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Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Fish and Wildlife Reviewing MacDonald's Interference

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced recently that it planned to review eight Endangered Species Act (ESA) decisions ex-deputy assistant secretary Julie MacDonald influenced according to a BNA story (subscription) published yesterday. FWS has identified eight among hundreds its reviewed that MacDonald may have influenced for political considerations.

MacDonald is the Gale Norton appointee with no science background who reportedly bullied and intimidated agency employees, fed documents to industry friends, and changed supporting documents. She resigned in April after her exploits were brought to light by internal investigations.

In another ESA case, BNA reports today that a district court in Oregon overturned a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries' 2006 decision to delist coho salmon. NOAA Fisheries withdrew its analysis in favor of an Oregon state program. The problem, according to the court, was the Oregon plan wasn't based on the best available science as required by ESA. So the delisting decision was flawed.

And this on the heels of a western Washington court overturning last month another NOAA Fisheries decision downgrading the steelhead because — you guessed it — the decision wasn't based on best available science.