After this weekend's summit, a number of people in the community -- those who could and those who couldn't attend the summit meeting in Chicago -- and I are exploring the idea of a Reptile and Amphibian Law Symposium that would be 3-4 days of panels, workshops and seminars on federal, state, and international laws and regulations and the people and organizations they impact.

While the summit itself is a good place to receive a "State of the Union" address, the limited time allowed and the distractions of an attached reptile expo limit the amount of real work and networking that might be accomplished.

As we hope to extend an invitation to virtually everyone with an interest in reptile laws, we have created an open group on Facebook, "neutral ground", that will allow anyone to submit their ideas and input. The group description says it best:

"I am looking for people who would like to discuss the proposal/idea of a reptile and amphibian laws and regulations symposium, to be 3-4 days of workshops and talks with all parties with a vested interest, including zoos, universities, all state FW & DNR, USFW, USDA and other interested parties. No reptile expo, no banquet, no auction, completely un-commercial and neutral - just work - if you are interested in participating in this discussion, or possibly assisting/volunteering/participating in this symposium please reply to this thread, or/and send me an email. "

Almost 100 people have already joined the group and are offering input, including Marshall Meyers of PIJAC who posted the following in support:

"PIJAC, in conjunction with several other national organizations representing zoos, marine parks/aquariums, sport fishing and hunting, food aquaculture, etc., plan on hosting a summit meeting to review problems encountered related to possession, trading, importing, exporting, captive breeding, etc. of non-native species...

Your idea of holding a symposium to pull together thoughts, problems, etc within the reptile/amphibian community that could be synthesized and submitted at the overall summit meeting would be most beneficial. In fact this could set the stage for other taxa...."

There is more to Marshall's post, where he reveals more about PIJAC's summit, as well as a new injurious Risk Screening methodology being tested by USFWS that will screen 1,400 species this year and may be one of a number of solutions to our issues with injurious and invasive species. But to read it and to participate in planning the reptile and amphibian law symposium, you will need to join our Facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/groups/344339472269726/