- New regulations on international movement of rosewood create major hassles and risks for musicians, instrument makers [Robert Benincasa, NPR, earlier on exotic woods]
- “Argentinian geoscientist faces criminal charges over glacier survey” [Jeff Tollefson and Emiliano Rodríguez Mega, Nature]
- “The Progressive Roots of Zoning” [Samuel Staley, Market Urbanism]
- “Water Rights, Water Fights in the American West” [Reed Watson and Caleb Brown, Cato podcast]
- “Los Angeles Wants to Make Housing Affordable by Making it More Expensive” [Christian Britschgi, Reason]
- “Private Property Rights Collide With Invisible Frog” [Chris Bennett, Farm Journal, on cert petition in Markle Interests v. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Chamber, earlier]
Filed under: Argentina, endangered species, land use and zoning, Los Angeles, music and musicians
One Comment
Re: invisible frogs, aka Mississippi gopher frog.
Seems almost anything gopher related can be frustrating for homeowners. Thurston County, WA, has a sub-species of pocket gopher that has practically shut down development.
Even though it thrives on the gunnery range at Ft. Lewis, “any landowner or developer planning to build a single family home with a gopher on the property would be forced to pay $42,000 in habitat offset fees.”
https://www.google.com/amp/mynorthwest.com/554485/mazama-pocket-gopher-thurston-county/amp/
While the Dept. of Fish and Wildlife is unable to release DNA samples that would demonstrate Thurston County’s pocket gophers are a sub-species, and it is a federal crime to obtain your own, they have a sketch made by E. R. Johnson in the 1960s showing a well-endowed variant. Sort of a pocket rocket gopher.
While that is something for proud Thurston County residents to admire, the Board of Supervisors has wildly over-reacted in what can only be seen as a grab for cash.