Rumors of its extinction . . .

The discovery that the ivory-billed woodpecker is not extinct, as previously thought, gives Kimberly Strassel cause for faith in "individual environmentalism." I have been struck for a long time how wild animals learn to live around humans, contrary to the view that we always disturb and disrupt their lives. In truth, these days, we often enhance their habitats, not through laws and programs but by individuals seeing these creatures as something wonderful rather than pests to be destroyed.

I just started reading State of Fear by Michael Crichton. I can tell I'm going to like it. It deals with the nature of the environmental movement, which has become focused on fundraising and power more than in merely conservation. Even the acquisition of land by such groups, with the claimed intent of "protecting" it, makes me wonder what things will look like in 100 years and these groups are a huge, rich class of landowners like those in Mexico and South America, who prevent economic growth by concentrating wealth and stifling the aspirations of the common people.