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Posted on Thursday, December 18, 2008

Report finds Dept. of Interior meddled with Endangered Species Act

The inspector general at the U.S. Department of the Interior released a report this week that shows significant political meddling by Bush Administration Interior Department officials into environmental and land-use decisions at the department, especially at the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.

Senator Wyden had requested the report after the resignation of Deputy Assistant Secretary Julie MacDonald, who was found in a previous report to have violated federal rules by giving internal documents to industry lobbyists. MacDonald was also found to have run roughshod over agency scientists.

Wyden, who chairs the Senate Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests, asked the inspector general to do a more extensive review of MacDonald’s work. He also requested a review of several of MacDonald’s close colleagues.

The latest report finds Interior Department officials often interfered with scientific work in an effort to limit protections for species at risk for extinction. Inspector General Earl E. Devaney found serious flaws in the process that led to decisions on policy for endangered species.

The report is likely to be a helpful document for the incoming Obama administration reviews Bush Administration policy on endangered species and habitat protection.

Read more about this story at The New York Times and The Washington Post.