Evidence regarding the population of the giant Palouse earthworm is limited and inconclusive. The petition failed to identify a single well-designed study determining the current or historical population and range of the earthworm. The Service reasonably concluded that the petition failed to demonstrate a threat to the giant Palouse earthworm from agricultural and residential development of the Palouse bioregion or from exotic earthworms.
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Polistra was named after the original townsite of Manhattan (the one in Kansas). When I was growing up in Manhattan, I spent a lot of time exploring by foot, bike, and car. I discovered the ruins of an old mill along Wildcat Creek, and decided (inaccurately) that it was the remains of the original site of Polistra. Accurate or not, I've always liked the name, with its echoes of Poland (an under-appreciated friend of freedom) and stars. ==== The title icon is explained here. ==== Switchover: This 2007 entry marks a sharp change in worldview from neocon to pure populist. ===== The long illustrated story of Polistra's Dream is a time-travel fable, attempting to answer the dangerous revision of New Deal history propagated by Amity Shlaes. The Dream has 8 episodes, linked in a chain from the first. This entry explains the Shlaes connection.