Beth DeHaas wrote:
>Have you ever thought of inviting
>your local representative to the next meeting of your shell club?
 
And Howard S. Roux replied,
Beth and other Conch-lers,
The Naples Shell Club tried that inviting both our local representative and
the Director of the Conservancy of Southwest Florida to a meeting along
with
Carole Marshall. Invitations were mailed six weeks in advance. Our local
representative replied three weeks AFTER the meeting date that he had prior
commitments. The Conservancy has yet to reply - almost two years - not that
I expect one now. However, they are the proponents of a total live shell
collecting ban in Collier County, Florida. So, in short, we tried, and it
didn't work. The director even agreed earlier to talk to me about live
collecting and never followed through despite several calls and messages.
 
Ooh, tough room, Howard. Don't give up the effort now. Here are some other
strategies to try:
 
1. Bypass them. Contact other local and regional conservation
organizations.
2. Lecture at schools (grass-roots work that may yield good results in a
few years)
3. Offer to take the local politicians and environmentalists on a field
trip, including a fine meal. You'd be surprised how responsive people can
be during a relaxing outing. Don't invite the politicians and the
environmentalists to the same field trip, though.
 
And don't ever give up the moral high ground to the birdwatchers. Shellers
provide a valuable service to environmental science by documenting species.
Keep pointing to websites that include lists of local species compiled by
concerned, environmentally aware conchologists, and compare them to the
Christmas Bird Count. If a local list hasn't been compiled yet, by all
means get the club to start one. Remember that it won't have much impact
unless it is published.
 
Andrew K. Rindsberg
Geological Survey of Alabama