Perhaps the strongest indication that the United States is still in the midst of serious economic trouble is that paved roads, perhaps more American than apple pie and moms, are being allowed to revert to gravel, and, in some cases, being actively ground into gravel because the cost to repave is too high.
Theoretically, I like the idea of less pavement, but it makes life much more difficult for those who must rely on the now gravel roads. And it is not as if there are mass transit alternatives in the rural areas where this is happening. Perhaps we Americans need to acknowledge that vast swaths of the country should be depopulated and allowed to revert entirely to nature?
Corey is a New Yorker who lived most of his life in upstate New York but has lived in Queens since 2008. He's only been birding since 2005 but has garnered a respectable life list by birding whenever he wasn't working as a union representative or spending time with his family. He lives in Forest Hills with Daisy and Desmond Shearwater. His bird photographs have appeared on the Today Show, in Birding, Living Bird Magazine, Bird Watcher's Digest, and many other fine publications. He is also the author of the American Birding Association Field Guide to the Birds of New York.
One will wonder if the return to gravel/dirt roads in rural areas will benefit certain species like Whip-poor-will and Common Nighthawk