In the last few weeks, I, along with a group of other reptile-oriented folks, decided to re-activate NRAAC, this time as an educational organization rather than a lobbying group. There were some mixed messages out there about our purpose floating around before we were ready to take the wraps off officially, with some in the herp community concerned that it would be "yet another" reptile rights lobbying organization similar to USARK or PIJAC. Let me assure you that is not the case. I am old enough and wise enough to know that I am not the person to lead that charge. I don't suffer fools gladly, and the last time I checked, most of the politicians in Washington DC are textbook cases of foolishness.

The sole reason for the reformation of NRAAC as an organization is to have a legal business vehicle with which to set up a 501c3 educational non-profit so that we can legally accept funds to put on the International Reptile and Amphibian Law Symposium in 2012, and hopefully each successive year until such an event is no longer required. As a non-profit we will not even be allowed to lobby. I chose the NRAAC name and logo for a number of reasons, including marketing to the "old hands" that still remember us for the "golden years," and because I already have many other assets in place from the old organization that could be utilized immediately and inexpensively.

NRAAC will never ask you to join it as a member, although we may ask you to volunteer. If we structure the organization correctly, it will never ask you for money, though it will ask you for your input as to how the funds we do receive are dispersed. NRAAC will never tell you how to vote, but we will tell you where. We will never tell you what to ask or say, but we may show you where you can say it. And if we structure it correctly, next year someone else will take my place at the head of NRAAC until they get voted out. Because I could really use a vacation.

Many of the old NRAAC hands are returning to help in this project, as are reptile and amphibian hobbyists across the country. Both John Cherry and Stephen Hammack have returned and taken places on committees. Committees are starting to fill up, and our Facebook group already has well over 200 members, all offering input on how the law symposium should be run. Organizations such as PIJAC have already reached out to offer guidance and support, and the East Texas Herp Society has invited us to partner with them to put on our symposium during their fall event in Houston at the end of September, should that prove the best option for both.

At just a week old we have already made a great deal of progress, far more than I expected. If you want to be a part of NRAAC's work, please join our Facebook group. It is an open group that welcomes anyone on any side of the table who is concerned about reptiles and the law and wishes to help us in our mission of having a successful law conference. For more information, you can also visit the NRAAC website.