Don't Kill Off The Terrapin's for Good

"In the ideal world we'd close the fisheries down, put bycatch reduction devices on all the crab pots and prevent loss of habitat,"

That's what the Maryland's Department of Natural Resources should do to protect our UMD's beloved school mascot, the Terrapins from being extinct.

Maryland watermen caught more than 10,000 of the state's official reptile last summer, according to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. The figure, which is a 20-fold increase from the year before, sent a shockwave that rippled through the state's environmental community and has caused the involvement of the state's legislative and executive bodies.

According to an article in Saturday's Baltimore Sun, the administration opposes the potential passage of legislation sponsored by Sen. Roy P. Dyson (D-Southern Maryland) that would outlaw catching the turtles in the state. An O'Malley spokesperson said passage of legislation would not preserve the traditional power of the state Department of Natural Resources to regulate fisheries. In the event of a revival of terrapin populations, the administration says, the department should be empowered to allow resumption of trapping.

Wait, O'Malley opposes such a common sense law? We should protect all of nature's creatures even if it means sacrificing some businesses. If this Republicrat really cares about the environment, he should support it.