Glenn Grothman Finally Gets Win Over Garter Snake

GOP State Senator and noted herpetologist Glenn Grothman has long been hunting for a way to get the Butler's garter snake off Wisconsin's official endangered/threatened species lists.

Now that the DNR is run by Grothman's ex-legislative colleague and former home builder Cathy Stepp, the agency has done just that, so crank up the bulldozers.

Grothman had shared his snake-related bona fides with The Washington Post in 2006:

It is unclear how many Butler's garter snakes live in Wisconsin. Grothman says there are plenty. 

"The snake is everywhere. There are probably as many snakes as people," he said... 

Conservationists say the number of snakes is meaningless. The important figure is how many protected habitats exist for the Butler's garter snake.

Note that this is not the first time that Grothman has brought his technical skills to an environmental issue: Remember when he suggested that a well potentially threatened by the world's largest open-pit iron ore mine nearby could be kept safe with some caulk?

True story.

And Grothman sees other unnecessary protections by the state, like the law that prevents an employer from implementing a seven-day work week.

Garter snakes, worker health, family life - - hey - - if it's in the way of business, bulldoze it.

He had also opined in recent years about the valueless Kwanzaa holiday, the false need for equal pay for women, and the connections of child abuse to single-parenting.

For the record, the long-time State Senator from West Bend is not married and has no children.