[Sosfbay-discuss] Fwd: Save the Grizzly Bear - Help Re-list Them as Endangered Species

[Wes Rolley]

JamBoi wrote:

Drew forwarded to us a action alert on the Grizzly Bear.(bottom of this 
note). While it is a good idea to do something of this sort, it is 
really helpful to understand the total picture of what went on at the 
Department of the Interior, especially with those who Jack Abramoff 
carefully placed in key positions. Even when ex-Secretary of the 
Interior, Gail Norton, had her aide, Italia Federici, set up an 
astro-turf organization called Council of Republicans for Environmental 
Advocacy, it was funded by Federici.

You are still seeing the after effects of the Norton years as 
Representatives George Miller and Nick Rahall are going after the 
recently resigned DoI official, Julie MacDonald. MacDonald was one who 
always put politics and personal gain ahead of science in the 
administration of the ESA and required critical habitat. One of her very 
nice touches was to lift the restrictions on the California splittail 
fish. Those restrictions affected the value and use of an 80 acres farm 
that she owned near Dixon in the Yolo Bypass.

According the most recent California Dept of Fish and Game, the 
population of the splittail in the delta has crashed, though not quite 
to the same extent as the delta smelt.

It all reeks and it won't be fixed until we start caring about the 
environment and demanding that our legislators do also.

Here is the detail from Miller and Rahall.

*Congressman George Miller, California's 7th District*
*Monday, May 21, 2007
Danny Weiss, 202-225-2095

Miller and Rahall Launch Inquiry into New Conflict of Interest at 
Interior Department

Senior lawmakers press Bush Administration on manipulation of science in 
a California endangered species decision

*WASHINGTON, DC - Two senior House Democrats launched an inquiry today 
into reports that a Bush Administration political appointee may have 
improperly removed a California fish from a list of threatened species 
in order to protect her own financial interests.

According to an investigative report published Sunday by the Contra 
Costa Times, Julie MacDonald, who resigned this month as Interior 
Department Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fish, Wildlife and Parks, was 
actively involved in removing the Sacramento Splittail fish from the 
federal threatened and endangered species list at the same time that she 
was profiting from her ownership of an 80-acre farm in Dixon, CA that 
lies within the habitat area of the threatened fish.

MacDonald's financial disclosure statement shows that she earns as much 
as $1 million per year from her ownership of the 80-acre active farm. 
Federal law bars federal employees from participating in decisions on 
matters in which they have a personal financial interest.

The Sacramento Splittail, a small fish found only in California's 
Central Valley, depends on floodplain habitat and has been described by 
the Fish and Wildlife Service as facing "potential threats from habitat 
loss."

Today, Rep. George Miller (D-CA) and Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WV), chairman 
of the Natural Resources Committee, wrote to Interior Secretary 
Kempthorne requesting a full accounting of MacDonald's role in the 
Sacramento Splittail decision, an explanation of her apparent conflict 
of interest, and a thorough review of the science underlying the 
decision to remove the Sacramento Splittail from the threatened species 
list.

"It looks like another Bush Administration official was protecting her 
own bottom line instead of protecting the public interest," said Miller, 
a senior member and former chairman of the Natural Resources Committee 
and a long-time proponent of the Endangered Species Act and Bay-Delta 
fish and wildlife issues. "We are going to fully investigate this matter 
and determine whether public policy was improperly altered because of 
personal conflicts of interest.

"This news raises serious questions about the integrity of the Interior 
Department and its policy decisions," Miller added. "The Sacramento-San 
Joaquin Delta has enough problems without political appointees at 
scientific agencies cooking the books. Who thought it was acceptable for 
a Deputy Assistant Secretary to change a major policy decision to exempt 
her own million-dollar enterprise from the Endangered Species Act even 
though federal law prohibits such conflicts?"

Rahall, who has served on the Natural Resources Committee since 1976 and 
became its chairman in January, called on the Department to fully 
explain what happened.

"Time and again, this Administration has demonstrated a complete 
disregard for scientists and their work," Rahall said. "Political 
appointees at the Interior Department have been allowed to overrule 
biologists and to work more closely with special interests than with 
their own staff. The Interior Department must explain its deputy 
assistant secretary's actions in this very troubling case, which is 
apparently the latest in a long line of efforts to undercut species 
recovery."

The letter from Miller and Rahall comes just two weeks after a May 9 
Committee hearing at which Deputy Interior Secretary Lynn Scarlett was 
questioned about recent controversies in the implementation of the 
Endangered Species Act. Her prepared testimony did not mention a report 
by the Department's Inspector General on an investigation into 
MacDonald, nor did her testimony indicate awareness of the serious 
consequences of MacDonald's actions. In the course of the hearing, 
Scarlett affirmed that "where there is scientific manipulation, we want 
to correct that," but no specifics were provided.

MacDonald resigned from the Interior Department just one week before 
Scarlett testified.

The Endangered Species Act established a policy of protecting and 
recovering species in decline and their habitats. Fish, wildlife, and 
plants listed as "endangered" are in danger of extinction and the 
federal government is required to take action to recover them. Species 
are listed as "threatened" if it is determined that they may soon become 
endangered. Other threatened species in the Bay-Delta region include the 
green sturgeon and the delta smelt.

The full text of the letter to The Hon. Dirk Kempthorne, Secretary of 
the Interior, is below.



May 21, 2007

The Honorable Dirk Kempthorne

Secretary

Department of the Interior

1849 C Street, N.W.

Washington, DC 20240

Dear Secretary Kempthorne:

We are writing to reiterate the request we made at the House Natural 
Resources Committee's hearing on May 9, 2007, and subsequently in 
writing by Chairman Nick J. Rahall, II, for a complete accounting of how 
the Department of the Interior is responding to the Inspector General's 
investigation of Julie MacDonald. Yesterday's newspaper report in the 
Contra Costa Times on Julie MacDonald and her role in the decision to 
remove the Sacramento Splittail from the list of threatened species 
demands an immediate response from the Department. This new information 
adds very serious charges to her record.

The Contra Costa Times reports ("Decision on splittail raises 
suspicions") that the Fish and Wildlife Service, at MacDonald's 
direction, may have improperly ignored scientific evidence when deciding 
to eliminate the Sacramento Splittail's threatened species designation, 
and that MacDonald, a non-scientist, was heavily involved in the 
decision. By statute, as you know, listing and de-listing decisions can 
only be made on the basis of the best scientific and commercial data 
available.

More egregious still, the article demonstrates that MacDonald was 
profiting significantly from agricultural property in Sacramento 
Splittail habitat. It is our understanding that this is the first and 
only time that a fish species has been removed from the list of 
threatened species for reasons other than extinction. It is unacceptable 
that such an unprecedented policy decision may have been made because a 
Deputy Assistant Secretary had a direct and substantial personal 
financial interest.

In light of this highly troubling new report, please provide us with a 
full accounting of former Deputy Assistant Secretary MacDonald's role 
from 2002-2004 in the Sacramento Splittail decision, including but not 
limited to:
1 Details of her contacts with staff in the California and Nevada 
Operations Office and elsewhere within the Department regarding the 
Sacramento Splittail;
1 A complete accounting of the changes made by Julie MacDonald, and 
others, to the Sacramento Splittail listing documents after they were 
sent to Washington; and
1 Communications regarding the Sacramento Splittail, if any, between 
MacDonald and interests outside the Department, including the San Luis & 
Delta-Mendota Water Authority, the State Water Contractors, or the 
California Farm Bureau.

In addition, please provide us with a full account of former Deputy 
Assistant Secretary MacDonald's apparent conflict of interest, including 
but not limited to:
1 Details of her participation in decisions affecting the management of 
fish and wildlife species in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta region, 
especially those on or near her property;
1 A description of Interior Department decisions, if any, from which she 
recused herself based on a conflict of interest, or the appearance of a 
conflict;
1 A list of officials at the Department who were aware that she 
continued to own and profit from agricultural property in California 
while serving as Deputy Assistant Secretary; and
1 All advice or ethics opinions provided to her by the Department 
regarding these matters.


In order to determine the Interior Department's role in overseeing 
MacDonald's activities, please provide a description of all formal or 
informal action taken by the Department in response to her 2004 decision 
to leak documents to the California Farm Bureau's lobbyist in an 
apparent attempt to undermine a scientific decision regarding the 
threatened Delta smelt.

Finally, in order to address the significant policy implications of 
MacDonald's actions, we request that you direct the Fish and Wildlife 
Service to re-evaluate whether its decision to de-list the Sacramento 
Splittail was based solely upon the best available scientific and 
commercial data, as required by law, and to report these findings to the 
Congress. In addition, please provide us with the results of each of the 
three statistical methods employed by the Fish and Wildlife Service to 
determine the health of the Sacramento Splittail's population. 
Endangered species decisions must be based on accurate and reliable 
scientific analysis, not the conflict of interest of a senior 
departmental official. This is especially true for significant and 
sensitive decisions such as this one, which could affect the management 
of California's Bay-Delta and water operations.

We appreciate your prompt attention to our request. Please contact Ben 
Miller with Rep. George Miller's staff at (202) 225-2095, or Lori Sonken 
with the Natural Resources Committee staff at (202) 225-6065, with any 
questions.

Sincerely,


_______________________ _______________________

GEORGE MILLER NICK J. RAHALL, II

Member of Congress Chairman, Committee on Natural Resources
>   
>> Date: 21 May 2007 06:35:44 -0700
>> Subject: Save the Grizzly Bear - Help Re-list Them
>> as Endangered Species
>> From: "Michael L., Care2 Action Alerts"
>> <actionalerts at care2.com>
>>     
> ---------------------------------
> :: You can make a difference TODAY, on Care2 ::
>
> Grizzly Bear numbers are declining, yet they are not
> on the endangered species list. 
>             
> Tell the Secretary of the Interior to re-list grizzly
> bears today!  
>   


-- 

I have been impressed with the urgency of doing.
Knowing is not enough; we must apply.
Being willing is not enough; 
We must do. –Leonardo DaVinci
Wesley C. Rolley
17211 Quail Court
Morgan Hill, CA 95037
(408)778-3024 - http://cagreening.blogspot.com