But this time, istead of being in north central Idaho, they’re in north central Washington.
Back at the beginning of March I posted this about a group of enviro-whackos trying to get the Giant Palouse Earthworm classified as an Endangered Species by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. The worm can grow up to three feet long and is able to spit at attackers and, if you listen to the eco-socialists, only exists in central Idaho.
At least until last weeks discovery
The giant Palouse earthworm is still among the Northwest’s rarest inhabitants, but two new discoveries suggest the native wigglers might be a bit more abundant than previously thought.
A pair of pinkish-white worms from opposite margins of the Columbia River basin appear to be members of the species, reputed to grow up to 3 feet long.
In March, researchers digging in a remnant of native prairie near Moscow, Idaho, accidentally minced one of the creatures and collected the bits. The rolling grasslands of the region, called the Palouse, are believed to be the species’ historic habitat.
But the second worm came from a more surprising location: a forested slope above the Chelan County town of Leavenworth.
“If it is the correct species, it’s pretty exciting to find it in an area where it hasn’t been described before,” said University of Idaho soil scientist Jodi Johnson-Maynard, who has been stalking the giant earthworm for years. “Maybe it’s not just tied to the prairie.”
Aww, yes! They must be free range worms.
I’m sure this is going to be a crushing blow to the conspiratorial Noah Greenwald who saw the denial of an “Endangered” classification as coming directly from George Bush’s desk. And I am also positive that Greenwald made up a pantomime depicting W opening up a closet in the Oval Office and putting a mark in the “Bit the Dust” column of his dry-erase board.
How egotistical of Greenwald to think that he knew everything about a worm that was only just discovered a few years ago.
But hey, without their egos and self-hate, we wouldn’t have the Global Warming myth.
Phil –
I read your ignorant diatribe. You are an idiot.
1) The earthworm is important.
2) Global Warming myth?
3) It’s great to see stupid people like you write stupid opinions. It makes the other side of the population greatful that they actually attended school while growing up.
Please do not respond with comments. Neither I or anyone else with a brain will be reading.
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How soon we forget. Back when the Spotted Owl was the first so-called “indicator species” to be used to shut down logging in vast areas of the Northwest, it soon developed that, after initial success in the courts, the eviro-whackos weren’t satisfied with closing down actual Spotted Owl habitat, so they “introduced” Spotted Owls into other areas by moving nests, etc. Some were convicted and went to prison for this.
This may be another case of the same “claim salting” tactic. The enviro-whackos expect that the Giant Earthworm WILL eventually be listed, so they are getting ahead of the game by “finding” that the worms exist out of their formerly tiny range.
You watch, they won’t go so far as to find a lot of the worms, just far enough with the claim-salting to establish a much wider base for the initial listing to close down.
BTW, this species could be a real problem for farmers and a real boost to the whackos. Think about it. Earthworms have to be dug out of the ground to be discovered, and in digging you usually damage some of them (a no-no if they are endangered). So it might prove possible to point to almost any ground evidence of ANY earthworm (holes in the soil) and say it could have been made by the Giant Earthworm, and therefore, the soil may never be turned, trod or treated chemically ever again.