I’m all for the environment–my kids think I’m insane because I try to conserve water, reuse paper, and so on (okay, I was raised by depression-era parents, but it’s really my conservationist leanings that motivate me)–and preserving our animal kingdom. But the U.S. government investing $10 million dollars to help Cornell scientists confirm (or deny) a report that a thought-to-be-extinct species of woodpecker has reemerged seems like a skewed decision in a world where that money could be used for so many other good purposes–too numerous to mention.

Given all the people projects–medical research and other things–in our country that need funds, this report almost makes me think the U.S. government believes it has unlimited money. But that’s just me.