The only reason I used that turn of phrase was to say something relatable to HN'ers, not to make any judgement call as to whether it was an acceptable amount to

The only reason I used that turn of phrase was to say something relatable to HN'ers, not to make any judgement call as to whether it was an acceptable amount to be paying for this job or not. A couple other interesting things to note: 1) The funding for the two conservation projects I mentioned in my initial comment come from the company and military respectively and is required to be a part of the larger development project. 2) (My opinion:) Moving tortoises to a "safer" location does nothing to preserve the environment they were removed from, quite the opposite in fact, it allows it to be "developed" which will lead to the destruction of habitat for other species which weren't moved elsewhere so the overall net effect on preserved area is negative. 3) As an aside, slicing and dicing large tracts of land like the Mojave where animals have huge ranges is going to have a negative effect on the species as they would naturally move Northward as the climate changes but they'll be unable to shift out of their preserved area because it's bordered by development.