The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “A [Wisconsin] state legislative committee has taken the apparently unprecedented action of removing all protections for the Butler’s garter snake unless officials roll back regulations for the controversial reptile.” The Republican-controlled legislature has squabbled with the Department of Natural Resources for years. The committee became convinced that the species — first listed as threatened in 1997 — is not threatened at all. It’s probably quite coincidental that the species has been the subject of many development-related controversies.