30 September 2007

Snakes stop developments

A news story this weekend has highlighted the role of 2 species of snakes
to slow or stop development in the Pinelands. It is interesting to guess how this reached the newspapers, but it sounds like the developer probably reached out to the media while the Pinelands was given a chance to respond. But is also raises the larger concerns about the complexity of these projects that interweave multiple interests:

Local officials said they were upset that the project had died, saying the development was tied to a deal that would have preserved nearly 400 acres of farmland - also endangered in New Jersey.

This all reminds me of a fun novel, called Rattled, published about a year ago by Debra Galant looking at how a fictional developer deals with snakes in NJ.

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