Will a Woolly Mammoth Found in 1879 Prevent the Sale of Plum Island?

In 2009, Congress voted to close Plum Island's Animal Disease Center by 2020 and sell the island. The government then prepared an environmental impact statement, which recommended the 840-acre island be sold for private development. However, the report also noted the 1879 find of a woolly mammoth skeleton in a sand dune there. Environmental activists as well as Representative Tim Bishop would prefer to preserve the island for research and conservation. "The historic report of a mammoth find on Plum Island is further validation of Plum Island's value as a public asset that should be saved and not sold to the highest bidder," Bob DeLuca of Group for the East End said. "The list of natural, culture and archaeological resources on Plum Island just keeps growing and makes the proposed sale to a private party seem more absurd and irresponsible with each passing day." We say: let's clone the woolly mammoth and make Plum Island into a theme park!
· Woolly Mammoth Discovery Adds To Plum Island Conservation Effort's Arsenal [27 East]