December 21, 2001: Missoulian, Norton wants investigation into fur-planting By the Associated Press
DENVER - Interior Secretary Gale Norton has called for an investigation of federal biologists who planted lynx fur in two national forests.
Norton said Wednesday she was deeply troubled by the situation and asked her agency's inspector general to investigate. The Forest Service is expected to announce that it also is planning to investigate, The Denver Post's Washington bureau reported Thursday.
CAG Comment:
Norton should be troubled by the fact that federal and state personnel will use their positions to falsify evidence. Norton should also be questioning the scope of this type of activity. Is this just the tip of the iceberg? Have state and federal agencies been so infiltrated by environmentalists that they can no longer be objective. Mihkel Mathiesen in his book, Global Warming in a Politically Correct Climate, asserts that we have lost objectivity in science. Scientists have become subjective, ignore that which disproves your theory and only accept that which helps verify your theory. To take this idea one step further, create the evidence you need to prove your theory.
The real question is how long has this been going on? What other data has been falsified by other state and federal people. Is for example, NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) through the National Weather Service fudging temperature data to show global warming? Can grizzly bears live on just vegetation as claimed by those that want to reintroduce them into the Bitterroot/Selway Ecosystem? The questions go on and on!
One other area of concern: How should we punish state and federal employees who are simply pushing their own agenda? The former President was impeached by the House of Representatives, yet the Senate failed to vote to remove because it did not fit their agenda. At what level in government hierarchy do we start punishing people for similar actions?
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During the 2000 sampling session, biologists planted three samples of lynx fur on rubbing posts in parts of the Wenatchee and Gifford Pinchot national forests in Washington state, areas not normally home to the lynx. Fur taken from the posts is used to indicate if the wildcats have been in the area.
The seven biologists - three from the Forest Service, two from the Fish and Wildlife Service and two from the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife - admitted they planted the samples, but said their intent was simply to test whether the lab could accurately identify the lynx fur.
None remain in the lynx survey program. Six were reassigned and one retired.
House Resources Committee Chairman James Hansen, R-Utah, and Rep. Scott McInnis, R-Colo., chairman of the House forests subcommittee, earlier this week called it "grossly inadequate punishment given the magnitude of this offense."
They said if it is found that the intent was to skew the study, the biologists should be fired. They asked for an investigation.
Republican Sens. Gordon Smith of Oregon and Larry Craig of Idaho on Thursday also asked the Senate Energy and Natural Resources' forests subcommittee for an oversight hearing about issue. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., the chairman, hadn't received their request but said he would look at it.
"There is no question about how serious this is," Wyden said.
The Forest Service and Fish and Wildlife Service are tracking the rare Canadian lynx to determine how many there are and where they live. Data from the four-year survey will be used to determine how best to protect the lynx, which is classified as "threatened."
Some proposed changes to protect the lynx include limiting the thinning of forests to improve the habitat for the snowshoe hares and to restrict snowmobiling and some other winter activities. But Hansen and McInnis want a review of all data collected through the program before any land management decisions are made.
This issue like so may more that involve state and federal employees will just die away without anyone being held accountable. The US Fish and Wildlife misused the Pittman-Robinson funds, nothing happened. It will be the same here.
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