$35M for Mice, Fairy Shrimp, Mussels, and Beetles

The Obama administration is spending $35 million to buy 30,000 acres of private property across the U.S. this year to make permanent homes for mice, fairy shrimp, mussels, prairie bushes and beetles. The San Diego fairy shrimp, as well as the Arroyo toad, coastal California gnatcatcher and Southwestern willow flycatcher, will benefit from one California habitat that spans 600 acres and costs $6 million.
The fairy shrimp, crustaceans in the same taxonomic order as “sea monkeys,” are less than an inch in size and live in vernal pools that spring up after a heavy rainfall. Critics call the pools mud puddles. The vernal pool tadpole shrimp, along with the California red-legged frog and San Joaquin kit fox, will benefit from $4.4 million to buy 1,800 acres for habitat and wildlife corridors. Some of the other stewardship efforts include nearly $3 million to buy 20 acres of prime Gulf-front property for the Perdido Key beach mouse in Florida at a price tag of $150,000 an acre. Beach lots totaling eight acres along the Atlantic Ocean in St. Johns County, Florida, will also be purchased for more than $200,000 for the Anastasia Island beach mouse...more