Bush Appointee Said to Reject Advice on Endangered Species By Juliet Eilperin Washington Post Staff Writer Monday, October 30, 2006; Page A03
A senior Bush political appointee at the Interior Department has rejected staff scientists' recommendations to protect imperiled animals and plants under the Endangered Species Act at least six times in the past three years, documents show. In addition, staff complaints that their scientific findings were frequently overruled or disparaged at the behest of landowners or industry have led the agency's inspector general to look into the role of Julie MacDonald, who has been deputy assistant secretary of the interior for fish and wildlife and parks since 2004, in decisions on protecting endangered species. The documents show that MacDonald has repeatedly refused to go along with staff reports concluding that species such as the white-tailed prairie dog and the Gunnison sage grouse are at risk of extinction. Career officials and scientists urged the department to identify the species as either threatened or endangered. Overall, President Bush's appointees have added far fewer species to the protected list than did the administrations of either Bill Clinton or George H.W. Bush, according to the advocacy group Center for Biological Diversity. As of now, the administration has listed 56 species under the Endangered Species Act, for a rate of about 10 a year. Under Clinton, officials listed 512 species, or 64 a year, and under George H.W. Bush, the department listed 234, or 59 a year. The dispute is the latest in a series of controversies in which government officials and outside scientists have accused the Bush administration of overriding or setting aside scientific findings that clashed with its political agenda on such issues as global warming, the Plan B emergency contraceptive and stem cell research... ** I didn't want to clog up this listserve with the entire article, but to read it in full see http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/29/AR2006102900776.html To view the evidence that shows MacDonald rewriting specific scientific documents, read other examples of political interference in science at the Interior Department, and view results from the FWS scientist survey, visit www.ucsusa.org/scientific_integrity. Michael Halpern Outreach Coordinator Scientific Integrity Program Union of Concerned Scientists 1707 H Street, NW, Suite 600 Washington, DC 20006-3962 (202) 331-5452 fax: (202) 223-6162 http://www.ucsusa.org/scientific_integrity
