BY JIM MYERS - Tulsa World
Published: April 25, 2011
WASHINGTON — Oklahoma Transportation Secretary Gary Ridley thinks a century-old law passed in part to keep birds from ending up on women’s hats is to blame for delaying a state bridge project.
The veteran transportation official said that was a first for his agency.
But it may be only the beginning, Ridley warned after a recent Senate hearing where he criticized a number of federal agencies and their policies.
“It seems somewhat ridiculous to me,” he said, singling out one of the swallows whose love for nesting under man-made structures is well-known. “This is not an endangered species.”
Indeed, Ridley said, the swallow in question is almost as common as a sparrow, but one of its nests on or near a road project is enough to bring work to a screeching halt... FULL ARTICLE
Posted on
Mon, April 25, 2011
by John Cox