We KNEW this was happening! Federal and State employees were caught trying to get more public lands closed illegally. Here's the story from the Washington Times:
December 17, 2001
Rare lynx hairs found in forests exposed as hoax
By Audrey Hudson
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Federal and state wildlife biologists planted false evidence of
a rare cat species in two national forests, officials told The
Washington Times.
Had the deception not been discovered, the government likely
would have banned many forms of recreation and use of natural
resources in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest and Wenatchee
National Forest in Washington state.
The previously unreported Forest Service investigation found
that the science of the habitat study had been skewed by seven
government officials: three Forest Service employees, two U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service officials and two employees of the Washington
Department of Fish and Wildlife.
The officials planted three separate samples of Canadian lynx
hair on rubbing posts used to identify existence of the creatures in
the two national forests.
DNA testing of two of the samples matched that of a lynx living
inside an animal preserve. The third DNA sample matched that of an
escaped pet lynx being held in a federal office until its owner
retrieved it, federal officials said.
After the falsified samples were exposed by a Forest Service
colleague, the employees said they were not trying to manipulate or
expand the lynx habitat, but instead were testing the lab's ability
to identify the cat species through DNA analysis, said Joel Holtrop,
a Forest Service official.
"Even if that is the case, it was inappropriate," Mr. Holtrop
said.
Forestry officials, conservationists and retired federal
officials said they were outraged that the data were tampered with
and said they are skeptical it was an attempt to test the lab.
"I would find the evil-twin argument more plausible," said Rob
Gordon, executive director of the National Wilderness Institute.
"That would be like bank robbers taking money from a bank and
saying they were just testing the security of a bank, they weren't
really stealing the money. That's beautiful, but I don't think it
will fly," Mr. Gordon said.
Retired Fish and Wildlife Service biologist James M. Beers
called the false sampling amazing but not surprising.
"I'm convinced that there is a lot of that going on for
so-called higher purposes," Mr. Beers said.
The employees have been counseled for their actions and banned
from participating in the three-year survey of the lynx, listed as a
threatened animal under the Endangered Species Act. Federal
officials would not name the offending employees, citing privacy
concerns.
The lynx listing and habitat study began in 1999 during the
Clinton administration and concludes this year. It was criticized by
Westerners as a political move to impose restrictions on public
lands.
Radical environmental groups felt the restrictions didn't go far enough.
To protect the habitat of the felines, roads would have to be
closed to vehicles, and off-road vehicles, snowmobiles, skis and
snowshoes would have been banned. Livestock grazing and tree
thinning also would have been banned.
"It was rigged from the word go; it was full of bad biology and bad politics," Mr. Beers said. "It gave them [ the federal
government ] carte blanche to go |
after ski resorts, stop road building and go afterranchers and tree cutters."
When the Vail Ski Resort announced an expansion of trails into
possible lynx habitat, the radical animal-rights group Earth
Liberation Front (ELF) torched five buildings and four ski lifts in
protest. The Oct. 18, 1998, fire caused $12 million in damage and
was the largest act of eco-terrorism in the United States. No
arrests were made, and the statute of limitations expired in
October.
This past summer, ELF planted spikes in hundreds of trees to
sabotage a timber sale and protect the lynx and spotted owls in the
Gifford Pinchot National Forest - one of the forests where the false
samples were planted.
This isn't the first time forestry officials have encountered
questionable studies to identify the presence of lynx in the
Northwest.
In 1999, a scientist hired by the federal government submitted
lynx hair samples supposedly found in the Oregon Cascades, farther
south than where the animals were thought to exist, said Chris West,
spokesman for the American Forest Resource Council.
Federal officials spent thousands of hours and tens of
thousands of dollars trying to duplicate the finding but found no
evidence of the creatures.
The hairs were never validated, the samples were thrown out,
and the contractor was never paid, Mr. West said.
"These are cases of rogue biologists trying to influence
natural-resources policy," Mr. West said.
"There has clearly been some shenanigans going on here," he
said of the false sampling in Washington.
Forest Service officials say this year's errant sampling was
caught and therefore did not affect the integrity of the sample
survey.
"We have looked at it carefully and feel the overall integrity
of the sampling effort is in place, and the ongoing results will
have valid scientific and sound results," said Heidi Valetkevitch,
Forest Service spokeswoman.
However, the incident has damaged the integrity of the federal
agencies within their own ranks and in the communities they serve.
"It destroys the credibility of the hard work we are trying to
do to track these animals," said one retired Forest Service
employee.
Mr. Gordon said the false sampling aggravates an already
distrustful relationship between Westerners and the federal
government.
"This revelation makes all the projects these offices and
individuals were involved in suspect, and may merit review," Mr.
Gordon said.
Copyright © 2001 News World Communications, Inc.
To us here at Extreme 4x4.com, this revelation makes ALL projects that ALL the government agencies conduct, whether they're from the Departments of Interior, Agriculture, or any state agencies suspect and subject to review. We've known for years that reports of endangered and threatened species here in our local desert have been misrepresented. We were told by a BLM biologist, specializing in the desert tortoise, that there are many desert tortoises living in the desert, so many, in fact, that if the true numbers were known they'd have to be removed from any endangered or threatened list. This biologist, who'll remain anonymous, left the BLM in disgust a year later and now works in the private sector.
This is just one of what we're sure are many instances of abuse by those who are trying to close our public lands to access by us. The Washington Times article proves this. If enough of these people are exposed, maybe we can get legal access to our public lands back! |
