky is shoveled their way,will be lapped up like gravy.
This is easy pickins for the legislators on the heels
of that recent tragedy

. . . Lar M
-----
Boas By Klevitz
Boas By Klevitz

I agree with this.but I do know our adversary will not stop. Unfortunantly for us this is a world of compromise.have to give to get or in our case secure. Why are we not starting our own bill to secure our rights instead of trying to change and accept the terms of our enemy?

I personally think Jonathan is right on target in his thinking.

I haven't owned Burms in decades, but that doesn't change right from wrong in my heart and mind. I think that we are opening parndora's box legislatively when we offer up a sacraficial lamb like this. We seem to think that arguing the issues on fact and science is pointless. I may be naive, but I don't think it is. Will it be more challenging? Of course it will be. But I don't think it is a lost cause. Arguing for special requirements for the private ownership of large constricting snakes, such as those Jonathan included in his post, seems like a reasonable compromise. In fact, it represents the compromise that has already been accepted at the state level (where the problem really is!). Why now accept this as a national issue? It is STILL a local issue! There is a plethera of science (including the fact that they don't exist anywhere else in the US) that clearly demostrates this point.

I remember "our" position being: "It is primarily a state problem that should be dealt with as such... Science should be the driving force behind any bill of this nature, not the ideology of activists and attorneys working for a powerful special interest." (from USARK's HR669 testimony).

I will admit I was taken aback when I got the email from USARK as a "call to action" for something I never expected them (us!) to do...

It seems our strategy has changed from "Ok, you can hurt us, just don't hurt us too bad all at once" instead of "we value our rights and we will fight bad legislation that has is based on lies and mis-information with all our might!"

Sorry for being so lengthy, and I don't mean to be argumentative, but it seems that "we" made a signifcant change in strategic direction without any dialog, just a very unexpected "call to action". I agree with the ideology of what USARK stands for, that's why I joined, but to me, this change in strategy is not truly representative of that ideology.

Instead of jumping all the way over to "ban", why aren't we endorsing something like responsible ownership or even registration? The support of the ban seems to be a radical re-positioning...

Mark
-----
uncommonboa.com

This is just my opinion...there is no offer, the Florida govt. is TAKING!

Maybe a pipe dream that we would actually have an orginization that is truly looking out for our best interests, and it appears that many are upset with the verbage in the letter that USARK has issued.

Tom Wolfe has probably been in quite a few of these types of situations and has felt the opposistion out and understands that what must be done to at least save some of the rights we enjoy.

I know that I sound like I am defending USARK I am not.
I am just hoping that this is the right move and trying to look at it objectively. I have felt strongly that since the death of that little one that there was going to be a ban, and nothing we can do about it.

At this point I wouldn't be surprised that Nelson rejects the form letter anyway as he has momentum to issue a complete ban

In the end it is the govt. we should be changing not form letters.
-----
Joel Thomas

Don't tread on me!

>>Let's call my position that of the devils advocate
>>
>>It seems like you're looking at this situation like this:
>>If someone was trying to gain popular support to chop your hand off, you'll tell them that you fully support them taking an index finger and your middle finger. In fact, you WANT them to.
>>
>>To me this makes one COLOSSAL mistake. It admits to them that your index and middle fingers are totally unnecessary and in fact, that you don't even want them.
>>
>>What's to stop them from assuming that you don't need any of your fingers, as long as they don't cut down at the wrist. And if you don't need the fingers on one hand, might as well take the others because if two fingers are evil, all 10 are 5 times as evil. And now that they think about it, what good are two nubs with no fingers? Might as well cut BOTH hands off!
>>
>>All it takes for this to move from a python argument to a python AND boa argument is for someone to question their knowledge of what they're doing and ask them if they're really qualified to make decisions about something they know nothing about...
>>
>>Senator, do you think you should be making decisions about pythons when you haven't addressed their cousins, the boa family? They're not native to the US either and they get just as big or bigger than pythons. I found a reference on the internet that says that the common boa constrictor can reach 15 feet!! Anacondas are even bigger!
>>
>>The good Senator then says, well, they admitted they don't need to import pythons (he'll have conveniently forgotten to preface that with "burmese" at this point because he'll be on a money hunt), they don't need snakes in the boa family either! While we're at it, why do we need to import venemous snakes??!!
>>
>>And suddenly we're down to colubrids. Small eating, crapping machines... yay! :|
>>
>>IMO, if you don't vehemently oppose ALL sactions against the burmese python. You sign a death note for the rest of the hobby. It may not happen immediately, but it'll happen. PETA, the defenders of wildlife, and their supporters will certainly see to that.
>>
>>I feel that by endorsing a ban on the import of burmese pythons, you endorse cutting off two very necessary fingers. One of which is DEFINITELY needed to visually illustrate what we truly think of their attempts at removing our freedoms!
>>
>>You say that the alternative is total annihilation. In my mind, the alternative is doing what we've BEEN DOING for decades. The onus is on us to prove that the import, captive propogation, and transport of pythons, when done properly (I do endorse caging and health standards as well as microchipping) does nothing to affect the environment or the well being of people.
>>
>>I say, as a long time member of the reptile community as well as a member of USARK, THAT'S what we need to do.
>>
>>Push them to address this as a state issue. Back that with sound science. There's no federal money in that for the Senator of my home state, bad for him, good for the Senators of the other 49 states plus territories!
>>
>>Thanks,
>>jb
>>-----
>>Jonathan Brady
>>

Well put! We don't need to be tucking our tails at this time. It's downright un-American.
-----
Sublime Boa Constrictor

Put it this way. When the school bully knows you have money he's going to try and take it. When you give even just a little thinking that will satisfy the beast not only will he be there everyday for his handout he'll try and see what else he can take from you. Stop playing there game. Untill our rights are secured they will just keep making new bills.