Leaked FWS Analysis
Indicates Greater Sage Grouse Decision
Tainted by Politics
On December 3, 2004, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service announced that an "independent" panel of biologists
and a second panel of agency administrators had submitted their recommendation
to Director Steve Williams that the agency should deny protection to the
sage grouse under the Endangered Species
Act.
Conservationists were disappointed, but not surprised by the announcement,
as the Sagebrush Sea Campaign had received a leaked draft of the biological
analysis that indicated what the agency's decision would be. However,
what is disturbing about the leaked analysis -- as
reported by the New York Times 
-- is that the draft includes edits and comments by a Bush Administration
official in the Department of Interior that attempt to discredit the
WAFWA assessment, other peer-reviewed science and even a few scientists
cited in the analysis, as well as remove text that might have supported
listing the grouse as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species
Act.
The question of whether the sage grouse should be protected under the
Endangered Species Act should be answered by science, not politics. While
the Bush Administration is known to politicize science to promote its
agenda, this document is an incredible, inside look into just how insidious
this practice has become.
It is difficult to believe that the sage grouse received fair consideration
in the agency's decision-making process if this edited document was used
to support the agency's "no listing" decision.
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Report: grouse data skewed