[WILDLIFE]

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service may ban importing injurious snakes

Gator and Python
Photo by Lori Oberhofer

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced recently the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will propose to list the Burmese python and eight other large constrictor snakes that threaten the Everglades and other sensitive ecosystems as “injurious wildlife” under the Lacey Act.

Salazar made the announcement at the Port of New York, which serves as the largest point of entry in the nation for imports of wildlife and wildlife products. Last year, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Inspectors at John F. Kennedy International Airport handled more than 27,000 wildlife shipments valued at more than $1 billion, or 16 percent of all wildlife imports in the United States.

The proposal, which will be open to public comment before Salazar makes a final decision, would prohibit importation and interstate transportation of the animals.

“The Burmese python and these other alien snakes are destroying some of our nation’s most treasured — and most fragile — ecosystems,” Salazar said. “The Interior Department and states such as Florida are taking swift and commonsense action to control and eliminate the populations of these snakes, but it is an uphill battle in ecosystems where they have no natural predators. If we are going to succeed, we must shut down the importation of the snakes and end the interstate commerce and transportation of them.”

The U.S. Geological Survey issued a risk assessment last October that highlighted the threat. Of the nine large constrictors assessed, five were shown to pose a high risk to the health of the ecosystem, including the Burmese python, northern African python, southern African python, yellow anaconda and boa constrictor. The remaining four large constrictors — the reticulated python, green anaconda, Beni or Bolivian anaconda and DeSchauensee’s anaconda — were shown to pose a medium risk. All would be banned under the plan.

Burmese pythons and other large constrictor snakes are highly adaptable to new environments and are opportunistic in expanding their geographic range. More than 1,200 of the snakes have been removed from Everglades National Park since 2000, with others having been removed from the Florida Keys, along Florida’s west coast and farther north along the Florida peninsula. Burmese pythons threaten many imperiled species and other wildlife. Two Burmese pythons were found near Crocodile Lake National Wildlife Refuge, and the remains of three endangered Key Largo wood rats were found in their stomachs.

Salazar strongly encouraged pet owners not to release snakes or any other pets into the wild.

“People may think that this is a convenient and humane way to be rid of unwanted animals, but as in the case of pythons and other constrictors, it can lead to devastating consequences for local wildlife populations and the ecosystems they depend on,” Salazar said.

“I’ve asked the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to make recommendations regarding the potential tools we need to address the invasive species challenge — both to combat existing invasive species problems and act more effectively to prevent the introduction of new invasive threats into our country,” said Salazar.

 

Youth Hunter Antelope
Photo by Steve Spawn

[HUNTING HERITAGE]

Nebraska offers youth big game permits for $5

The state of Nebraska wants you to take a kid hunting this year. And to motivate you, the Nebraska’s Game and Parks Commission is offering deer, turkey and archery antelope permits for resident and non-resident children under age 16 for just $5.

The commission is committed to helping pass along the heritage of hunting to the next generation and hopes the reduced-price permits will help folks include children youths in their 2010 hunting trips. Watch their Web site (www.ngpc.state.ne.us) for more information on the $5 permits and other youth hunting and fishing opportunities.

 

[Gun Rights]

New Hampshire bill would end trapping

From the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance

A new bill introduced in the New Hampshire House of Representatives is a backdoor attempt to ban the trapping and hunting of furbearing animals.

House Bill 1514, introduced by Rep. Steve Vaillancourt (R- Hillsborough), prohibits the sale, purchase, possession and transportation of all raw skins and unskinned carcasses of furbearing animals. The bill makes an allowance for the transportation or possession of raw pelts or unskinned carcasses, but only when the pelt will not be used as fur. If passed, the bill would effectively eliminate trapping in New Hampshire. Likewise, the bill would equally limit sportsmen who hunt furbearing animals such as coyote, fox and raccoon.

“This bill bans the use of fur harvested from any animal,” said Jeremy Rine, U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance associate director of state services. “By doing that, it in essence ends all trapping and hunting of furbearers — unless you’re OK with wanton waste of animals; something that sportsmen are not OK with in any instance. This is simply a very bad bill.”

New Hampshire hunters and trappers should contact their state representatives and tell them that HB1514 promotes wanton waste of wildlife and could jeopardize the state’s rich tradition of trapping, a valuable wildlife management tool used.