Has anyone else heard of H.R. 996: Invasive Fish & Wildlife Act?

[Prophet of Frida]

I just saw mention of this on Facebook. Has anyone else heard anything about this?

H.R. 996: Invasive Fish and Wildlife Prevention Act

There's a list of animals that would be excluded from this, including cats, cattle, chickens, canaries, dogs, donkeys, geese, ducks, ferrets, gerbils, goats, guinea pigs, goldfish, hamsters, horses, llamas, mules, pigs, rabbits, sheep, and "any other species or subspecies that the Director determines to be common and clearly domesticated".

Chinchillas and hedgehogs are not listed as exceptions.

Thoughts?

 

[greychins]

I saw it on facebook earlier today. Assuming it's legit.. it seems a tad bit... ah... strict, for lack of a better word. It excludes a plethora of birds kept as pets, seemingly all reptiles and amphibians, and of course, our favorites, the chins and hedgies. Seems a lot of people would no longer be able to have their pets, because they are invasive and injurious. Because, yes, were my chinchillas to get outside, they would do a TON of damage and have a TON of little baby chinchillas before they were snatched up by a hawk or hit by a car. Yup, horribly injurious *rolls eyes*

Course, this is totally something I could see the government doing. They're already trying to take away freedoms left and right.

 

[jags]

I know for fact that at this point chinchillas are not considered domesticated by the Fish and Wildlife department. I know of people that have had chinchilla ranchs for 40-50 years that have been arguing the point for years but have gotten no where on the point. It is what makes shipping or crossing the border with chins so difficult sometimes. Fish and Wildlife also just went to a new 8am - 4pm workday for shipment inspections with no prior day approval which will limit shipping even more as many overseas flights leave before 8am. I suggest everyone call their legislators and push to have chinchillas put on the domesticated list.

 

[JoAnne]

H. R.

One of the items for consideration, when you contact your Congressmen, is that chinchillas, even if they were to "escape" they would not overrun an area or cause any damage. We have actually had domesticated rabbits get turned loose, overpopulate an area and ruin alfalfa fields, and gardens. Part of the possible success of getting chinchillas added will be "educating" those involved. I agree with jag that we have been working on some of these issues for years, but I think that we have to continue the effort. Thank you to all that are concerned.
Chincerely,
JoAnne

 

[ChinChiq]

Even if the bill passes in the House, there is still opportunity to get chins, hedgies or other animals added to the exception list. There is text in the bill that reads:

(4) DEADLINES-
(A) PROPOSED REGULATIONS- Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall publish in the Federal Register a proposed version of the regulations required under this subsection.
(B) FINAL REGULATIONS- Not later than 18 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall promulgate final regulations required under this subsection, including a public notification of the process for submission of a proposal under section 4(a).

I work with Federal regulations on a daily basis, so I know the process very well. The proposed regulations would be open to comment once it is published in the Federal Register. The Department of Agriculture would review all comments that are submitted and take them into account when preparing the Final Rule or a revised proposed rule. The regulation would not be official until after the comment period closes and a Final Rule is published.

Since I check the Federal Register on a daily basis for work, I will add Dept of Agriculture to my radar and be on the lookout for anything related to this bill. Submitting educated, well documented comments to the proposed rulemaking directly to the Dept of Agriculture may be more effective than contacting a congressman who really doesn't understand the specifics of each species.

 

[Prophet of Frida]

Also, I love how the point of the legislation aims to control invasive species, but rabbits are exempt. I mean, I love rabbits, too. Who doesn't? But Google "Australia" and "rabbits" and see how much thought has really gone into this.

 

[halfstache]

I like how at the end of the list of exceptions is this final entry:

(XXI) any other species or subspecies that the Director determines to be common and clearly domesticated.


That leaves the door open in my mind to send all complaints to the Director. I also find it funny that on this list of exempt animals include ferrets, which are still as far as I know banned in california for being considered a non-domesticated animal or invasive species. I wonder if this act would then overrule california's stringent existing legislation. :hmm:

 

[greychins]

I'm not much up on how these things work -- is there a certain date by which we'll know if this passed or not?

Also, I skimmed the bill, but I didn't read word for word, so I don't know if I missed it -- is there somewhere in here that says what will happen to the millions of animals already here in the US that don't fall under the "non-invasive species" designation?

 

[Zoaea]

Other than some parts of California I don't think their is a single place in the USA that could support an escaped chinchilla year round, all the areas out side of San Fran seem to go over 80 on a regular basis. Not to mention the average litter size is 1 and the gestation is 111 days. ._. I don't see why they would even bother not including chinchillas on the list when they have been farmed for almost a century!!

 

[tcraighenry]

Also, I love how the point of the legislation aims to control invasive species, but rabbits are exempt. I mean, I love rabbits, too. Who doesn't? But Google "Australia" and "rabbits" and see how much thought has really gone into this.

They can't do a blanket ban of rabbits in the US since most areas have a native species. So, not invasive.

No doubt legislating/controlling rabbit populations would be similar to the way plants, fish, crabs etc are controlled.

 

[tcraighenry]

I like how at the end of the list of exceptions is this final entry:

(XXI) any other species or subspecies that the Director determines to be common and clearly domesticated.


That leaves the door open in my mind to send all complaints to the Director. I also find it funny that on this list of exempt animals include ferrets, which are still as far as I know banned in california for being considered a non-domesticated animal or invasive species. I wonder if this act would then overrule california's stringent existing legislation. :hmm:

Probably not. States have their own regulations regarding invasive species that are often stricter than federal government legislation.

 

[tcraighenry]

I saw it on facebook earlier today. Assuming it's legit.. it seems a tad bit... ah... strict, for lack of a better word. It excludes a plethora of birds kept as pets, seemingly all reptiles and amphibians, and of course, our favorites, the chins and hedgies.

I think this might actually be intentional. The parrot trade, for example, is extremely harmful to their native environment. And as is the trade of many reptile species.

But this is a baby bill, it's not even close to what it will look like at the end. And you can bet that various lobbies will get their hand on it. I'd watch it and see what happens if it's actually introduced.

 

[greychins]

I think it's intentional as well. I can think of several snake species, which, if released, have made their new homes and successfully reproduced and thrived in the warmer states like Florida.... and besides that, many reptiles, amphibians, and parrots, whether we like it or not, are still plucked out of their native habitat, wild-caught, and sold, so I can see it being intentional.

The thing that bothers me, for lack of a better word, is that it's such a blanket ban. If there's a problem with certain types of snakes, parrots, what have you, I feel like those species should be dealt with. I can't say I know how, but I feel like a good step would be, no importing parrots/reptiles/amphibians from certain locations. But ones bred here would be ok. Like for example, I hardly doubt we're going to see a wild flock of macaws in the U.S. that people are going to wild-catch and sell, but people do breed them here, and that wouldn't harm their actual native environment.

I guess my point is I feel they should put a lot more work into this and hand-pick the problem species. I can see what you're saying about the wild caught animals, or even the ones that would damage the ecosystem if released. But then target those, not every wild or exotic animal. A lot of the animals not listed wouldn't last a week outside in most of the U.S. A chin? Ha. A hedgehog? Not around here except in the middle of summer. And while I can't speak for the hedgies, the chins aren't wild-caught so I'm not sure where the "problem" is. Versus animals like rabbits, where I can understand why a ban would be difficult with native species existing practically everywhere... but if I could tell you how many rabbits I get in at the rescue that someone found outside on their yard that clearly is not a wild species, yet has managed to survive outside for some time.... I just feel more work needs to be done. And I'm sure before this would ever get anywhere near passing, it will be tweaked. I just am not liking how vague it is at the moment.

 

[tcraighenry]

I think it's intentional as well. I can think of several snake species, which, if released, have made their new homes and successfully reproduced and thrived in the warmer states like Florida.... and besides that, many reptiles, amphibians, and parrots, whether we like it or not, are still plucked out of their native habitat, wild-caught, and sold, so I can see it being intentional.

The thing that bothers me, for lack of a better word, is that it's such a blanket ban. If there's a problem with certain types of snakes, parrots, what have you, I feel like those species should be dealt with. I can't say I know how, but I feel like a good step would be, no importing parrots/reptiles/amphibians from certain locations. But ones bred here would be ok. Like for example, I hardly doubt we're going to see a wild flock of macaws in the U.S. that people are going to wild-catch and sell, but people do breed them here, and that wouldn't harm their actual native environment.

I guess my point is I feel they should put a lot more work into this and hand-pick the problem species. I can see what you're saying about the wild caught animals, or even the ones that would damage the ecosystem if released. But then target those, not every wild or exotic animal. A lot of the animals not listed wouldn't last a week outside in most of the U.S. A chin? Ha. A hedgehog? Not around here except in the middle of summer. And while I can't speak for the hedgies, the chins aren't wild-caught so I'm not sure where the "problem" is. Versus animals like rabbits, where I can understand why a ban would be difficult with native species existing practically everywhere... but if I could tell you how many rabbits I get in at the rescue that someone found outside on their yard that clearly is not a wild species, yet has managed to survive outside for some time.... I just feel more work needs to be done. And I'm sure before this would ever get anywhere near passing, it will be tweaked. I just am not liking how vague it is at the moment.

I think you're right! States already have their own regulations, especially since each one has immediate access to experts about species that are damaging to an area. Like in Oregon a ball python may not survive, so it's not something to be worried about. But certain wolf hybrids or exotic cats would thrive... and kill off local wildlife.

I'm guessing the chins were either overlooked or because the native species in Peru and Chile is endangered, they kept it off the list.

I'd keep an eye on it and see if it gets anywhere. It will be subject to revision into infinity.