Ecoweenie Alert!
C.C. Kraemer at Tech Central Station - Man vs. Beast:

At Camp Pendleton in Southern California, the U.S. Marine Corps' premier amphibious training base, troops practice the type of beach assault they might one day have to execute on a distant, foreign shore. They swiftly approach across the waves in amphibious vehicles and eventually hit the beach where they, like generations of battle-hardened Marines before them, board a bus that will take them to another part of the base where they continue their training.

Er, let me guess.

Before they can even fire a shot, Marines who are training to kill must tread tenderly on their beach because of the presence the gnatcatcher. That unfortunately named creature is protected by the Endangered Species Act. This small gray songbird is found on roughly 50,000 of the 126,000 acres at Camp Pendleton, so the Marines have to play gracious hosts.

Certainly a case could be made that the real endangered species in this conflict is the U.S. Marine.

Got that one right. For similar foolishness see this post from last July. As I said then - Did we declare a croquet tournament when I wasn't looking?