The one and ONLY python BAN thread (HR511)

[millertime89]

Story from E&E…
NATURAL RESOURCES:
Panel to discuss bill banning snakes on planes

John McArdle, E&E reporter

Published: Tuesday, November 27, 2012

The House Natural Resources Committee will take up a bill Thursday that would ban the importation and interstate transportation of nine kinds of constrictor snakes that proponents say are a menace to south Florida and a growing threat to communities around the country.

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Tom Rooney (R-Fla.), would be a more stringent version of a rule put in place early this year by the Interior Department that effectively bans the Burmese python, yellow anaconda, and northern and southern African pythons by labeling them "injurious" wildlife under the Lacey Act.

Rooney agrees those snakes are a threat to the Florida Everglades, but he also wants the reticulated python, green anaconda, Beni or Bolivian python, DeSchauensee's anaconda and boa constrictor to be added to the Lacey Act list. The congressman has argued that along with causing severe damage to the environment and wiping out several small mammal populations in the Everglades, the massive predators are a threat to local communities.

Rooney's effort to secure tougher restrictions than the Obama administration imposed has put the lawmaker in the same camp as environmentalists and animal advocates like the Humane Society, which have pushed for years for a ban on all nine snakes.

Over the summer, after reports that a red-tailed boa constrictor was discovered outside the home of an unsuspecting resident in Malden, Mass., the Humane Society said the incident demonstrated the "urgent need" for Rooney's legislation.

"The trade in these non-native snakes threatens public safety, animal welfare and the environment," the group said in a statement.

So far Rooney, who will testify at the hearing, has secured 16 House co-sponsors -- including eight Democrats and 11 members of the Florida delegation -- for his bill, H.R. 511.

The legislation passed the House Judiciary Committee in February by voice vote (E&E Daily, Feb. 29).

But Rooney's biggest challenge may come from lawmakers in his own party who have painted the constrictor rule as an example of an overbearing regulatory system. House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) was critical of the Interior Department snake restriction when it was moving through the rulemaking process.

Meanwhile, representatives of the reptile trade industry have lobbied hard against the bill.

Andrew Wyatt, CEO of the U.S. Association of Reptile Keepers, said yesterday that his group was on Capitol Hill in October meeting with members of the House Resources Committee in anticipation that the panel would take up the legislation.

Wyatt's group has commissioned a study that estimates Rooney's bill would cost the industry about $104 million a year in lost revenue.

Wyatt, who also will testify, said yesterday that he intends to help the committee understand that there is "a growing body of evidence" that proves the threat of large snakes in Florida is overstated.

"It's going to become pretty clear during this hearing that this whole thing has been exaggerated and overplayed by the media and by politicians," he said. "The media just loves this story and loves getting guys from the Park Service ... with a large python, wrestling it like Steve Irwin or something, and turning this into a circus."

He added, "We've got serious issues to deal with, and we're talking about pythons in the Everglades like it's some kind of national issue. It's not."

Schedule: The hearing is Thursday, Nov. 29, at 10 a.m. in 1334 Longworth.

Witnesses: Rep. Tom Rooney (R-Fla.); Andrew Wyatt, president, U.S. Association of Reptile Keepers; Shawn Heflick, "Python Hunters," National Geographic Channel; Brady Barr, "Dangerous Encounters," National Geographic Channel; Marshall Meyers, senior adviser, Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council.