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Date: | Fri, 19 Feb 2010 13:10:42 -0800 |
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I'm posting this in response to the recent exchanges about The Xerces Society's petition to APHIS to regulate bumble bee movements. I have not been directly involved in this aspect of our work, so passed the postings on to my coworker, Sarina Jepsen, and asked if she could respond. I hope that this will calm people's fears that honey bee regulation may be ushered in under the guise of bumble bees. Regulation of honey bee movements are not a part of this petition process.
Matthew
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While I am not on this listserv, I have read some of the recent posts by Peter Borst and others suggesting that The Xerces Society is 'anti-honey bee' and is planning to advocate for increased regulation of the interstate movement of honeybees.
The Xerces Society is not 'anti-honey bee' and we have no plans to advocate for regulating the interstate movement of honeybees.
We recently submitted a petition to APHIS, which was widely supported by bumble bee scientists, asking APHIS to prevent the interstate movement of the common eastern bumble bee (Bombus impatiens) to states outside of its native range. We are requesting this regulation because commercial bumble bees threaten wild bumble bees with disease, hybridization and competition.
This petition had nothing to do with the regulation of honey bees. One of the laws that gives APHIS the authority to regulate the interstate movement of bumble bees is The Honeybee Act. Because our petition explained APHIS' authority to regulate bumble bees under this law, we thought it was appropriate to discuss pests and pathogens of honey bees that also affect bumble bees. This part of our petition was NOT intended to lay the groundwork to propose any sort of regulation of honey bees.
While we work primarily on native bees, we have and will continue to collaborate with organizations and individuals to support and protect honey bees in the U.S.
Best,
Sarina Jepsen
______________________________________________________
The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation
The Xerces Society is an international nonprofit organization that
protects wildlife through the conservation of invertebrates and their
habitat. To join the Society, make a contribution, or read about our
work, please visit www.xerces.org.
Find all the information you need to conserve pollinator habitat at:
http://www.xerces.org/pollinator-resource-center/
Matthew Shepherd
Senior Conservation Associate
4828 SE Hawthorne Boulevard, Portland, OR 97215, USA
Tel: 503-232 6639 Cell: 503-807 1577 Fax: 503-233 6794
Email: [log in to unmask]
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