More Troubles With Science at FWS

[Viking12]

The government agency charged with enforcing the Endangered Species Act has been a nexus for science politicization in this administration. Recently the group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) and the Union of Concerned Scientists sent a survey to FWS employees asking about this subject. The result? Scientists were ordered not to respond to the survey. See gov't memo here (PDF).


http://www.ucsusa.org/global_environment/rsi/Email_Directives.pdf


Courtesy of Chris Mooney:

http://www.chriscmooney.com/blog.asp

[Viking12]

1. Follow-up: FWS employees ignored orders

Apparently many FWS employees ignored orders from high command and completed the surveys :)

http://www.ucsusa.org/global_environment/rsi/page.cfm?pageID=1601

No wonder they agency tried to muzzle them.

[Dead_Parrot]

2. Some telling responses...

Ecological Services has sufficient resources to adequately perform its environmental mission.

strongly agree...agree...don’t know...disagree...strongly disagree
....1.2%............4.8%.....1.9%.........40.3%.........51.4%

I trust USFWS decision makers to make decisions that will protect species and habitats.

strongly agree...agree...don’t know...disagree...strongly disagree
.....0.5%..........20.0%.....10.6%........37.7%..........29.7%

I know of cases where U.S. Department of Interior political appointees have injected themselves into Ecological Services determinations.

strongly agree...agree...don’t know...disagree...strongly disagree
.....43.2%.........30.0%......22.9%........2.7%.........0.5%

I know of cases where commercial interests have inappropriately induced the reversal or withdrawal of USFWS scientific conclusions or decisions through political intervention.

strongly agree...agree...don’t know...disagree...strongly disagree
.....25.4%.........30.9%.....36.2%........5.6%..........1.0%

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In other words, apart from having no money, crap management and having their decisions overridden by industrial lobbyists, they're doing a great job!

Glad I'm not a spotted owl...