Over the Weekend...

Farming the coastal waters ... Work is beginning in Washington on the next Farm Bill, and Abigail Anthony, a fellow of the University of Rhode Island's Coastal Institute, says it is important for Narragansett Bay and other coastal areas of RI. In yesterday's Providence Journal, she writes:

Rhode Islanders need to be aware of the significance of the 2007 Farm Bill, because its impact on the state would be much broader than price supports for soybeans and subsidies for winter wheat. As important as the Farm Bill is for conventional agriculture, its reach extends to the core of what we value in Rhode Island.

... The Farm Bill's Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP) provides funds for restoring marine habitat around Narragansett Bay. Restoration efforts have been under way for several years, with significant results.

Any reason her point shouldn't apply to Long Island Sound as well?

Vote Pombo Out ... The New York Times took a break from Scooter and Karl and Dick to write an editorial yesterday about one of the nation's leading environmental villains, Representative Richard Pombo.

Pombo, you may remember, is the Californian and DeLay ally who thinks the Long Island Sound Stewardship program is a bad idea (here and here). He also wrote the revised Endangered Species Act, the one that will hasten the extinction of endangered species. The Times summarizes the some of this charlatan's other bad ideas. Here's the Vote Pombo Out website.

Eggs and mushrooms ... In June, a female box turtle shows up near our house, and a number of times we've watched her dig a hole and lay her eggs. Box turtles can lay infertile eggs, though, and so I've never been sure if we have anything like a sustainable population around here. Yesterday, in the warmth of the late-morning sun, I found a half-dollar sized hole at the spot where she laid her eggs in June. My son and I excavated and found the shell of one egg. Would an empty shell below a small hole indicate anything but a successful hatch and emergence? Expert opinions solicited.... This picture, by the way, is not of the turtle egg. It's tonight's dinner, two puffball mushrooms we found growing along the road.