A narrow, dirt road built in 1910 was closed by the State because it ran between 2 swamps where a large population of endangered snakes was there, and many would bask on the road, including pregnant females.

The road ran one mile and was slated to be greatly widened with a new and wider bridge, with already- increased traffic because of an artificial lake being developed and many lots sold less than a mile west of there.

Was this road closure justified and helpful to people, the earth and rare animals?

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There are times when our roads are not needed, and built in the wrong spots, even though US Laws could not stop or give a nod until 1973.

Whenever we find rare, unusual animals and plants, and they may need protection to not be destroyed from a locality, state, country, region or world.

Close a road or stop a construction project?  Why?

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For people who care about all of God's creatures, who don't put humans and their interests above the needs of other living things, yes closing the road was a good thing.

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Humans are animals too - right?  If we are not, why do we have to eat, sleep, eliminate, live in time and breathe?

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At some point we humans need to change our way of thinking and learn to share and change our own behavior, instead of running roughshod over anything that gets in our way.

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It's the "Can Do America" syndrome, on Peabody coal train engines and in highway DOT's designing straight roads through anything before environmental laws were enforced.

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It's the same mentality that made genocide and extermination of entire cultures of the peoples who lived in this country before us OK... vilify that which gets in our way as a means to justify our actions, and get rid of it.

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The buzz word on that is "Didyakillit?

Kill anything in the way of the "progress of man", and in time you, we and most of us will be "in the way."

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I have an acquaintance (not a friend) who goes out of her way to run over any snake on the road. She does this on purpose because she hates snakes, no other reason.

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She is very afraid of snakes - a phobia, called ophidiophobia.  Many people, even big strapping adult men, are scared of even the tiniest and harmless of snakes, but none of them admits that - they say simply, "I don't like snakes."  As if that sums it up or means anything.

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She doesn't care if they are poisonous or not, she just hates them, so she kills them and takes extreme pleasure in doing so.

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That's sadistic, and reveals a deeper sadism and S&M "nature".  Notice she is taking pleasure at a silent victim.  Does she do other things against any humans?

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Does anyone else have a problem with this??

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Yes, and it's not only snakes that people scared of nature do - especially wild nature, from whence we all came and are part of.  Try any animal crossing a road or on the side - turtles - they like to hear and feel the "crunch", frogs during rains - a softer sensation, and many others.  People in vehicles can be very destructive and dangerous, to other people too.  The vehicles are used as weapons.

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They are just icky snakes, so who really cares, right?

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Snakes are not even slimy - they are dry.  Yet people handle slimy earthworms, raw chickens and turkeys and other slimy and icky to some - what's with that?

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I think it highly symptomatic of what is wrong with American society. 

So yes, I have a problem with people who run over snakes on the road on purpose. And I think closing this road was a good thing. Perhaps there is hope, somewhere.

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There was and is a good reason why I and associates got that road closed.   It had to be done for the endangered animals involved, to provide a sanctuary for them.  It's been 15 years now, and the road has grown over and trees naturally have fallen.

Yet, without law enforcement and monitoring, anyone can go there with a chainsaw and quads and re-open the road to the wheel again.

It is almost impossible to stop "the wheel", and stopping it on this stretch of road took 2 full years, with a humongous amount of organizing, campaigning, lobbying, press coverage and sheer numbers.

There is the hope, and we did have the laws on our side.