Subject: Wildlife laws

From: Kenelm Philip <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 5 Nov 1995 18:24:07 -0900

Floyd Catchpole requested information on the wildlife laws. The sheer bulk
of these is such that attempts to post them on Leps-L would be a waste of
space. I have what I think are the important Federal ones, and they comprise
a 5/8"-thick stack of 8.5x11" sheets.
  However, anyone can obtain copies from the USF&WS. The ones to ask for are
the following:

Lacey Act (9 pages)
Endangered Species Act (36 pages)
50 CFR 10 - General Provisions (15 pages)
50 CFR 12 - Seizure & Forfeiture (6 pages)
50 CFR 13 - General PRT Procedures (18 pages)
50 CFR 14 - Import/Export Transportation of Wildlife (16 pages)
50 CFR 17 - ESA (69 pages)
50 CFR 23 - ES Convention (31 pages)

You may also want to request copies of:

3-177 - Declaration for Import/Export
USFWS License/Permit Application
Other Import/Export Procedures

Finally, you may want relevant portions of:

36 CFR Chapter 11 (Parks, Forests, and Public Property)

  I suspect that there may be other data that you might need--the above is
what the USF&WS supplied me when I requested a complete set of regulations
covering the collecting of insects.
  In addition to the above, you will need to track down any state laws and
regulations, particularly those covering State Parks and possibly other state
lands. There is _wide_ variation in the level of control over insect collect-
ing on state lands from one state to another.

  Canada now has its own version of the Lacey Act. Ask any office of the Can-
adian Wildlife Service to supply copies of WAPPA (Wild Animal and Plant
Protection and Regulation of International and Interprovincial Trade Act).
For working in the Yukon or Northwest Territories, you also need copies of:
Guidebook on Scientific Research in the Yukon, and Doing Research in the
Northwest Territories: A Guide for Researchers Working in Canada's Northwest
Territories.

  Additional information for Alaska was published in the News of the Lep-
idopterists' Society #3/4 May/June & July/August 1994. I know of no recent
compilation for other states, although a summary was published a number of
years ago.

                                                        Ken Philip
[email-masked]

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From: Thomas Kral <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 7 Nov 1995 15:10:42 -0700

Ah, paydirt! Exactly the kind of posting I hoped would eventually show
up. Indeed Dr. Philip's summary addresses the majority of the laws
relating to bug collecting. If interested, I suggest copying it and
provide a copy to your nearest USFWS agent to see if there is anything
else the agent would like to add - try and get them to put it in a signed
letter too. Don't worry, I won't need to post the definitions of all
those long laws and clog up the net, you can obtain these copies and read
them yourself (sigh of relief)! But then why should I continue my
information gathering and 300 hours educational activities???

The written word and defintion of the law is one thing, the
INTERPRETATION of these laws is something else - WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE!
It will take a while to inform you of the interpretations behind how
someone who poached 2 bugs only once in a National Park back in 1986 and
knowingly took or exchanged about 30 more bugs illegally (long ago as
well), and be built up by the USFWS & Prosecutors as the head of an
international bug poaching ring dealing in thousands of specimens -
compared to me the cocaine drug cartels seem to be but choirboys.  The
reality is that prosecutor Leland Altschuler and USFWS agent john Mendoza
were literally making up interpretations of the written laws as they went
along with their lethal propaganda campaign. In particular, their own
interpretations of legal license, like-kind exchange, and my favorite
"commercial purposes".  Who is correct? I don't know? Thats why the judge
wants me to find out. If USFWS is correct, then you have all been
poaching bugs for commercial purposes and most of you are felons. In a
few days I'll start with a short definition of "commercial purpose" -
my educational activities will start "paying off" thank you for your
patience.

Sincerely,   Thomas W. Kral         e-mail: [email-masked]