Of Easter eggs and Piping Plovers

I saw a disturbing news item today. It said that Americans spend well over one BILLION dollars each year on Easter candy. Now I enjoy a good jelly bean as much as the next person, but imagine what could happen if everyone took the money they would spend on Easter candy and applied it to wildlife conservation. Imagine what one billion dollars could do for those species currently listed under the Endangered Species Act. (The current budget provides an average of a few thousand dollars per species for recovery efforts.) Imagine how much critical habitat could be purchased and protected with one billion dollars.

I wrote a check to The Nature Conservancy last week. As I said, I enjoy a good jelly bean, but I would much prefer to see a Piping Plover, Kirtland’s Warbler, Whooping Crane, San Francisco Garter Snake, Fender’s Blue Butterfly………

Happy Easter