Backyard Volunteers Count Fireflies to Track Possible Decline in Numbers

Scientists are hoping a network of backyard volunteers who spent the summer counting fireflies can help them determine if the luminous insects are in a decline. About 700 volunteers from across the nation counted fireflies in their backyards, local parks and meadows and also noted their color and flash patterns. The volunteers then entered their observations into an online database that’s central to the Firefly Watch program sponsored by the Boston Museum of Science. Scientists are worried by reports from the public that they are seeing fewer fireflies each summer, possibly because of habitat destruction from suburban sprawl. About 5,100 people from 42 states and four other nations have taken part in Firefly Watch’s online effort since it debuted in May 2008...more

Alright! I can't wait for urban backyards to be declared critical habitat.

Fly swatters and fly and mosquito spray will be outlawed.

The Western Watersheds Project will claim backyard pets transfer distemper and other harmful diseases to fireflies.

The Wildlands Project will want "fly corridors" between backyards and school playgrounds.

The United Nations will designate city parks and football fields as Biosphere Reserves.

The Native American Urban Tribes will claim many of the backyards are sacred sites.

Land & Water Conservation funds will be used to acquire backyards.

Interior Secretary Salazar will announce that fireflies are a "keystone species" and are negatively impacted by global warming, necessitating immediate "collaborative" action.

In return for Backyard Habitat Management Plans, Salazar will sign agreements with homeowners to allow inadvertent "takes" of fireflies.

The Center for Biological Diversity will sue Salazar for violating NEPA, the APA and the ESA...and win.

The Dems will be bewildered when they discover a disproportionate number of backyards with fireflies are owned by minorities and the economically disadvantaged, meaning the ESA itself violates their concept of "environmental justice".

The Repubs will scream and holler and hold hearings...then do nothing.

And in an interview with MSNBC President Obama says he hopes the American public will understand "there are no fireflies in Muslim backyards."

Yes, I just can't wait.

And forgive me Lord, but I hope city sewer plants are declared prime breeding ground for fireflies.