Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Aren't you a biologist? If so, you should know that comments such as:

"But reptile poachers are the most organized, trading information on the Internet to locate reptile hot spots in the national park.
"There are people making a living in the underground reptile trade," Ohlfs said. "They've collected so well outside the park that they're having to come into the park now."

That's bad science if I've ever seen it; totally unsubstantiated. Even if those claims were qualified as anecdotal, I still have a hard time buying into the pitch. I don't visit geology or botany websites, but I imagine that they share locality info as well.

Exactly my point! This article was filled with absolute HYPE, false, misleading, and downright pathetic to hear someone whos salary is paid by MY TAXES (NPS RANGER AT JT) dribble such trash. When I say do something about it, I mean write this paper, tell them how wrong the article is, point out "real" problems like litter, DORs from traffic through the park etc...
I dont agree with this lame piece of writing, and I expect others on this forum to write in about it. Its time, enough rights abuse and generalization. If you dont stick up for yourself now, they will bulldoze your rights into the ground while they turn your car inside out.
Cheers
Brett

Glad to hear it. I thought you were trying to promote the material in that article. My bad.
It'll be interesting to learn what events unfold at Joshua Tree over that period.
Shane

No worries Shane, I should have clarified what I meant when I posted originally. It is absolutely insane how many lies the public is told on a daily basis, this is just one of the little ones. I cant believe the stories that get put out, and then promoted as fact by "professionals" within the Game and Fish departments of this country. Strange that he didnt have citation numbers to back up this claim eh?? More of our administrations policy in action it would seem. I think its a sign of the times that our government has been resorting to lies more and more to keep their game in play.
Cheers
B

If the government wants to help our native reptiles then why do they allow rattlesnake roundups to continue. Every time I drive through Sweetwater and see those sighns about the "largest rattlesnake roundup in the world" I feel like going postal.

....my advice is dont let non-issues drain your energies, & divert your attention...the rednecks have a right to use snattlerakes just like the rest of us. For those spps in those rich, generally privately owned habitats, the roundups are a non-issue.
I choose to focus on the several degrading activities, particularly grazing livestock....that the govt allows on OUR public-lands, where there are numerous sensitive spps.

Beers / RxR

I guess your right about that there are alot of rattlers in that area, but still I dont understand how they want to make it illegal for me to drive around and catch snakes, but if i want to gather them all year long just to kill them at a carnival its ok. just seems like a double standard to me