Going where they shouldn't go

Four paragraphs could set the stage to wreak havoc on special places across the South. Perhaps a Bush Administration "pilot program," the recently-signed emergency military spending bill includes language that would give energy companies the right to explore for oil and gas inside the Gulf Islands National Seashore in Mississippi, according to The Los Angeles Times. The language codifies the state's claim to mineral rights under federal lands.

"The legislation marks the first time the federal government has sanctioned seismic exploration on national park property designated as wilderness — which carries with it the highest level of protection."

What's next? Horse wrangling on Cumberland Island in Georgia? Sand mining at North Carolina's Outer Banks? Woodpecker killing in Arkansas?