Reptile & Amphibian Forums

USARK Public Comment/ 30 Day Extension
Public Comment on the Proposed Rule Change by US Fish & Wildlife to add nine constrictor snakes to the Injurious Wildlife list of the Lacey Act closed at midnight last night. To everyone who took the time to comment... THANK YOU!!! This unprecedented and controversial rule making, if enacted, would devastate the Reptile Nation and set dangerous precedent for the future.

Never before has a listing of this nature been proposed for animals that are so widely held by the American public. The implications for ball pythons, leopard geckos and bearded dragons are ominous. Anyone who thinks this was about big snakes is dead wrong. This is about the ideology of powerful special interest groups, and an attempt to misuse the Lacey Act to end the ownership of all non-native animals in the United States. The nine constrictors are just a test balloon. The rule making process will begin in June to list ALL amphibians. Ornamental fish will not be far behind.

Click here to read USARK Public Comment: usark.org/uploads/USARK Public Comment Proposed Rule USFWS.pdf

Public Comment Reopened
USARK’s request for extension of Public Comment on the proposed Rule Change by USFWS will be honored. We filed our request for a 90 extension at the end of April and were backed by two ranking members of congress. Although preliminary indications were that our request would be rejected, it is now confirmed that it will be honored. Another 30 day public comment period will be re-opened with a posting in the Federal Register late this week. If you are one of the many who did not make comment by the deadline last night, you may get a second opportunity!

This whole thing could very well end in a federal lawsuit filed by USARK against the US Fish & Wildlife Service. We have the facts and science on our side. USARK filed a 36 page Request for Correction under the Information Quality Act with the US Geological Survey regarding their report: Giant constrictors: biological and management profiles and an establishment risk assessment for nine large species of pythons, anacondas, and the boa constrictor. There is no longer any question about the problems USGS has with this poorly written report.

***The costs to engage in a lawsuit with USFWS will be considerable. Please consider donating to help the Reptile Nation defeat this proposed rule making. Even $5-10 will help. A more generous donation will help even more!
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What's written above is purely my opinion. In fact, MOST of what you read on the internet is someone's opinion. Don't take it too seriously

Jonathan Brady
DeviantConstrictors.com
Deviant Constrictors picturetrail

This my Boa friends is a HUGE victory! Not 30 days extension itself, but any extension is evidence of the FACT is that they are reconsidering. The USGS science is propaganda and they know it. They are not interested in public humiliation at the hands of legit science as that will cause huge damage to the credibility of the USGS which is supposed to be the scientific branch of the government.

For each of us what this is, is EXACTLY the same as the horror movie when the Monster has been knocked down and is looking defeated. Then the love struck couple are in embrace celebrating when we see the monster standing up in the background, what they need to do is cut the stinking head off that Monster when it’s down!

The Monster has realized that everything that he was standing upon is falling apart and the only way he is going to have any chance of survival is if you and I do nothing. Many of you did nothing and yet the beast is weakened. Now the rest of you who didn’t do your part should have additional confidence that we have the bad science on the run.
After this extension is announced, PLEASE do you part! Follow the instructions on the kill-rulechange.com web site. We are all counting on each and every one of us to do our part.

Your participation helps to give the US Fish and Wildlife Service and to some extent the US Geological Survey cover. With a HUGE outcry from the Reptile industry they can back out of their original push to add the nine constrictors with much less embarrassment than they would be handed if they force us to sue them where all the facts would be made all too public. They can blame the science that isn't science in favor of legit science and avoid being flushed with Rodda and Reed who have written their own elitist-pointy-headed-academic-research-from-their-desks-not-the-field obituaries. The fact is that if Rodda/Reed had any sense, they both would have written and submitted their own objection in an attempt to submit a "correction to report" they wrote and minimize the damage to their academic reputation. What Rodda/Reed have done is the equivalent of a scientist who a few years back claimed to have accomplish nuclear fusion. He was the envy of the science world till his results could not be duplicated. Now he is the laughing stock of the scientific world. Perhaps Rodda/Reed are ready to engage in a little damage control.

By the way; this post contain my personal thoughts on the topic and does not represent a public statement by or for USARK.
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Jeff Ronne Sr
The Boaphile
Director USARK

Originator of Boaphile Plastics
The Boaphile Boa Site

I am not sure but wouldn't the USGS have something to do with regulating drilling?
If so what do you think is going to happen when a blowout like the one that just happened on their watch puts them under a microscope and people see that they were wasting time and tax dollars on that stupid paper saying pythons could invade maryland?