I think the FWS has some ground here, and I don't necessarily think they are gearing this just to giant snakes. Just think of what the brown tree snake did to Guam...and the pythons in the everglades are becoming more and more of a problem. There are breeding populations that are rapidly growing and are increasingly making their impact known to native wildlife (as if there weren't enough problems in the first place).
I do agree that this sounds rather suspicious...their proposal only makes me think they are more inept at their job than previously thought. Anyone new to the hobby can find out this information in a week, yet the FWS has to undergo a massive effort to gather data as if it were hard to find. Basically they lack anyone educated enough or intelligent enough to handle this without bureaucracy and BS. After all they have to prove their jobs are worthy. God forbid they tackle real problems like our sieve quality port security. If they knock off some easy problems and make life hard for normal law abiding US citizens then they can prove they are doing their jobs.
I work for a major US institution...and because of this they play by the laws 100%. Every time some small problem occurs on the paperwork, or someone sends an unsolicited protected species in, or a mistake is made...it's reported. And all hell breaks loose from the FWS because they can crack down on us and make it look like they are there for a reason, to prevent the evil museum's from doing honest scientific research. They are busy slapping fines and watching over our shoulders while Mr. Smith down the street imports 1000 Amazon parrots illegally every week.
