USDA again

[Paul Cherubini]

Stan Gorodenski wrote:

> Maybe it has to do with the greater likelihood of a small population,
> which may have undergone some genomic differentiation, being 
> much more likely to be genetically altered from releases. ??? I can see the
> reasoning behind this.  Has USDA given a reason, or anyone asked?

No, Dr. Wehling at the USDA never gave us a direct answer about
why it could be harmful to ship monarchs to Rhode Island from
even a neighboring state for release. He just gave us the indirect, dictatorial 
answer: "This decision was based on discussion with Rhode Island after 
determining monarchs were sufficiently uncommon."

Likewise last year Dr. Wehling banned the shipping of monarchs to Florida.
(except from an Atlantic coast state). Instead of explaining why and how
it could be harmful to ship them from say, Ohio or Iowa, he just said: "It 
is my understanding that southbound that end up in Florida originate
from along the east coast."

I immediately pointed out to Dr. Wehling 45 years worth of monarch tagging
data that indicates the southbound monarchs that end up in Florida may
originate from a broad area stretching from the Midwest USA to 
the Atlantic coast."

http://monarchwatch.org/tagmig/96recov.htm
http://monarchwatch.org/grafx/tagmig/u88map.gif
http://monarchwatch.org/grafx/tagmig/u81map.gif
http://monarchwatch.org/tagmig/urq2.htm
http://monarchwatch.org/grafx/tagmig/u94map.gif
http://monarchwatch.org/grafx/tagmig/u71map.gif

Dr.Wehling provided no follow up comment or explanation why
he would not reconsider his policy. The policy still stands
and has even been expanded to prohibit shipping monarchs out
of Florida  (except to an Atlantic coast state).  

Paul Cherubini

 
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