I dream of beetles | The Salt Lake Tribune

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

I've been trying to figure why I have lately had such a hard time sleeping. Is it that, over the past 10 years, thousands of Americans have died in Iraq and Afghanistan and tens of thousands have been injured?

Or is it because the federal government charges four out of every 10 dollars it spends on a credit card in the names of our children and grandchildren? Is it because four years ago the world economy suffered a near total meltdown and is still struggling to recover?

Or is it because people on this planet would actually kill you for exercising free speech? Is it that interest rates are low and unemployment high, or that in the first presidential debate Gov. Mitt Romney looked strong and President Barack Obama did not?

It's none of the above. No, the root of my sleep problem is the endangered species status of the Coral Pink Sand Dunes tiger beetle ("Tiger beetle unique to Utah proposed for listing as 'threatened,'" Tribune, Oct. 3).

Oh, yes, and that we pay tax dollars to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to research and inform us about the world's population of tiger beetles.

Bruce M. Baird

Sandy