There are some cute little bungalows for sale in my neighborhood right now, and they all say "price reduced." What would it take to get you into a nice 3BR/2BA home near the BART? Maybe the promise of helping out the oceans?

Here's what's keeping me up at night (besides pictures of oiled grebes):

That's the word from the new Legislative Analyst's Office report on the state of next year's budget. I'll be fighting over 8% of the general funds available along with everyone else who tracks critters, wildlands, bear tags and game wardens, among many other things. And the really unfortunate thing is that the total pie is shrinking, which makes it 8% of a lot less. Like having another guest at Thanksgiving to eat that pie, except here the uninvited guest is called Mr. Economic Downturn. Don't call him Mr. Recession--it hurts his feelings.

California's citizen initiative process has walled off large parts of the budget so that nature can't expect much more than 8%. I'm not going to get into a fight about bears versus schools--both are important and at some point in next year's budget process, we'll have to have that fight anyhow.  Hunters and fishermen pay directly for management with their license fees, but the rest of us get to enjoy them for free. Or at least, for a very small amount of our taxes. And these folks aren't paying at all! I better not see them at the beach.