In May I wrote an article about the 2010 Census and the extraordinary difficulties that will be involved in the national survey this time around. I talked about the difficulties that Census Chief Robert Groves will encounter with this undertaking. I mentioned that the costs will be higher, district restructuring will be more heavily contested, some minority groups are planning to resist being counted, and countless other headaches involved.

However, I did not discuss the potential dangers derived from negative feelings towards the federal government in these difficult economic times.

Many times rural areas are hit the hardest by a recession. If you think it is tough to find a job in New York, Dallas, or Los Angeles these days, try Manchester, Kentucky. Hard times make for hard feelings. Imagine trying to feed your family while the government is handing out billions in free money to organizations that have proven themselves unsustainable in the current economy.

Update: Kentucky State Police now suspect that Mr. Sparkman's death was the result of suicide. If this turns out to be true, I don't believe it changes the tragedy of the situation but may help in easing tensions about the upcoming census.

Are these the emotions that lead up to the killing of teacher, Boy Scout leader, and VOLUNTEER census taker, Bill Sparkman in Clay County, Kentucky?  How could anyone think he posed any threat? What question could he possibly have asked that would make someone take his life and make an example of him by scrawling 'FED' on his dead body for all to see?

Was there another motive?

Clay County has been hard hit by the recent economic downturn. In the past, some residents of this region of Appalachia have combated poverty through black market means - mainly illegal moonshine stills. Agents of the federal government asking questions about their income and status meant potentially shutting down what may have been their only source of survival in desperate times.

Could it be that Mr. Sparkman stumbled upon the modern equivalent of the moonshine still? A marijuana field? The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy estimates that more than half of the marijuana consumed in the United States is produced domestically. Much of that - no one knows for certain how much - is grown on public lands, primarily the country's 155 national forests. The marijuana is grown in National Forests as a means to protect private property from being invaded or possibly seized. National Forests like the Daniel Boone National Forest, where Mr. Sparkman's body was found. According to officials at the Office of National Drug Policy's Appalachia High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Program (HIDTA), Kentucky produces more marijuana than any other state except California.

Considering the location, his disfigurement, and the fact that it was harvest season, the idea that Mr. Sparkman was killed for stumbling across someone's illegal cash crop seems more plausible than the idea that he was killed for any real census related reason.

The circumstances of Mr. Sparkman's tragic death and the resentment that some people hold against recent government strategies is yet another hurdle that the census bureau will need to overcome. Volunteers will be harder to come by. Resentment of the federal government, due to political, economic, or prejudicial reasons, underscores the fact that the 2010 Census will be the Mother of all Surveys.

Update: Kentucky State Police now suspect that Mr. Sparkman's death was the result of suicide. If this turns out to be true, I don't believe it changes the tragedy of the situation but may help in easing tensions about the upcoming census