Wildlife, jobs can be winners for stimulus

U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., is way off base if he thinks that saving wildlife and providing jobs is a lose-lose situation for stimulus funding. Matthew Aresco's study of turtle deaths on U.S. 27 in the Florida Panhandle is one of the best I have ever seen in 20 years of studying animals. I have used it as an example of proving that a fixable problem exists and showing how to cheaply and easily fix it. The fact that the Florida Department of Transportation and Congress agreed should prove that this is a flagship stimulus project that Florida can be proud of.

Maybe Sen. Coburn enjoys the "bu-bump" sound of tires hitting turtles when he drives down the road at night, but I would bet most of us don't.

FRASER SHILLING

Davis, Calif.

Editor's note: Fraser Shilling is co-director of the Road Ecology Center at the University of California, Davis.