Mgmt 520 Week 3

1. State the administrative agency which controls the regulation. Explain why this agency and your proposed regulation interest you (briefly).

I have three kids and for better or worse we have become a family of reptile owners. I find the plight of any reptile an interesting matter. I found this U.S. Fish and Wildlife act about Gopher tortoises. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service felt the Gopher tortoise needed federal protection. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service control the regulation that would allow the Gopher tortoise to receive protection under the Endangered Species Act. If the Gopher tortoise is added to the endangered species list a lot of farmers and land developers would be limited on improving their property if the Gopher tortoise is a resident on their land. Florida Fish and Wildlife has already listed the Gopher tortoise as a threatened species on the Endangered Species list. The proposed regulation is not harmful, but if the guidelines for relocating the Gopher tortoise to a protected area is not a well thought out process, farmers can be subject to loss of their land to the Gopher tortoise.

2. Describe the proposal/change.

The proposal is to change the Gopher Tortoise from the threatened species list to the endangered species list. This would put more laws and restrictions on how these animals are treated and fines associated with mistreatment of these animals.

3. Write the public comment which you would submit to this proposal.

I am in favor of the proposed regulation, with one condition to consider. The Gopher tortoise is an amazing creature that is native to the eastern part of the United States (Florida, Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina). The Gopher tortoise is a gentle animal that lives in burrows, eats vegetation, reaches sexual maturity between the ages of 12 – 15 and can live to be 100. The decline in the Gopher tortoise population is due to the reduction of their natural habitat. I support the Gopher tortoise being...