Insect Regulations

[Kenelm Philip]

This is getting a bit far from insect regulations--but Neil Jones said
one thing I can't let go:

> NO doubt monsanto et al will be breeding a bigger brighter bolder strain
> of corn that grows on the tundra someday. Then you can look forward
> to the same declines the rest of us have suffered.

I hope Neil was merely joking, but if he were serious, the following is
worth noting:

1) Much of the Alaskan tundra is currently contained within National Parks,
National Wildlife Refuges, State Parks, and such. Those areas are not
destined for agriculture whatever odd crops may be developed. :-)

2) North America, unlike some other parts of the world, has been _reducing_
its area of cropland. 60 years ago we harvested about 80 million more acres
than we do now. Part of this decline can be attributed to genetic
improvement in seeds. Further such improvement could reduce our effect
on wild lands significantly. A case can be made for biotechnology as
potentially helping the environment--although I doubt that this is how
Europeans tend to perceive it!

	Neil also commented:

> However, people still kill each other. Indeed I think in some parts the
> murder rate is very very high. The trouble is people will arm bears!

I assume he was talking about the U.S. It is PC these days to assign the
blame for US murder rates to 'arming bears'. Jared Diamond (and others)
have pointed out that murder rates are significantly higher in so-called
'primitive'  hunter-gatherer societies, which are often assumed to be
very peaceful. Then there's Switzerland--remarkably peaceful despite
being heavily armed...

	And now back to insect regulations. It appears that the infamous
'Eight or more' rule that was talked about a few years ago has indeed been
added to the F&WS armentarium. Importing 8 or more 'similar' organisms
(and all beetles are considered 'similar' for the purposes of this rule!)
is considered to present evidence for commercial use. I have not seen the
final version of this rule (hope to shortly), but the original version
allowed for the importer to submit a letter showing that the intended use
was non-commercial--a very important loophole for scientists! There was
a note in the News of the Lep. Soc. this spring that a shipment of but-
terflies from a Candian dealer had been seized because there were more
than 8 specimens. Here is a very present problem that needs clarification.

							Ken Philip
fnkwp at uaf.edu