I'll Grant You That (Part III)

Two recent announcements posted on Grants.gov. Too good to pass up.


DOI
Department of the Interior
Bureau of Land Management
Atlantic Rim Coalbed Natural Gas Mule Deer Study (Phase II)
Grant






Rowan: You're going to study mule deer?
Martin: Yup!
[pause]
Rowan: And what is it about mule deer that you're going to study, Dick?
Martin: Gas.
Rowan: Gas?
Martin: Yup. Natural gas.
Rowan: Dick, I'm sorry, but I don't think I get the connection between natural gas and mule deer.
Martin: Hee! What's not to get?
Rowan: You mean...?
Martin: Yup. The mule deer produce the gas. We're going to study how they do it.
Rowan: You mean you don't know how they do it?
Martin: Wellllll...we don't know enough about how they do it, especially how it's related to coalbeds back east.
Rowan (shaking head): Well, Dick, I wish you luck in your studies. When do you leave?
Martin: We're off to Weymouth in the morning!
Rowan (sotto voce): He's off, all right.


DOD
Department of Defense
Office of Naval Research
NAVAL FACILITIES ENGINEERING COMMAND
Mojave tui chub Management at Naval Weapons Station China Lake, California
Modification 1

How hard can it be to manage a little fishy at a Naval Weapons Station? I mean, who has the weapons? The tui chub is considered an invasive species. So...what's to manage? At the risk of sounding indelicate, why not just kill the little bastards? China Lake lies in the Mojave desert between Bakersfield and Las Vegas -- nobody there cares about the damned chub.


Edit: Apparently there are several species of tui chub. Some of them are considered invasive, some are considered native, and some are considered endangered. The species called Mojave tui chub is, I gather, endangered because it left its natural habitat of the Mojave River and is now found only in a couple of small lakes or ponds near the Mojave River. So I guess it's possible that a species can be both invasive (that is, it didn't originate where it now lives) and endangered. My cavalier statement about nobody caring may be generally true but there are a few exceptions. Some biology teachers and students are trying to figure out how to forestall the extinction of the Mojave tui chub. They have a blog (surprise!) . In the interest of fair and balanced reporting, here's a link to "Working With The Mojave Tui Chub."