[The_Boaphile]

The communication between the people who will be effected by this legislation and the people who oppose HR669, needs to be directed right at the sub committee members. An email sent to your congressman is good, but most congress members are not on the committee and do not know anything about it yet. Please do not comfort yourself with the notion that you sent an email and you did all you should. If that is all you did, you did do something, but a tiny fraction of what you should have done and you are a small portion of the voice that those committee members are hearing from those who sent their letters directly to the sub committee members through the USARK lobbyist, Tom Wolfe. Your email should have been followed up with letters to every single member of the sub committee! This is exactly why USARK has worked in the most effective manor to get the masses to communicate directly with the members of the sub-committee. Emails do count. However, they are not nearly as effective and weighty as a paper letter sent to the hill, but every little bit helps.

It’s not too late for you to make a meaningful contribution to the fight! Get on the phone and politely tell the sub committee members that you oppose HR669 in any form! Your Reptile business/hobby may depend on your call. Call now!

If this bill does not die April 23, we are not done! USARK is still leading the charge for the masses to send letters, and make phone calls until this is completely removed from consideration. Be prepared to continue the fight and do the right thing. If needed the next letter campaign will be even bigger! Even more meaningful and more of you can get with the program and give your support to USARK and the battle we cannot fight as effectively without your support and direct participation in sending in paper letters with your signature. The effectiveness and value of these letters cannot be overstated. Don’t take the lazy way out! Pick up that musket and get into the action!

Congratulations to all those that have joined the fight and contributed to the explosion that the 40,000 plus letters we are hand delivering last week and this week directly to the members of the sub committee. This is a direct result of the coming together of USARK and the thousands of people who have signed the letters that will be influential in the ultimate defeat of this fraudulent bill, that the extremists have tried to sneak through the congress.

Thank you!

[Scott Smith]

Ok, Just got off the phone with Brian "BHB".


We were HEARD!!!!!!

No Vote.

They are going to retool it. It is not over BUT this is GOOD.

Thank you all for all of your hard work.

Scott Smith

Scott Smith's All Animal Expo

[The_Boaphile]

Congratulations on a Job Well Done with HR669... but that was just the first Battle. We are fighting a war!

The effort put forth by the Reptile Nation in opposing HR669 was nothing less than monumental. A real letter campaign like that hasn't been seen in a long time. It made a HUGE impression. USARK is so very proud that the community has pulled together like never before to fight this bill. We gained an important preliminary victory... but this is far from over. It was just round one.

USARK has learned that the Defenders of Wildlife, Humane Society of the United States and The Nature Conservancy are going to meet with Delegate Bordallo's Subcommittee Staff in early May. The word is that they will be discussing a rewrite of HR669. They are expected to actually change the bill very little. The idea is to cut deals with the biggest opponents of the bill. We believe any proposal that involves a "white list" or a complicated permit system is a Deal Breaker for the Reptile Nation. That scenario we believe would eliminate the majority of animals and most hobbyist breeders. USARK will never endorse a deal that sacrifices any of our brothers and sisters.

This NEW bill is likely to be reintroduced under a new number in order to lose the stigma of HR669 as a tainted bill. It will cause confusion, but USARK will keep the Reptile Nation apprised of the facts as they develop.

Stay tuned to the latest developments on the USARK website. Prepare yourself for battle.

USARK

[Scott Smith]

Important read!!!!! Please
April 30, 2009

Hello Fellow Herpers,

In recent days there have been many comments on topics related to HR669, so I

decided to make a few of my own. If you care to, please forward this letter on to others as

food for thought. My name is Bill Brant, and my wife and I own The Gourmet Rodent. I

have been on the board of directors for the Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council (PIJAC)

since March, 2003. I have also represented the Reptile Industry in Florida on the Animal

Industry Technical Council (AITC), an advisory council to the Commissioner of

Agriculture for the state of Florida.

In recent months our industry has been involved in several high profile pieces of

federal legislation, HR669 and S373. HR669 has gotten more attention in recent months

because it just came before the House Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans and

Wildlife, but make no mistake, S373 as well as other issues threaten our emerging

industry.

I have been encouraged by the outpouring of responses that preceded the hearing on

HR669, however I have been saddened and somewhat confused by the responses I have

seen on several of the forums by the leadership in the industry.

My confusion is because many posts indicate that HR669 is dead in the water. To my

knowledge, that is not the case. At the end of the hearing, Rep. Bordallo stated that there

would be a ten day comment period. I have seen nothing official that states anything

other than the bill is still in progress,

(Committee on Natural Resources

ode=view&extid=246).

Even if it is going to undergo a significant revision, or a re-write, I believe our

industry should offer to help come to a reasonable compromise, rather than dig our heels

in and take the position of no compromise. If we do that, we may find out that we are in

the minority, and get out voted. I also think it is unwise to prematurely claim victory at

this point in time. We may have gotten their attention, and earned their respect for having

garnered so much grassroots support, however to “crow” about victory prematurely could

cause them to take a more unyielding position when it comes down to the compromises

they are willing to concede to.

I am saddened by the misinformation that is abundant in recent posts on forums.

Especially when it comes to the intent and impact of the National Reptile Improvement

Plan (NRIP). To understand its intent, you need to understand its inception. It came about

as a result of the “Tick Symposium” held in July 2000 in Tallahassee, FL. The Tick

meeting came about because regulators in the Florida Department of Agriculture and the

US Department of Agriculture were responding to the “Heartwater Scare” of 1999. Ticks

carrying the bacterium that causes Heartwater Disease, a very fatal disease for ruminant

animals such as cattle, sheep and deer, were found on imported Leopard Tortoises. At the

time, FDOACS and USDA had no idea who the reptile industry was, so they sponsored

the symposium to see who would show up.

PIJAC and many concerned herpers showed up to try to limit the action of USDA and

FDOACS to just the reptiles that could be carrying the vector ticks. It became apparent at

the symposium that our industry would need Best Management Practices and Standard

Operating Procedures in order to have credibility in the eyes of our regulators. That is the

reason why NRIP was drafted, not to create an elite group of larger reptile dealers and

breeders. It took three years, and was open to anyone who showed an interest in

participating in the process. We welcomed all the help we could get.

In June 2008, we convened a group of interested herpers at the PIJAC office in

Washington, DC to review the NRIP document for potential amendments. One of the

topics we addressed was making the program more user friendly for smaller reptile

breeders of all types, sizes and descriptions. Most importantly, I want to emphasize that it

is PIJAC’s desire to have NRIP be a voluntary program. I think it is interesting to see the

similarity between the “code of ethics” of NCARK (the precursor of USARK) , and the

NRIP program. Please take time to check them out.( NCARK - Code of Ethics)

(NRIP - National Reptile Improvement Program | Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council).

A final reason why I am saddened is the seeming rivalry between USARK and PIJAC.

I suspect that this is the result of one being a forty year old organization, and the other

being a one year old organization. I am a member of both organizations, and urge you to

do the same. They both have something to add to our common cause. USARK is young

and reptile specific. PIJAC is seasoned and has been the “go to” resource for regulators

and legislators for decades. As far as I can tell, the desired outcome of both organizations

is to have a workable set of regulations that enable people to pursue their passion for

reptiles while providing protection for the environment, public health and safeguards for

people in our communities that don’t share our enthusiasm for reptiles. ( PIJAC’s

position on HR669 is included here: HR 669 Forum | Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council )

I think our interests would be better served if we focused on solving the legislative

challenges we all face in a unified manner. Please consider what I have said. I look

forward to seeing many of you at the Daytona Expo, or the NARBC shows that I attend.

Sincerely,

Bill Brant

The Gourmet Rodent

[geckoboy30]

Yea geckos are saved!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!