Pythons Make Strange Bedfellows; House Judiciary Markup on Python Ban Could Compound Economic Woes Dealt to Reptile Industry by Obama Administration

WASHINGTON, Feb. 28, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- From United States Association of Reptile Keepers -- "Politics make strange bedfellows," so the saying goes. Or maybe "Pythons Make Strange Bedfellows" would be more accurate? Today Congressman Tom Rooney hopes to pass his bill HR 511 (aka Python Ban) out of the House Judiciary Committee in an attempt to add 9 constricting snakes to the Injurious Wildlife list of the Lacey Act and potentially kill thousands of jobs and bankrupting countless family businesses in the process.

This comes on the heels of a four year crusade led by environmentalists and the Obama Administration to enact a rule at US Fish & Wildlife that would have done ostensibly the same thing. Ironically, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, prudently backed off listing 5 of the 9 because the scientific evidence was circumspect, and he wanted to avoid undue economic impact with lower risk animals. Rooney, in a recent press release claimed that the "administration did not go far enough"; putting Rooney squarely in the camp of the environmental NGO's that pushed the administration into enforcing their agenda.

The entire controversy revolves around a small remnant population of Burmese pythons introduced into the everglades about 20 years ago when Hurricane Andrew devastated south Florida as a category 5 storm. A small population was established, but was limited to 3 counties in the very southern tip of the state. Florida Fish & Wildlife officials have suggested that as much as 80-90% of the population died in the cold winters of 2009 and 2010. Several cold weather studies done by University of Florida and US Dept of Agriculture support that conclusion.

Licensed python hunters rarely see pythons anymore. But that has not stopped radical environmentalists and a small group of invasion biologists from attributing nearly every ecological problem of the Everglades to the scary specter of the Burmese python.

The python myth perpetuated by some politicians, government scientists and environmentalists has been criticized by more scholarly academics from around the world; including University of Florida, the National Geographic Society and the Thailand Natural History Museum. It was such an egregious example of government gone wild that Congressman Issa pointed toward problems with the rule in his Government Oversight Committee. Lack of due process, problems with information quality, $104 million in lost revenues, all based on a sensationalized myth seemed to be symptomatic of government agencies trying to justify their own existence and creating policy based on staff preference instead of facts and science. The actions of Government hurting commerce and criminalizing its citizens are supposed to be issues that Republicans typically fight against. However, the action proposed by Congressman Rooney will not only kill jobs, but put approximately 1 million Americans in jeopardy of becoming Lacey Act felons, and potentially displace thousands of snakes. How did the House Judiciary Committee get saddled with this crazy bill when there are so many important issues to deal with?

SOURCE United States Association of Reptile Keepers (USARK)

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