Hello everyone, Today my father and I and Jan Goldsmith's legislative aide had a meeting with John McCaul (Audubon Society) and William Craven (Sierra Club) regarding AB 363. In general, we were met by open minds, especially Mr. McCaul from Audubon. He said he had received some e-mail from ferret-owning Audubon members out of state (thank you, thank you all of you) and also received our factual data (Fish and Game letters, OTA study etc.), plus lots of letters and e-mails that were "impassioned" but, in his opinion, not overboard. He is inclined to believe that ferrets cannot survive outdoors. Mr. McCaul said he would not work the floor against this issue and would present our material to his "boss", Mr Taylor. Mr. Craven was also deluged with information and when he brought up some concerns was presented with the facts. For instance, one of the first mentions he made was a study that talked about the feral populations of ferrets on San Juan Island. I asked him to take a look at a letter from WA Fish and Game stating that the ferrets had died out there before he went on...... He read the letter, smiled, put the letter in his folder, and moved on. I feel we also have an open mind there but am more concerned about the committee. They're the ones that will vote on this and I hope everyone will keep up the pressure on the Sierra Club (gentle pressure, remember). Thanks for all your hard work, letters, phone calls, e-mails. It is paying off and we may be able to get these organizations to back off from their previous positions. In the meantime, please re-contact your State Assemblyman to ask for their support for AB 363 if they haven't committed already. Our floor vote will most likely happen on Thursday or Friday of next week and we'd love to fill the gallery, so anyone that is interested in coming, please keep in touch. Jeanne Carley Californians for Ferret Legalization 410 Mountain Home Road Woodside, CA 94062 (415) 851-3750 <[log in to unmask]> http://www.ccnet.com/~beisners/gsfs/lobby.html CALIFORNIANS, YOU CAN FIND OUT YOUR ASSEMBLYMEMBER AND STATE SENATOR BY VISITING THIS SITE!! IT'S TIME TO CALL AND WRITE YOUR ASSEMBLYMEMBER--THE FLOOR VOTE WILL HAPPEN SOON! [Posted in FML issue 1951]