Seems it never ends. Got a bulletin in the mail from PIJAC (www.pijac.org) over the weekend. Just got around to reading it. Seems they are alerting members to a couple of things. One is a seemingly inevitable rate increase on importation of animals. While it will be a hardship on smaller importers it is likely inevitable, in my opinion anyhow. Probably worth commenting on (info is on PIJACS site) just to let them know someone is watching.
Second item is a proposal to turn the F/W Service loose on banning any species they decide through scientific study is potentially invasive or damaging. You know, the Burms are going to take over New Jersey crowd. Well, where to begin on this one- From my reading of it I doubt even F/W wants this one. Talk about a nearly impossible task and they know that they won’t get the $ to do it. F/W would pretty much have to drop everything else (who is gonna count the geese?) and just chase their tails on this project. Oh yeah, everything non-native would pretty much be suspended coming in UNTIL they get around to studying it. That could take a lifetime-maybe longer. House committee seems to think 3 years!
If you aren’t already a member of PIJAC I would strongly suggest you join. I am not typically a contributor to too many organizations of this nature, I feel most of them are highly wasteful and watch out for themselves more than anyone, BUT PIJAC really does seem to keep their eye on the ball but most importantly they often go for the good compromise in legislation which is where reality often lies. You can read up on this one here: http://www.pijac.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=175. I would keep an eye on it and follow any recommendations PIJAC makes on response, contacting legislature, etc. If nothing else it is well worth a visit to the site from time to time to keep up on the madness our elected officials seem to find important. Job security maybe??