Scientists Expose Political Interference at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
On May 9, 2007, UCS Scientific Integrity Program Senior Scientist and Program Director Dr. Francesca Grifo testified before the House Committee on Natural Resources about political interference in endangered species science and the UCS survey of U.S. Fish and Wildlife scientists. Committee members and witnesses discussed interference in the addition and removal of species from the endangered and threatened lists, the designation of critical habitat, and the development of recovery plans.
Of particular interest to committee members were the actions of former Department of the Interior official Julie MacDonald, who resigned May 1, 2007, in the wake of reports that she had rewritten scientific documents and bullied scientists to prevent the protection of several highly imperiled species. Many members of Congress called for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to revisit decisions where political interference by MacDonald has been exposed. On July 20, the FWS announced that it will revisit decisions involving eight species.
Dr. Grifo stressed that UCS will push for more transparency in the way that endangered species decisions are made. "The real culprit here is not a renegade political appointee," she told the Associated Press. "The real culprit is a process where decisions are made behind closed doors."
