May I point out that the Liguus fasciatus is not the only species that will be
impacted by the proposed exploration in Big Cypress National Preserve?
"Monfils, Paul" wrote:

> I can see it now - voodoo dolls thrust through with Terebra shells - but
> I'll say it anyway . . . I think the "taxonomic approach" to species
> protection is basically a valid one, when you look at the bigger picture.
> "Sub color forms" is a pretty tenuous criterion for demanding protection.
> Liguus fasciatus is an extremely variable species.  It is also an abundant
> species in much of its range, where it is fully protected.  I don't see that
> these facts would be altered significantly if all the specimens where "the
> 5th and 6th green stripes are a little closer together" were eliminated.
> This situation is simply the result of excessive splitting of "forms", based
> on insignificant characteristics.
> White-tailed deer are abundant throughout the eastern United States, often
> to the point where they are hazardous to traffic, destructive to human
> dwellings, and serious carriers of disease.  If a housing project were being
> considered in Valley X, the thinning out of a white-tailed deer population
> would not be a major obstacle. However, if we approached this situation the
> way we approach the Liguus situation, opponents of the project could hire a
> wildlife biology student to study the local population.  He might discover
> that white-tails in Valley X tend to have a dark band on the side of their
> tail which other white-tails lack, or perhaps a lighter color inside their
> ears.  Does this mean that the "Valley X White-tailed Deer" is a rare sub
> color form that should be protected as endangered??  If so, Pandora's box is
> open, and virtually every construction project will come up against
> insurmountable beaurocratic insanity.  If you are going to seek protection
> for a snail population which has nothing going for it but an extra stripe,
> you'll have to come up with more convincing reasons than "sub color forms
> are interesting to a small group of shell collectors".
> This does NOT mean that I favor oil drilling in a National Reserve!  The
> possible hazards of such a project are obvious. However, I do believe that
> the dangers have to be evaluated in terms of their possible impact on a
> widespread and variable species, not on local variations defined by trivial
> and taxonomically invalid criteria.
>
> Paul M.