06/02/2022
Email your state senators
Thank you USARK for catching this, hidden inside the America COMPETES Act.
Subject line:
NO to Lacey Act Amendments in America COMPETES Act
Sample letter (also lots of Talking Points below)
I implore you to remove the Lacey Act amendments found in the America COMPETES Act (Section 71102 on pages 1661-1665) as your constituent, dedicated advocate for ecological conservation, and pet owner. The lack of forethought involved makes these amendments rife with unintended consequences and government overreach.
Not only would these amendments be devastating to thousands of businesses of all sizes (which is absolutely contrary to the purpose of the COMPETES Act), but millions of pet owners would be harmed. As seen previously when listing species as injurious under the Lacey Act, a heavy-handed brush is used to paint species as injurious that may only be an issue for one or two states, and hardly any large percentage of the U.S. While a concern for only one state, all other states feel the unjust implications and restrictions. For example, even after Florida had addressed injurious threats from certain snakes, the federal government still listed them as injurious and harmed thousands of owners and businesses across the U.S. where the snakes could not possibly have an impact. And now, while Florida has completely banned these species, herpetoculturists in all other states would suffer from the overreaching government action should these amendments pass into law. Even though peer-reviewed science found that these species risks to the continental U.S. were isolated to southern Florida and possibly a small spot in Texas (both states that had already regulated these species), the federal government felt compelled to take tyrannical action.
https://usark.org/
Alert: North Carolina Rule Changes USARK Newsletter / December 16, 2021 The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC) has proposed new rules regarding keeping and importing (into North Carolina) reptiles and other animals. The biggest issues for herpetoculture in this proposal are a ban o...