Endangered species act

[John Shuey]

>
> On Fri, 8 Feb 2002, Mike Soukup wrote:
> > With due respect to Jere, and, as a person who has spent much time "on
> > the shady side of the law", I would recommend almost nothing he says.
> > If you accidentally kill an endangered specie in the USA, keep your
> > mouth shut, don't tell anybody, and mis-label your specimen!!!  Our
> > USF&W are NOT nice, understanding people.  They are thugs with guns and
> > power and they like to use it.
>
> I'm sorry to hear that, and even more saddened by the fact that your
> advise is probably more reliable than mine!
>
> BTW in Finland endangered != protected by law. Here 'endangered'
> is just a
> label for species that need special attention for some reason and while
> all protected species are endangered, most endangered species are not
> protected. I think most lepidopterologists (in all senses of the word)
> here agree with me if a claim that the protected special have been
> selected in a more-or-less random way.
>
>

You know - this is BULL SH&&%T.

I work with F&WS folks on a daily basis - they are, by and large, a highly
dedicated group of people who care about conservation and the environment -
doing the best they can to leave a legacy within the confines of an
overbearing bureaucracy.

As to the innocents who have been visited by F&WS law enforcement - I
personally know three such people.  All of them had extensive dealings with
folks who have pleaded guilty to violations of the Endangered Species Act or
the Lacy Act.  All three had many hundreds of specimens that were "illegal",
and that were at least temporarily confiscated while legal cases were made
against others (I saw one such stash of "evidence" temporarily stored at a
museum).  At least one of these friends had their specimens returned to
them - grand fathered into legality (and I don't know about the others but I
assume that they have their specimens back as well).

Granted, I may seem unpatriotic to some folks of this list for defending our
government (as you know, others have fought and died so that we can enjoy
the right to bitch about our government).  But to negatively categorize
every person who works for F&WS as "thugs with guns and power" demonstrates
a lethal combination of both ignorance and stupidity that is difficult
tolerate.

Even for a liberal like me.

John

John A. Shuey
Director of Conservation Science
Indiana Office of The Nature Conservancy
1505 N Delaware Street, Indianapolis, IN 46202
317.951.8818


 
 ------------------------------------------------------------ 

   For subscription and related information about LEPS-L visit:

   http://www.peabody.yale.edu/other/lepsl