Science-meddling Scandal Grows and Grows -- Dems: Species hurt by politics

[tex-wyo-dem]

Dems: Species hurt by politics

House panel head says White House failed to correct 'tinkering' with status of rare species by former Interior official

By Thomas Burr
The Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated: 05/22/2008 03:05:45 AM MDT

WASHINGTON - House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Nick Rahall has some advice for the nation's endangered species: Try to survive for another eight months.

"At this point," Rahall, D-W.Va., said Wednesday, "the best hope for endangered species may simply be to cling to life until after January when this president and his cronies, at long last, hit the unemployment line."

Rahall's scathing remarks came as the Government Accountability Office issued a report which he says shows that, rather than fixing "tinkered" analysis of eight endangered or threatened species - including three with habitat in Utah - the Interior Department instead "swept it under the rug."

The report, released a year after an Interior official resigned amid allegations she inappropriately influenced decisions on species being considered for endangered or threatened status, says that Julie McDonald, the former deputy assistant secretary for Fish, Wildlife and Parks, excluded U.S. Forest Service areas and private lands when analyzing the Canada lynx. That threatened species is found in five Utah counties and possibly more.

more at: http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_9343014

[OKIsItJustMe]

1. Here is the report

http://www.gao.gov/docsearch/abstract.php?rptno=GAO-08-688T