Scientists
planted hairs from lynx in 3rd forest
Government scientists planted samples of lynx
hairs in a third national forest, according to documents obtained by The
Washington Times.
A preliminary investigation by the U.S. Forest
Service said planted samples were submitted from the Mount Baker/Snoqualmie
National Forest in Washington State, but the report did not say how many
additional samples were submitted from that region.
Federal officials originally confirmed that three
samples of the rare cat were planted in the Wenatchee National Forest and
Gifford Pinchot National Forest in Washington State. The falsification was first
reported last month in The Times.
Additionally, the report says three to five
falsified samples were submitted by the Washington Department of Fish and
Wildlife.
"The initial Forest Service investigation
raises the spectre that agenda-driven biologists may have taken matters into
their own hands," said Rep. Scott McInnis, Colorado Republican and chairman
of the House Resources subcommittee on forests and forest health.
"These charges cast a dark cloud of suspicion
over the national lynx survey and its credibility and cannot be ignored,"
said Mr. McInnis, who will conduct a House hearing in February.
"It is my hope that congressional oversight
and the ongoing investigations will get to the bottom of this troubling pattern
of suspicious doings," Mr. McInnis said.
The seven federal and state scientists were
participating in a three-year survey to determine lynx habitat that would
establish land-use restrictions in 16 states and 57 national forests.
The scientists say they submitted the false
samples to test laboratory accuracy, but congressional leaders and some Bush
administration officials are skeptical and believe the intention was to block
use and development of public land.
One congressional staffer said it appears the
planted samples were spread throughout the forest to show that the creatures had
a wider range of habitat.
"They don't care about the lynx but about how
much land they can tie up," the staffer said.
The report said one state scientist has
acknowledged sending an additional three samples of bobcat hair taken from a
pelt and labeled as lynx, but the laboratory reported that five samples were
submitted.
The employee was confronted with the discrepancy
but "would not cooperate further in the investigation without unspecified
legal and contractual specifications" and was never contacted again by
investigators, the report said.
Two of the falsified samples first reported were
taken from a lynx in an animal sanctuary and the third from an escaped pet lynx.
The wildcat was listed as a threatened species in
March 2000 and is protected by the Endangered Species Act.
The incidents were first reported by a Forest
Service employee who left a phone mail message for his supervisor the day before
his retirement in September 2000.
However, that call was not returned until January
2001, and the Forest Service did not begin an investigation until Feb. 15, 2001,
records said.
The investigation was concluded in June, and the
employees were disciplined but not fired. Federal officials refuse to name their
employees, citing privacy reasons.
After the story was reported Dec. 17 by The
Washington Times, key congressional leaders called for two investigations by the
inspector general, an audit by the General Accounting Office of the entire
survey, and House and Senate hearings to be conducted after Congress returns
later this month.
Senators and representatives have called for the
federal employees involved to be fired, and Washington state legislators are
also pushing for an investigation.
"Had the whistleblower not tipped this off,
we may never have known about it," said one source close to the
investigation.
By Audrey Hudson. Reprinted
from THE WASHINGTON TIMES 4 Jan 2002
