Well said, Tim! I am Dale from Springs Ranch in what used to be the
north eastern part of Colorado Springs. Now it feels and looks more
like the central eastern part of Springs.
tim chandler wrote:
I used to live in Monument, CO, less than 100 yards from Monument Creek, one
of the areas in which this mouse lives. Development is a fact of life along
the Front Range - but waterways are protected from development and monitored
for quality at least as much as anywhere else, given the scarcity of water
and the popularity everywhere in Colorado of "greenways" and parks. IMO
there is no danger of eliminating this mouse, certainly not in the Monument
area - they'd have to pave over the whole place to do that, and although
there's too much development there now for my taste, there are still many,
many homes on one acre or more that are not going to disappear. And
regulations and community standards and desires still operate democratically
at least in most places, so that truly outrageous development programs tend
to get nipped, if not always in the bud. Compared to places back East, it's
still wide open out there with usually too much and too dense vegetation
that presents a fire hazard every year.

There has to be a balance. But for too many years the enviro "Chicken
Littles" have been getting away with murder in stopping development because
it doesn't fit their "I've got mine, close the gates NOW" attitude and in
using court decrees to thwart laws and stop things they don't like,
circumventing the will of the people. The mice are important but
development can and should be sanely balanced - not insanely in favor of the
enviros as previously.

Like the ever-popular bumper sticker says, "Don't Californicate Colorado!"

Tim C.


wrote in message
ups.com...

Derek Broughton wrote:

Benign Vanilla wrote:


Some of you may remember my wife's attempt at convincing me I was

losing

my mind, when I found a jumping kangaroo like mouse in the house a

few

months back.

I may be insane, but Yahoo! is apparently in on it...

Jumping Mouse Loses Federal Protection

WASHINGTON - The Preble's meadow jumping mouse, once seen as a

costly

impediment to development, is now viewed by the government as a

critter

that never really existed - and is no longer in need of federal

protection

under the Endangered Species Act.

Sorry, but the point of that whole piece is that it never _did_ exist
(though, to be fair, the Preble's jumping mouse doesn't exist only

because

it's actually just a different kind of jumping mouse :-) )
--
derek

You want a good article on the mouse situation:
http://www.csindy.com/csindy/2004-04-08/cover.html