HR 2711

This bill is intended to ban pythons in the US (or at least Burmese, reticulated, and African rocks). You can read more here, and here (on the 11/6 hearing). Rep. Kendrick Meek doesn't have a direct email address, but you can email his chief of staff.

On a personal note, while I understand the need to protect the south Florida habitat, the nationwide ban is ridiculous and nothing more than fear-mongering. (Not to mention a star publicity vehicle -- apparently, Meek is planning a Senate run. Any wonder he's pushing the "snakes are evil" agenda to garner votes?) If someone truly wanted to help conserve the Everglades and still protect herpetoculture, here's what I'd suggest:

1) Remove Miami as a wildlife port. Only 10 or so ports are allowed to have commercial wildlife imports, Miami is one of them. This is why so many small herps have become invasive in southern Florida: a) there is great tropical habitat, and b) there are more opportunities to escape. You're not going to have that same problem in, for example, Baltimore.

2) Ban the larger pythons in the south Florida counties. No need for a statewide ban, just enough counties to make it unlikely for anyone to just dump their snake in the Glades.

3) Enlist actual field herpers to help collect pythons from the wild. The 37 or so that the professional trappers caught during the "official" hunt were rather meager. Hobbyists are far more likely to be successful.