USARK FL Lawsuit Updates
Released by USARK FL: On August 12, 2020, Tallahassee Circuit Judge John Cooper did not rule on USARK Florida’s request for an injunction. However, he did expedite our lawsuit. Rather than going through witness testimony and hearing the arguments on the injunction, he chose to fast forward the lawsuit schedule. We find this to be a very favorable outcome. The next hearing, which will decide summary judgment and possibly even final judgment, will be Thursday, August 27.
At this time, our legal counsel is seeking clarification from FWC as to what business can currently be conducted. One specific is whether current Conditional Species Permit (CSP) holders can sell animals out of state during the rulemaking process rather than waiting until the rule is finalized. Another specific is what happens to CSP licenses that lapse during this time.
The good news from today is that Judge Cooper will decide the case sooner rather than later. We will have an answer at the end of the month, instead of possibly waiting many months for a decision.
Our attorneys at Holland & Knight have shined from the beginning. All filings have been timely and exquisitely written.
USARK FL is throwing all we can at this lawsuit to protect your freedoms. If you have not, please read and share our newsletter at www.usarkfl.org/lawsuit-newsletter-1. We appreciate everyone who supports this cause. This effort is being done on behalf of all responsible Florida herpetoculturists and we need to support our whole community no matter what our species of interest may be. Thank you.
Original Florida Lawsuit Newsletter dated July 15, 2020:
USARK FL has filed a lawsuit against the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). What does this mean? Read the rest at www.usarkfl.org/lawsuit-newsletter-1.
ALERT: ALABAMA
UPDATE 8/5/20: ADCNR announced its meeting of the Alabama Conservation Advisory Board for August 22. The agenda is vague but this proposal may be discussed. We await a response from ADCNR. Links to the announcement and vague agenda are below. This is the typical, unspecific agenda posted for these meetings and ADCNR has not shared if this reptile ban topic will be discussed.
Those desiring to speak during the public comments section must register. Registration is 8:00-8:30 AM on the day of the meeting. The meeting starts at 9:00 AM. If you have any materials for the board to review, email those to betsy.jones@dcnr.alabama.gov no later than August 18, 2020.
Read the complete alert at www.usark.org/alert-alabama-2020/.
USARK FL Public Board Meeting
USARK FL will be holding a Board meeting at the Daytona NRBE next weekend. This meeting will incorporate a town hall portion so attendees may address the Board. Meet the Board members. Ask them questions. Learn about USARK FL.
USARK FL encourages all interested parties to attend. USARK FL is here to protect your freedoms and all responsible herpetoculturists should be involved. USARK FL wants you to fight with them!
USARK FL Board Meeting: Thursday, August 20 at 7:00 – 8:30 PM – USARK FL Board meeting (open to the public)
Learn more about USARK FL at www.usarkfl.org and www.facebook.com/usarkfl.
National Reptile Breeders’ Expo (AKA Daytona)
This is going to be the first major reptile show since COVID-19 entered and changed our lives. Promoter Wayne Hill will be following a strict protocol (see link below) and all mandated health and safety guidelines. You can read the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) about the show at www.facebook.com/UnitedStatesAssociationOfReptileKeepers/photos/a.2656047597810510/3146416772106921/.
It may be the first big show since February but NRBE has been doing it big for 31 years now! It is always a great show and always offers plenty to see and do. USARK appreciates the support from promoter Wayne Hill and the NRBE crew.
USARK and USARK FL will both be there to answer any questions and inform you about what is happening. We will also be holding the never-to-be-missed Saturday night auction! USARK and USARK FL both look forward to seeing you there to help keep our battles possible. Without your support, we cannot continue. The auction will run by the same health and safety rules as the show.
We already have some great donations. Pics of two of those are included at the bottom of this newsletter. One is an 8′ tall T-Rex donated by Wayne Hill. This guy is fresh from a trip to the salon and will look great in anyone’s front yard, man cave, she shed, on the roof, in the bathroom, knocking on your in-laws front door… Hey. It’s your T-Rex. You put it where you want it. Well, on your property anyway. The other donation is some incredible artwork donated by the Reptile Connection Facebook group. This year it is a framed print from artist Kyle Duca of a Mexican Black Kingsnake. Nice!
All show details can be found at www.reptilebreedersexpo.com and www.facebook.com/NationalReptileBreedersExpo.
Show Schedule:
Thursday 7:00 – 8:30 PM – USARK FL Board meeting (open to the public)
Friday 7:00 PM until… Turtle Talks by The Turtle and Tortoise Club of Florida and Rattlesnake Symposium by The Rattlesnake Conservancy
Saturday 10:00 – 5:00 – NRBE Reptile Show
Saturday night @ 8:00 PM until it ends – USARK/USARK FL Benefit Auction
Sunday 10:00 – 5:00 – NRBE Reptile Show
ALERT: Wildlife-Borne Disease Prevention Act (Federal)
UPDATE (with original alert below): The HEROES Act squeaked thought the House with a vote of 208 – 199. While it is expected that the Act will not be supported by the Senate, we all must be aware of what is happening in the current political climate.
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Buried on pages 1,628-1,635 of the latest 1,815-page House democratic draft of a COVID-19 relief bill known as the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act (HEROES Act) is the text of the Wildlife-Borne Disease Prevention Act (the Act). In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and utilizing this crisis as a springboard, the Act has surfaced as activists try to conflate the issue of legal and legitimate trade with substandard wet markets and other unregulated potential vectors for zoonotic disease transmission.
Most troubling of all, the Act contains language that would reverse the USARK federal lawsuit victory by reinstating the ban on interstate transportation of species listed as injurious under the Lacey Act. In that landmark decision, four federal judges agreed that USARK was correct and that the Lacey Act did not ban interstate transportation of injurious species based on the original language of the Lacey Act and the intent of Congress. As a result of this fight for our members and the herpetocultural community, this meant animals domestically bred under human care could be moved and sold across state lines (within the continental United States). For herpetoculturists’ concerns, this included a few species of constrictors snakes and a long list of salamanders. However, that ruling was made on the current Lacey Act language.
Unfortunately, the proposed law now included in the COVID relief bill would overturn that decision. Specifically, the Act would add this language to the Lacey Act (Title 18 Section 42): “or any interstate transport between States within the continental United States.”
Not only will it ban interstate transportation, but it will expand what is considered an injurious species. In addition to the above amendment, it alters the definition of an injurious species: “to be injurious to or to transmit a pathogen that can cause disease in humans…”
The Act has some other consequences:
1. Creates a new route to petition for listing injurious species (with 90 days for the government to respond);
2. Requires a list of species “that could pose a biohazard risk to human health” be compiled by the government and determine if those species may be injurious. The list is to be finalized within one year after passage of the Act;
3. Creates a new electronic permitting system;
4. Creates new monitoring, research, management, and database frameworks (Wildlife Disease Surveillance through the United States Geological Survey’s National Wildlife Health Center).
While we do not believe that the HEROES Act as passed by the House will be supported by the Senate, we do have reasonable concerns that the language on the wildlife trade will find its way into a subsequent bill that could pass the Congress.
For this reason, we are alerting our membership and other animal interests to this threat while working to prevent the inclusion of the Act into a Senate bill. We are engaged, as always, and will keep the community apprised. If action is needed from membership, we will issue an alert and steps to take.
We hope everyone is safe and healthy during this time. Be responsible! Protect your health and the health of others. Always represent herpetoculture in a professional manner.
Read this online at www.usark.org/2020-disease-prevention-act.
You can find the full HEROES Act at this link. See page 1,628 for the Wildlife-Borne Disease Prevention Act: https://docs.house.gov/billsthisweek/20200511/BILLS-116hr6800ih.pdf.
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