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350,000 deer must be culled in UK each year

January 30, 2009

Red DeerBy Nick Britten, Daily Telegraph, UK

The deer population in Britain has risen sharply in recent years and is now between 1.5 and 2 million.

The boom in numbers has lead to an increasing number of motorists being injured in collisions with the animals on the road.

They are also causing damage to the countryside.

Now conserviationists say a cull is the only viable option.

Ashdown Forest, in East Sussex, which has several thousand Fallow Deer, about two dozen Roe Deer, large numbers of Muntjac and a small herd of Sika, has the highest number of deer-vehicle collisions in Britain.

In 2000 rangers attended 100 collisions involving deer compared to 266 in 2008, despite having fewer staff in 2008. The actual number of collisions is believed to be around 500 a year.

Dr Hew Prendergast, Clerk to the Conservators of Ashdown Forest, said: “The damage the deer are doing in the countryside and the numbers of casualties there are on the roads mean that something must be done.

No-one wants to blast deer to kingdom come for the hell of it but its better to have them killed humanely and sensitively than to let them die in agony on the side of a road.”

He added: “The logistics of fencing off all the roads are impossible really to consider so a reduction of the population as a whole needs to be done.”

Peter Watson, executive director of the Deer Initiative, said to keep the deer population static, 25 per cent needed to be culled every year.

With the deer population in Britain rising to up to two million, that requires around 350,000 deer to be culled.

Mr Watson said: “The impact of DVCs is far too high in relation to the number of deer. Deers have value but in some areas there are too many accidents and the balance is wrong.”

Culling is not seen as the only answer but is hugely effective.

A culling programme in Herefordshire in 2005 reduced the number of DVC on the A49 from 50 to zero the following year.

Mr Watson added: “Sometimes it’s the only way. There is no doubt that if you significantly reduce the deer population you can influence road traffic accidents.”

DVC hotspots include Ashdown Forest, The New Forest, Thetford Forest in Norfolk and Cannock Chase, Staffs.

Trevor Banham, Chief Wildlife Ranger for the Forestry Commission East of England, said at Thetford Forest, which has a deer population of around 14,000, they cull 25 per cent every year to keep numbers down.

Forced to deal around 200 DVCs, he said there was no need for an extra cull.

He added: “We do have accidents but deer are wild animals. You can’t fence them in.”

Deer by numbers:

100 – types of deer worldwide

310 – the number of degrees a deer can see thanks to eyes on the side of its head

40 – miles per hour, the average speed a deer can run

200 – the number of days a deer is pregnant for

20 – years, the average life expectancy

2 – the average sized litter

Written by fandw08 · Filed Under Other News, Wildlife 

US agency says water plan wouldn’t doom species

June 6, 2008

A federal plan to reduce water flows in the Apalachicola River won’t irreversibly doom four federally protected species, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said.

Flows in the Panhandle river are being reduced as part of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers drought management plans that keep more water upstream in Georgia. One plan is expiring, but the Corps has a new plan going into effect.

Some biologists and environmentalists have raised concerns about the impact on the Gulf sturgeon fish, and three mussels: the fat threeridge mussel, the purple bankclimber and the Chipola slabshell.

But the Fish and Wildlife Service released a biological opinion Monday saying the Corps’ new plan won’t “appreciably reduce the likelihood that the four listed species can survive nor would it preclude their future recovery.”

The opinion did say there could be some negative impact, notably with the fat threeridge mussel, which could lose up to 9 percent of a population that’s already declining largely because of drought conditions.

The opinion was greeted with disappointment by many in Florida, where politicians, and environmental and seafood industry officials have been pushing for more water to be allowed to flow into the Apalachicola River.

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist said the new plans for reduced water flow jeopardize more than just the species targeted in the Fish and Wildlife study.

“This revised plan creates significant challenges in managing one of the most productive and diverse estuaries on the Gulf of Mexico,” Crist said in a statement released by his office. “Regrettably, today’s decision jeopardizes the hope of Florida’s downstream communities which rely on proper flows to sustain a vibrant ecosystem.”

Florida and Alabama officials rely on downstream water flows for power plants and commercial fisheries.

Florida, Georgia and Alabama have been in a legal and political battle over water rights since the early 1990s, but the fight has intensified in the past year as a drought has gripped the southeast, particularly Georgia.

The decision is expected to allow Georgia to keep more water in north Georgia lakes, including Lanier, which provides metro Atlanta with most of its water. Despite recent rains, Lanier remains more than 13 feet below full pool – and Corps engineers said it could drop more during the summer.

“Until Mother Nature gives us something better, we have to manage those conditions,” said Brig. Gen. Joseph Schroedel of the Corps.

Meanwhile, some Georgia advocates complained the plan still doesn’t allow the state to keep enough of its water. Pat Stevens of the Atlanta Regional Commission said it was only a “slight improvement.”

“We need the Corps to put in a more balanced plan because the harm to the upstream users is tremendous,” she said, noting the dwindling levels of north Georgia’s Lake Lanier. “The economic harm is huge and we’re going into the dry part of the year with the lake lower than its ever been.”

While the Fish and Wildlife Service opinion validates the move to reduce flows to Alabama and Florida and keep more water upstream in Georgia, it also gives the states more breathing room to come to an agreement over how to share water rights after talks between their governors fell apart earlier this year.

The biological opinion is set to expire after five years and designed to bridge the gap until the three states can come up with their own agreement, said Sam D. Hamilton, the service’s southeast regional director.

With no water pact, the Corps has had to play referee in the yearslong tri-state “water wars” over allocations from the region’s two major river basins.

Both fisheries officials and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection spokesman complained that the water flows in Florida are being reduced while Georgia still isn’t doing enough to restrict water use there. Some watering restrictions in that state were recently reduced, although outdoor watering is limited in much of north Georgia.

“Even more troubling is the expectation that, as outlined in the Service’s Biological Opinion, municipal and industrial consumption will increase by 27 percent by 2017, further emphasizing the need to for Georgia to recognize its overall effect on the system and implement reasonable and prudent actions to better manage water resources,” said Florida DEP Secretary Michael Sole.

Kevin Begos, a spokesman for oystermen and other seafood industry workers in Franklin County, Fla., said harvests haven’t been as bad as feared yet – but he fears they will be with lower flows. He also expressed concern that the entire river, bay and nearshore Gulf ecosystem doesn’t seem to be being considered by federal officials, who have focused only on the four species in danger.

Written by fandw08 · Filed Under Wildlife 

Fish & Wildlife is sued to gain jaguar protection

June 6, 2008

Seeking a conservation plan to protect the American jaguar, one of the rarest animals native to Arizona, Defenders of Wildlife has sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and several ranking officials.

The federal suit comes six months after Fish and Wildlife ruled there would be no recovery plan for the American jaguar, saying such action would not help the cats return to the region.

In its suit, Defenders of Wildlife argues Southern Arizona and New Mexico are crucial areas in the jaguar’s habitat. The construction of a border fence, particularly without a recovery plan, will all but eliminate the jaguar’s presence to the region.

The “decision not to prepare a recovery plan for the jaguar is especially shortsighted in light of the current pronounced threats faced by the species within the U.S., most notably ongoing and proposed border-wall construction that would block jaguar migratory corridors along the U.S.-Mexico border that are essential to the species’ continued existence in this country,” the suit says. “Much of this border wall is being constructed without any environmental review.”

Efforts to reach a Fish and Wildlife spokeswoman Wednesday afternoon were unsuccessful.

While the prospect of a border fence certainly ups the ante, Craig Miller, Southwest representative for Defenders of Wildlife, said there has been a need for a plan since 1997, when the American Jaguar was placed on the Endangered Species List.
Fish and Wildlife has been slow to adopt conservation plans for species whose habitats span international borders, he said.
“This is symptomatic of a broader trend within this administration’s Fish and Wildlife Service to remove protections for wildlife which have ranges that span international borders,” Miller said.

The American jaguar at one time roamed from Monterey Bay to the Appalachian Mountains and from the Grand Canyon to well into Central and South America.

For decades, the big cats have hardly been seen in the U.S., with rare sightings in Southern Arizona and New Mexico.
This scarcity is one of the reasons Fish and Wildlife called the American jaguar a “foreign” species that could not be recovered in the U.S., according to the suit.

Lately, though, jaguar sightings have become slightly more common, suggesting any jaguars appearing near the U.S.-Mexico border are living in the region and not merely passing through it, the suit says.

Trail cameras placed in Arizona between 2001 and 2007 captured 69 photographs of jaguars, five video clips and 28 sets of tracks, according to the suit.

And while the Southwest U.S. represents the northern edge of the jaguar’s habitat, Miller said developing a conservation plan in the U.S. is crucial for those jaguars throughout the northern range in Mexico. The jaguar is losing habitat to the south in Argentina, he said, and there is also the threat of climate change and development.

“The importance of the northern range is increasing because of the changes in human activities and land use and also climate change,” Miller said. “We believe that in order to preserve jaguars to make sure they have a future throughout their northern range, that habitat is essential to their recovery.”

The suit notes the Fish and Wildlife Service has, in the past, extended recovery plans for wildlife species that have much larger ranges outside the U.S. It also states that, in the past, Fish and Wildlife has considered the jaguar a domestic animal.
Defenders of Wildlife’s suit will likely be joined with a similar suit filed by the Center of Biological Diversity in 2007.

Written by fandw08 · Filed Under Wildlife 

Suit seeks to stop elk feeding on Wyoming refuge

June 6, 2008

Five conservation groups have asked a federal court to stop the artificial feeding of elk on Wyoming’s National Elk Refuge.

By feeding thousands of wild elk, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has turned the 25,000-acre refuge into a breeding ground for diseases harmful to wildlife and livestock, the groups claimed in a lawsuit filed Tuesday.

The lawsuit challenges a 2007 management plan for the refuge that continued the feeding despite its potential risk. It claims the government is violating its mandate to protect and improve refuge habitat.

“Continued feeding on the refuge will maintain ideal conditions for transmission of brucellosis,” the lawsuit states, “and also is highly likely to invite a devastating outbreak of lethal chronic wasting disease — the elk equivalent of `mad cow’ disease.”

Brucellosis can cause pregnant animals to prematurely abort their young. Chronic wasting disease is a neurological sickness that can be fatal to elk, moose and deer.

Last winter, an estimated 8,300 elk and 920 bison consumed more than 8.4 million pounds of alfalfa pellets at the refuge near Jackson, Wyo., said the facility’s manager, Steve Kallin. That’s the equivalent of 175 semitrailer loads of feed.

Kallin declined to comment on specifics of the lawsuit, but he said the 2007 plan called for the refuge to reduce feeding over time.

The practice dates to the early 1900s, when homesteaders began feeding elk to keep them from starving after much of the natural forage in the area was consumed by newly introduced cattle herds.

Despite growing awareness of the increased risk of disease transmission when the animals congregate, artificial feeding has continued at the refuge under pressure from hunting groups.

Bob Wharff, executive director of Wyoming Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife, said an abrupt end to feeding could have negative consequences.

“There comes a point where you don’t feed them and they get to a weakened state. They’d get far more susceptible (to disease),” he said.

Wharff said a study done for his organization several years ago indicated elk populations would decline by 60 to 80 percent if feeding stopped.

“I don’t think anybody is going to sit back and let them all starve to death,” he added.

The feeding grounds also inadvertently attract hundreds of bison every winter from Grand Teton National Park. That led to a hunt last winter in which 266 bison were killed to stave off damage caused when the animals trample the landscape.

Kallin said irrigation systems are being built and natural habitat restored to increase forage. Also, increased hunting will be used to trim the elk population to about 5,000 animals, while the bison population is to be reduced by up to 700 animals.

“It’s a complex situation,” Kallin said. “The existing plan recognizes a potential for disease, and it addresses that in the plan.”

The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., by Defenders of Wildlife, Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance, National Wildlife Refuge Association, Greater Yellowstone Coalition and the Wyoming Outdoor Council.

Written by fandw08 · Filed Under Wildlife 

‘This is not bear country.’ Grizzly surprises rancher

June 6, 2008

“It’s the first time I’ve ever seen a bear out here. This is not bear country,” said J.C. Seewald, whose family owns and operates Landslide Farms northwest of Cut Bank. “There’s no way he was more surprised to see me than I was to see him,” said Seewald of the encounter last week.
Blackfeet Fish & Wildlife agent Kevin Vaile, above, inspects the 285 lb. male grizzly, which was shot by J.C. Seewald last week. A very surprised Seewald came upon the bear feeding on this cow, below, on Wednesday evening. He reported the incident to the Blackfeet Fish & Wildlife authorities the next morning. Photo by Brian Kavanagh

Seewald shot the grizzly, first with a .22 and then later with a .338, after he came upon him unexpectedly around sunset on Wednesday, May 28, about a mile from his home. Seewald was checking cows when he came up and over a hill and nearly ran into the bear, which was feeding on a dead cow.

Seewald had spotted a dead cow the night before in another pasture and had seen coyotes eating on it. He recalled hearing two calves bawling at the time but didn’t think much of it.

The following night, after checking “lick tubs” and hauling mineral to another pasture, he started for home. And that’s when he got the surprise of his life.

“I was booking for home on my four-wheeler after checking cows and when I got over the hill I braked hard, skidding within about 10 yards of a grizzly bear. The whole thing took about seven or eight seconds, I suppose. The grizzly stood up on his hind legs and barked two or three times,” he recounted. “I braked hard and locked up the wheels on the four-wheeler, which sent my dog flying off the back.”

Seewald continued, “I reached for my .22 as I saw the bear step over the cow toward me. I hit him with at least two or three shots before he backed down and then took off to the north. Then I turned south and took off for the house.”

Seewald and his wife, Hapi, have three young sons and usually at least one, if not all three, are with him when he’s out doing chores. “They stayed with Hapi to plant trees around the house,” said J.C. The house where his family was working outside was “about a mile as the crow flies” from the area he shot the bear.

“I went running into the house, yelled to Hapi what happened and told her to keep the boys inside. I grabbed my .338 and when I went back to where the cow was, the bear was there feeding on it again,” said Seewald. This time he fired three shots at the bear’s shoulder.

He explained, “99.9 percent of the time I have at least one of my sons with me and I would have that night except I had my four-wheeler loaded with mineral.”

“We called the Blackfeet Fish & Game folks the next morning and they came out to investigate,” said Seewald. “They did a good job and were very thorough and fair in their investigation.”

“J.C. called first thing in the morning, so we went out to start what is standard procedure because of the grizzly’s threatened status under the Endangered Species Act,” said Dan Carney, bear biologist at Blackfeet Fish and Wildlife.

Carney was accompanied by Blackfeet Fish and Wildlife agents Kevin Vaile, Fred Crossguns and assistant Joey Crossguns Thursday, May 29, in investigating the shooting death of the 285 lb. male grizzly bear.

“It was way out east, north of Mission Lake, and about five or six miles from the Canadian border,” Carney continued. “It was a male with a radio collar and transmitter, that was caught by Montana Department of Fish Wildlife and Parks east of Dupuyer last fall. There was a man who was mobbed by grizzlies there last year, and they caught this one, but it wasn’t the same bear.”

DNA tests showed the bear they’d caught didn’t match samples of the one that attacked the man. “So it was basically a non-target capture,” Carney said. “It was relocated around Ear Mountain and the next thing you know it popped up here.”

Although the bruin was radio-collared, Carney noted, bears are only tracked by air once per month by the state agency, and the Blackfeet agency doesn’t ordinarily look for grizzlies that far east.

Nonetheless, bears frequently make it out onto the prairie, following creeks and rivers. “There are more and more reports of bears on the creek bottoms,” Carney said. “They follow way out east to Alkali Lake on the Two Medicine and east on Cut Bank Creek. This was the first time on the Milk River, but it wasn’t a huge surprise to me.”

Carney explained the investigation now underway is meant to determine whether the shooting was in self-defense. He added the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife is conducting their own investigation as well.

Seewald said he met with officials from the U.S. Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks on Friday.

No charges by either agency had been filed against Seewald as of press time.

“It all happened so fast,” said Seewald of last week’s incident.

Written by fandw08 · Filed Under Wildlife 

NC wildlife refuge fire grows, spreads ash, smoke

June 6, 2008

A wildfire in a national wildlife refuge in rural eastern North Carolina grew to more than 16 square miles Thursday, spreading smoke and ash that affected parts of neighboring Virginia.

But officials don’t know the exact size of the fire at Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge because smoke is so dense that airline pilots are unable to see the fire’s boundaries.

No injuries were reported and no structures were damaged, said Bonnie Strawser of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The fire started Sunday from lightning, officials previously said.

“There’s a loss of timber and those sorts of things,” she said.

Smoke and ash filled the air in the town of Manteo, about 45 miles east of the fire, as well as in Chesapeake, Va., some 75 miles north of the refuge, officials said.

The fire continued to burn in eastern North Carolina counties of Hyde, Tyrrell and Washington. Voluntary evacuation orders were issued Thursday for homes in parts of Tyrrell County and for a Hyde County subdivision because there was no way out if the fire reached it, officials said. Authorities asked 39 homeowners around Lake Phelps to leave on Wednesday.

The fire could last two months or more unless the area gets substantial rainfall, said Tony Spencer of Hyde County Emergency Management.

Written by fandw08 · Filed Under Wildlife 

Spring: Time for bear safety awareness

June 6, 2008

Bears have been seen in the Big Sky area recently and their appearance is a reminder that spring is a prime time for outdoor enthusiasts and homeowners alike to be aware of techniques to avoid problems with the lumbering omnivores.

According to Kevin Frey, Wildlife Management Specialist with Fish, Wildlife and Parks, black bears and grizzlies call Big Sky country home and it’s possible to encounter them practically anywhere at any time except during the winter when they typically go into hibernation.

The best strategy for dealing with reawakening bears in the spring is to avoid running into them in the first place, said Frey.

“It is fairly easy to avoid bears. Learn to recognize bear sign, make noise near creeks and in thick timber and stop once in awhile to look around for movement,” Frey said.

Bears fresh out of hibernation tend to remain around their dens for a few days, or if the snow is too deep and spring is slow in coming, they move to lower elevations to search for green grasses.

Frey urged homeowners in bear country to be particularly careful to keep food sources contained to avoid tempting bears. Secure garbage in bear-proof containers, bring bird feeders inside at night and be sure to collect fruit from fruit trees right away. Pet food should be kept inside a garage or storage building as should barbecue grills.

He said seeing a bear is to be expected in Montana, but in most cases conflicts can be easily avoided. When conflicts do occur it is often because the bear has been surprised, teased, fed or meets a person over a big game carcass or huckleberry bush.

“If a bear cannot be avoided, the next best thing is to prevent the bear from feeling threatened,” Frey said.

“A bear may watch a person, or even stand on its hind legs to sniff the air. That is normal bear behavior, it is just trying to figure out what it is seeing,” he said.

Here are the questions Frey asks when he encounters a bear: Is this a grizzly or a black bear? Grizzly bears are generally more aggressive than a black bear. If it isn’t clear, assume grizzly.

Is the bear preoccupied? Has it noticed me? If not, immediately back up and leave quietly.

Is the bear looking at me? If so remain alert but relaxed as the bear tries to identify what it is seeing. Then call out in a calm, firm tone so it can hear your voice. The bear will generally turn and leave or huff and appear anxious.

Give the bear time to react and avoid any threatening movements or sounds. If a bear begins to bounce on its front legs it is trying to scare you away or preparing to bluff charge.

If a bear is moving toward you straight backed, head down and picking up speed it is charging. A bear will often run past a person and then away if there is an easy avenue of escape. In a surprise encounter, if the bear knocks you down, stay down until you are certain it has moved completely away.

Bear pepper spray is a last resort to use when a bear charges. While Frey urges people who recreate or work in the outdoors to carry bear pepper spray, he says it is a “last defense” and is not foolproof.

Inexperienced bear pepper spray users can benefit from mentally reviewing possible bear-conflict scenarios and from test-spraying the product until they are confident they can use it safely and effectively.

For more information on bears contact FWP at 994-4042.

Written by fandw08 · Filed Under Wildlife 

Deep Fried Turkey Breast

May 29, 2008



~ 1 &nbsp3 – 5 lb. turkey breast, deboned and cut into strips
~ 1 bottle Italian dressing
~ 1/2 tsp lemon pepper seasoning
~ 2 eggs
~ 2 cups milk
~ 2 cups flour
~ salt & pepper to taste

In a glass dish, marinate the turkey in the Italian dressing and lemon pepper
seasoning overnight.

In a bowl, beat the eggs into the milk.

Place the flour in a second bowl and season to taste with the salt & pepper.

Dip the turkey strips in the egg mixture and then in the flour.

Deep fry in oil until golden brown.

Serve and Enjoy!

Written by fandw08 · Filed Under Wildlife 

To catch a moose

May 27, 2008

EAST WENATCHEE — Wildlife officials shot a young moose with a tranquilizer dart and moved it out of an East Wenatchee neighborhood Monday morning.

“This moose capture, on an easy scale, this was right about in the middle,” state Fish and Wildlife Sgt. Doug Ward said just after the catch. “These things are really unpredictable, and they can be very dangerous. It’s nice to have it in the horse trailer.”

The moose was a female about a year-and-a-half old, said veterinarian Randy Hein.

Ellen Sonnichsen was the first to report seeing the moose, at 5:47 a.m. from her home on North Gale Place.

“She was trotting down the road, minding her own business,” Sonnichsen said. Most of her neighbors were not awake, but “now they’re blinking in disbelief when I tell them.”

“There are tracks to prove it,” she said.

Officers from the East Wenatchee police and the state Fish and Wildlife Department began tracking the animal after a second moose-spotter called RiverCom at 7:07 a.m, dispatchers said.

“They usually just move on through,” Ward said. “We’re going to try to dart this one. We’ve got a horse trailer available and we’ll relocate it.”

“It’s so we can get him safely out of here on a day like today,” said East Wenatchee police officer Christy Patterson about transporting the animal. “It was running around the streets this morning, getting into traffic and kind of causing a havoc, and with Memorial Day traffic …”

Hein darted the moose at about 9:25 a.m. The animal stumbled and fell onto 5th Street near Eastmont Avenue, where officers encircled it with a car blockade.

Hein reversed the tranquilizer with a shot before dropping off the animal at an undisclosed wildlife area, Ward later said.

Ward said moose sightings typically are reported when the animals try to cross the Wenatchee River. Moose captures are rare, he said.

“They all come from the Spokane area,” Ward said. “They radiate out like spokes on a wheel. … They just take off. They’re like the original explorers, and they go on forever.”

Written by fandw08 · Filed Under Wildlife 

US Official: Interior rulings subject to meddling

May 27, 2008

WASHINGTON (AP) — A congressional investigator asserted Wednesday that at least four Interior Department officials may have inappropriately interfered in decisions on protection of endangered species.

The four officials — including three Bush administration appointees — may have put political pressure on lower-ranking employees who were deciding endangered species cases, the Government Accountability Office said.

Robin Nazzaro, a top investigator for the GAO, made the allegation at a House hearing on purported interference by Julie MacDonald, a high-ranking Interior official who resigned last year.

The officials named by Nazzaro are Craig Manson, a former assistant Interior secretary; Brian Waidmann, chief of staff to Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne; Todd Willens, a former deputy assistant Interior secretary: and Randal Bowman, a special assistant in the Interior secretary’s office.

All four acted in ways that could be seen as interfering in decisions on treatment of endangered species, Nazzaro said. Willens and Manson have left the Interior Department, while Waidmann and Bowman continue to work there.

Manson, Willens and Waidmann were Bush administration appointees, while Bowman is a career Interior official who now works under Lyle Laverty, the current assistant Interior secretary for fish, wildlife and parks.

Nazzaro said she was not accusing the four of wrongdoing, per se, but said memos, e-mails and other documents studied by the GAO show they were involved in decisions later found tainted by political pressure from MacDonald.

A spokeswoman for the Interior Department declined immediate comment. A message was left for Waidmann, and the other three could not immediately be reached.

Last fall, the Fish and Wildlife Service, an arm of the Interior Department, reversed seven rulings that denied endangered species increased protection, after an investigation found the actions were tainted by MacDonald.

But Nazzaro criticized the Fish and Wildlife Service for conducting what she called a too-narrow review. Instead of focusing only on MacDonald, the agency should have broadened its review to include decisions potentially influenced by Manson, Waidmann, Willens, Bowman and other high-ranking Interior officials, she said.

“Questions remain about the extent to which Interior officials other than Ms. MacDonald may have inappropriately influenced (Endangered Species Act) decisions and whether broader ESA policies should be revisited,” she said.

Rep. Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, called Nazzaro’s testimony and a 66-page report submitted by GAO troubling.

“A disconcerting picture has emerged of officials working at the highest levels of the Interior Department continuing to tamper with the endangered species program, trumping science with politics,” Rahall said. “The practice is pervasive and I am convinced that the only remedy is a house-cleaning, post-November.”

Rahall and other Democrats requested the GAO investigation after MacDonald resigned last spring, saying they wanted to uncover whether and how much partisan considerations tainted decisions on whether to list species as endangered.

The report released Wednesday shows “we can have no confidence that political tinkering with the ESA program is being addressed any better now than it was under MacDonald’s reign,” Rahall said.

Written by fandw08 · Filed Under Wildlife 

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