An announcement today regarding the Iowa Environmental/Education Project revealed the entire venture was actually an April Fool’s Day hoax by an obscure conservative think tank called “The Society for Common Sense.” Preliminary information indicates the hoax was originally intended as a private prank on Charles Grassley, a traditionally conservative Republican senator. Unnamed sources indicate that the group infiltrated Mr. Grassley’s office and planted a dummy proposal on the project, complete with survey results indicating overwhelming support from the fiscally conservative voters that form Mr. Grassley’s primary support base.

“Considering the subject matter, we never thought he’d actually fall for it,” said one member of the group, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “I guess he must not have read the proposal as carefully as we had presumed he would. I mean, a fake rainforest? In Coralville? We just never thought it would go this far.”

Local Supporters Stunned

Local supporters of the IEEP attending this morning’s meeting were stunned by the surprise announcement. “We thought they were going to promote the next phase of the project,” said one disappointed activist. “We were promised the board was going to announce the construction of a giant Ark to include two of each kind of animal, representing the diversity of bio-organisms on the planet who are affected by our generation’s emission of greenhouse gasses. It was supposed to have a dual purpose of conservation, by saving at least two of each animal from extinction when the massive weather shift from global warming occurs within the next twenty years.”

Iowans who have been following our coverage of the story will be relieved to know that our reporters did suspect the project could be some sort of a hoax. While recent editorials projected a sense of support for the plan, skepticism abounded behind the scenes. “I just kept waiting for the punchline,” one well-known copy editor stated. “Yeah. Four thousand tourists a day coming to Coralville? You guys didn’t really fall for that one?” commented an unpaid college intern, who had just returned with the staff lunch from the Cottage.