Military spending millions to protect gophers

while workers go on furlough

A total of 650,000 civilian employees are now being furloughed at U.S. military bases in response to sequester cuts -- but the Department of Defense is still spending millions to protect fuzzy critters.

Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM) in Washington state just received a $3.5 million department grant to purchase land around the base in an effort to protect the Mazama pocket gopher, a species that has not even been listed as endangered or threatened.

The expense is not sitting well with furloughed workers.


Read more: Military spending millions to protect gophers, while workers go on furlough | Fox News

This just adds salt to the wound. Makes no sense at all.

"Although our primary mission is fighting wars and military training, like other federal agencies, we have a requirement to support the recovery of listed species," said Jeffrey Foster, a civilian ecologist at JBLM and wrote the grant proposal.

Read more: Military spending millions to protect gophers, while workers go on furlough | Fox News

Was that before, or after he got his furlough notice?

BTW, Jeffy: the species in question: not on the list. Just so you know.

at least the gophers are here legally,
you would think it would piss people off more to be furloughed while the illegal bean eaters are getting billions in financial aid.

given the choice, I would certainly put more effort into saving the life of a gopher than an illegal.

Almost as bad as the $34M building in Afghanistan that won't get used...

Military Will Never Use New $34M Afghanistan Base - Critics say it's the most glaring boondoggle in a war full of them: Washington Post

Or the plan to abandon a plan to open a consulate in northern Afghanistan after signing a 10-year lease and dishing out more than $80 million for the site.

http://www.newser.com/story/145474/security-woes-force-us-to-drop-afghan-consulate.html

Someone has to keep the Military-Industrial complex going!