Oregon Administrative Rule 635-044 Herping Law Changes

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Jesse S.
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Joined: October 4th, 2016, 2:30 pm

Oregon Administrative Rule 635-044 Herping Law Changes

Post by Jesse S. »

For anyone who is interested, the final(?) hearing for the changes made to OAR 635-044 (Oregon only) regarding wildlife is on January 20th at 8:00 am at the ODFW headquarters in Salem. If this rule goes into effect, many people will be affected. It doesn't just add more common species to the list of protected species, as it stands, the rule covers far more than native wildlife by including federally listed threatened/endangered species. For example, anyone owning or wanting to own Eastern Indigos in the future will be required to pay a $25 annual permit fee, potentially one or more $150 inspection fees per year to insure that the facilities are up to par, breeding will be illegal, and the keepers will be required to separate the sexes or get the animals sterilized. In my opinion, this is overreaching on ODFW's part and should be protested both in writing and in person by public comment. These species are already protected in their native ranges and do not require further protection since the animals available in the pet trade have been captive bred for generations. For those who maintain native species, this is a big hit to the pocketbooks. Especially if you keep multiple species. For example, I keep Charina, Hypsiglena, Coluber, Thamnophis, and Diadophis. At $25/Species/year plus potential inspection fees, it gets expensive. Oregon skunk owners have gotten their way by speaking at the meetings and a few herp people, including myself and Richard Hoyer, have been able to get small changes made. Unfortunately, this just hasn't been enough to completely change the minds of the ODFW Commissioners. Please look over the materials under Exhibit B by clicking on the attached link and email Colin Gillin with your opinions to be included in the public comment section. His email is:
[email protected]

http://www.dfw.state.or.us/agency/commi ... /index.asp
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Hadar
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Location: Delray Beach, Florida
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Re: Oregon Administrative Rule 635-044 Herping Law Changes

Post by Hadar »

Thank you Jesse for the update. I hope we can do our part for the herp community by voicing our position before it is too late.

Cheers, Heather
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