Bushviper wrote:Lourance I would love to tell you that what you said is true, reasonable and implementable however the reality is that most of the officials see as not only as the opposition they see us as Satan himself.
I have wasted my time at more meetings than what I care to remember, in my private capacity, where they are attending in their official capacity and my taxes are paying them to be there. We agree to something and then a few months later when the minutes are distributed or the act is passed it does not even resemble what we agreed upon. I dont know who to blame. Surely it cannot be the officials who sat with me, drank tea with me, told me they understood my reasoning, agreed on the solution which would satisfy both parties and then go screw it up when they publish the result.
I have been to meetings where they refused that we record the meeting. Now why would you do that if you have nothing to hide?
This has been at various provinces and also at National level. I dont have an answer for it. I just want to know who the gremlin is that changes what we agree upon. The parts that we have achieved have been monumental breakthroughs.
I have had an MEC look me in the eye while touching my arm and say "I will not implement this change in the act" and then they go ahead and do it anyway. This was after we reminisced how she was caught when smuggled a letter while in jail. I am not going to mention names now either.
I feel your pain, man. In the US, we have the Lacey act, which is meant to stop the illegal trade of animals. In some respects, it's nice to have such a law on the books. But then you realize it does almost nothing to deter illegal collectors and it makes you want to scream. They're spending all this time and money trying to outlaw large constrictors, and meanwhile they catch a guy collecting and selling rare Arizona rattlesnakes and gila monsters and he gets off with probation and a minimal fine.
ALL wild caught animals from Arizona are illegal to buy, sell, or trade. The diversity of desirable species make it one of the hardest-hit herp locales in the world. It disgusts me to see some of our rarest rattlesnakes plucked from the wild and sold to collectors. Case in point, the white specks from the ad in question.
Those specks are found in only two tiny mountain ranges (in the middle of a military
bombing range) in SW AZ, with a total habitat area of maybe only 20 square Kilometers. Last I heard, they were being studied to determine whether or not they deserve subspecies status, due to their abnormally small size. If I knew the names of the field collectors, I'd report them and do everything in my power to make sure they never see another American visa, let alone a range permit or a hunting license. Unfortunately, even though that's about the only form of action available to me, it's also the one least likely to do any good.
" a squat, scaly worm with, 'don't touch,' on one end and, 'that's why,' on the other."
-Thomas Palmer