Colin, I agree 100% with everything you've said so far in this thread. I couldn't believe it at first when I saw USARK was so willing to sacrifice Burmese pythons. I actually found a different sample letter, lengthened it to an entire page from a couple paragraphs, and faxed it to EVERY member of the committee, not just the list provided by USARK.
I don't even keep burms at the moment, and personally am not very happy that a lot of the snake breeders of other species seem so willing to throw burm breeders under the bus just because they don't think it will directly affect them. Even if they get this thing reduced to only include importation, that will still include dwarf burms (currently listed as Python molurus bivittatus - same as mainland burms), which I was keen to add to my collection within the next few years. It will also open the door to more restrictive legislation concerning other species. If the government feels it must pass something in regards to the problem in the Everglades, they should make a federal license or something else, not a ban. I know I'd rather pay for that every year than not even be allowed to do out of state sales at all. Just seems like an all around bad situation for us. I am truly worried about the future of our hobby after today.
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