Quote of the Day

[University of Idaho biology graduate student Chris Looney] added the rush to have the [giant Palouse earth]worm listed as an endangered species was brought on by fear of urban sprawl striking the Palouse.

If groups like the Palouse Prairie Foundation and other groups would have used less aggressive tactics, especially in light of slow growth trends, they may have been able to curry more support from farmers, he added.

- "One percent left: Grad students seek to save Palouse prairie remnants," Whitman County Gazette, May 1, 2008

Looney was part of cross-discipline study of the biological and sociological value of the Palouse Prairie funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation. The results of the study were presented to the Whitman County commissioners last Monday.

At least the truth about the giant Palouse earthworm has come out, and as usual, it has nothing to with science.