I Attended the HR2811 Hearing on July 29th

[qiksilver]

Here is a link to a bunch of quotes from those people that Dutchherp so idolizes so much .
http://www.naiaonline.org/body/artic...ightsquote.htm

yet you're the one who knows exactly where to find said quotes... funny.


This thread turned into quite the debacle. There's no right answer, we're not a tight knit group, and we're rude to the people who we need to win over. The whole divide and conquer tactic works perfectly.

Honestly, like I said earlier, I think the worry over the Everglades by law makers is contrived, they have no interest in the ecological stability. If they did, they would have worried more about appropriate uses of land, buying back the land, habitat conservation, water conservation etc. and not banning snakes.

The only thing this thread proves is that we like to pit ourselves against each other instead of working together, and that if I need an informed opinion you can bet your ass I'm asking Skiploder.

[wolfy-hound]

I called the people in California, and was told "You don't live here so shove off" in slightly more polite terms. I did politely tell them that not having a reptile expo in California meant all the people from all over the US wouldn't be coming into CA to spend their money(and therefor taxes) there. It should BE a concern for cash strapped states.

I've done every call, every email, every idea I could. No, I didn't know these things were in the works, I don't normally go looking for someone who might be about to kick my butt, I normally assumed that no one was. Boy howdy was I wrong. Now I try to stay up to date, but it's not easy as the legislations stay under wraps until they have it ready to toss at representatives to have them vote on it.

I actually loved the PIJAC plan they had, except for the amounts of money they wanted seemed a bit high. Especially when it's just a hobby breeder with a handful of snakes. But I thought it was a cool idea, and sent a email saying so, addressing the idea that the fees might be lower for hobbyiests. I even posted on this website here, saying about the same thing, and defending it as a voluntary program.

In short, I've been busting my butt working to help the reptile population, and so have tons of people on this site, and on other sites. If there's more to be done, POST IT!! I won't know, if someone don't say so!

If writing ANOTHER letter to the CA dude's office would help, I'll do that too. I stay polite and I try to address issues in a way that the politician will understand also. Not just "I love snakes!" but how it will economically HELP the state and country overall.

[Skiploder]

I called the people in California, and was told "You don't live here so shove off" in slightly more polite terms. I did politely tell them that not having a reptile expo in California meant all the people from all over the US wouldn't be coming into CA to spend their money(and therefor taxes) there. It should BE a concern for cash strapped states.

I've done every call, every email, every idea I could. No, I didn't know these things were in the works, I don't normally go looking for someone who might be about to kick my butt, I normally assumed that no one was. Boy howdy was I wrong. Now I try to stay up to date, but it's not easy as the legislations stay under wraps until they have it ready to toss at representatives to have them vote on it.

I actually loved the PIJAC plan they had, except for the amounts of money they wanted seemed a bit high. Especially when it's just a hobby breeder with a handful of snakes. But I thought it was a cool idea, and sent a email saying so, addressing the idea that the fees might be lower for hobbyiests. I even posted on this website here, saying about the same thing, and defending it as a voluntary program.

In short, I've been busting my butt working to help the reptile population, and so have tons of people on this site, and on other sites. If there's more to be done, POST IT!! I won't know, if someone don't say so!

If writing ANOTHER letter to the CA dude's office would help, I'll do that too. I stay polite and I try to address issues in a way that the politician will understand also. Not just "I love snakes!" but how it will economically HELP the state and country overall.

At this point I don't know what to do either.

If the all mighty cat show and bird show lobby was able to get exempted, maybe we need to pop over to their forums to see how to get it done.

As an aside I appreciate your getting involved in California - I wish more Californians did the same.

When it comes to hype, USARK does a good job of it. I don't know if I'd call the rear-guard action in Florida a victory - more like telling your old man that "yeah that bully beat the crud out of me but you ought to see the damage my face did to his fist."

The claim is now that we have a voice. Well, let's start hearing it in California with AB 1122. That bill is written vaguely enough that it could harm us. The voices of the other lobbies were heard loud and clear as is evidenced by what I quoted in my other post.

Then again, USARK has a limited budget and manpower. A lobby is only as organized as it's members and I don't think we are that organized. A lot of people who supported PIJAC took offense at the fracas that some of the USARK zealots started awhile back and.....well........you know the rest of the story.

Anyway, Theresa, let me thank you again for getting involved here in our fight on the left coast.