Colorado pol unapologetic in hoping floods wiped out endangered mice

Larimer County Commissioner Steve Johnson was called out by a constituent for saying he hopes the recent devastating floods killed off an endangered species of mouse so that the mountainous task of rebuilding roads wiped out by raging waters would be unimpeded by governmental red tape. Johnson’s response to his constituent’s complaint? “No apologies.” The short-lived tiff is buried in more important matters in Johnson’s county email inbox, which is accessible to the public online. Amid notices of evacuation operations, reports about flooding damage and messages of support for the work of emergency personnel is an irate letter from constituent Connie Gray.  Gray wrote that she was “appalled” that Johnson made a flippant comment about some mice during a meeting held to assess damage to county roads. Recently flooding destroyed many canyon highways, leaving residents in mountainous communities stranded and cut off from critical supplies. During the meeting, county road engineers noted that the U.S. Forest Service had held up culvert improvements on one highway earlier in the year, demanding that the work be done in a way that wouldn’t be disruptive to some Preble’s Meadow jumping mice that lived in the vicinity. The mice are protected under the Endangered Species Act. “I hope all the mice drowned,” Johnson is quoted as saying in the Loveland Reporter Herald...more