March 3, 2002: Missoulian: Interior probe finds poor judgment, no criminal intent by Robert Gehrke Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Fish and Wildlife Service biologists who sent fur samples to a lab claiming they were from a rare lynx showed "a pattern of bad judgment" but didn't break the law, an Interior Department investigator says.
CAG Comment:
Bad judgment my rosy little “blank“. CAG has said all along that there would be no legal action taken against these people. A corrupt organization like the federal government will not hold its people accountable for doing its dirty work. We the people don’t stand a chance against a government that it no longer accountable to the people and that what has happen in this country.
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The Forest Service and Fish and Wildlife Service are tracking the rare Canada 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."
During the 1999 and 2000 sampling seasons, seven federal and Washington state biologists sent fur samples from a captive lynx and from a bobcat pelt to the lab doing DNA testing. The biologists claimed the samples came from the Wenatchee and Gifford Pinchot national forests in Washington state, where lynx do not normally live.
The biologists, who were not identified by the department, said they were testing the lab's ability to identify lynx hair, a skill that had been challenged in a congressional report.
But key members of Congress demanded an investigation, arguing that the biologists' action could have tainted the study. It also could have led to closure of parts of the Wenatchee and Gifford Pinchot national forests to protect the wildcat's habitat.
Friday's report by Interior Department Inspector General Earl Devaney found no criminal intent on the part of the Fish and Wildlife Service biologists involved and said the Justice Department declined to prosecute them.
But in a letter to Interior Secretary Gale Norton summarizing the report, Devaney said the Fish and Wildlife Service failed to administer "meaningful punishment," which he said showed the service's "bias against holding employees accountable for their behavior." And he called the decision to give the employees involved a cash award, praising their work soon after the incident, "an incredible display of bad judgment."
CAG Comment:
CAG also predicted that these people would be rewarded for their crimes. Folks we have lost the fight. You might as well join an extreme environmental group and pretend to be happy. Here come the grizzly bears, the wolves and the “Wildlands Project”. Move now to avoid the rush.
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Rep. Scott McInnis, R-Colo., whose House Resources forest subcommittee will hold a hearing on the lynx study next week, called some of the findings alarming.
CAG Comment:
"Alarming" is what happen to all federal agencies under the former administration, and President Bush’s lack of ability to change the course the federal government is now following.
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