READERS' PICK: You readers say the best environmental news is the listing of the
cactus ferruginous pygmy owl as an endangered species -- a crazy thing to cheer about, as it indicates we may be doing irreparable harm to our vanishing Sonoran desert by ignoring its natural balances as we replace cactus forest for subdivisions. But at least we've recognized the little feller's in trouble, which means we may have some new rules ensuring developers follow a few regulations as they pocket their stuccodollars. And maybe -- just maybe -- there are a few federal dollars in there for open space, too.
READERS' POLL RUNNER-UP: Sometime last spring, we started to think it was never going to rain again. But, as usual, right after the clowns at Tucson Water warned us about our impending water shortage, the skies finally darkened, the lightning flashed and the blessed monsoons fell from the skies. And fell. And fell. This was a wet year, and we loved every minute of it, except for those afternoons when the rain didn't fall, and the swamp boxes didn't work, and all we could do was sit and sweat and feel our sanity drip away.
