U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe, an Obama political appointee, has failed to act and refuses to provide relevant documents on findings of scientific misconduct and whistleblower retaliation by agency managers, according to a lawsuit filed by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). Some of the findings of misconduct involved political interference with endangered species research relevant to the Keystone XL pipeline permit.
Recall that it was on Ashe's watch that the agency last year proposed, under political pressure and without a sound scientific basis, to remove endangered species protection nationwide for the gray wolf. And it is Ashe who will soon make a determination on protection for the wolverine -- a case in which agency management, perhaps under political pressure from western governors, has moved to overrule a recommendation by the relevant expert biologists that the wolverine be listed as threatened by climate change impacts. Continue reading →
