Flowers in the gun barrels

...and upon the fields where developers want to pave and plunder. Saw a little piece in the Seattle P-I this morning about "suspected sabotage" in Sebastopol, California, based on the existence of an endangered wildflower, Sebastopol Meadow Foam, on a former bean farm doomed to become another field of overpriced megahomes called Laguna Vista. Supposedly there was evidence that the wildflowers had been transplanted to the area illegally, as a "silver bullet" to stop the development. After wrangling around, expert testimonies, blah blah blah, the City Council tabled final approval of the development, and "A mediator is now overseeing negotiations between the developer and residents in hopes of reaching a compromise that could involve a scaled-down version of the project." Well, better than unchecked building, which is rampant everywhere these days. Good for Sebastopol, at least trying to stave off this creeping growth in order to maintain their environment. I've heard contractors whining about too many regulations and restrictions on their business, but based on things I've seen around Seattle over the past three decades, there hasn't been enough keeping them in check. It's a huge issue here, and many other parts of the country. Builders' assocations are largely conservative - surprise! - and pumping money into GOP campaigns like broken sewer pipes. Around here they're trying to get our state supreme court stacked with conservative pro-business judges.
Would that there were some kind of blossom to stop these people...