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The Center for Biological Diversity (“CBD”) issued a report titled:

Robbing the Wild: How 10 States’ Refusal to Ban Trapping is Hurting American’s Wild Turtles (“Report”)

The Report analyzes state laws in terms of how effective they are believed to protect wild turtles from commercial practices.

The Report expresses concern that:

• Turtles are one of the most threatened groups of vertebrates in the world partially due to commercial trapping
• Turtles cannot withstand low levels of commercial trapping because their survival depends on living long lives
• Global demands for turtles for food, pets and traditional medicine is high
• The United States exports millions of live turtles
• Unstainable trade results in the disappearance of wild turtle populations in the United States
• Turtles serve important roles in their ecosystems which include food webs to mineral cycles

Findings in the Report include:

• 30 states allow no commercial turtle harvest, eight states…