Bush Appointee Said to Reject Advice on Endangered Species

A senior Bush political appointee at the Interior Department has rejected staff scientists’ recommendations to protect imperiled animals and plants under the Endangered Species Act at least six times in the past three years, documents show.

In addition, staff complaints that their scientific findings were frequently overruled or disparaged at the behest of landowners or industry have led the agency’s inspector general to look into the role of Julie MacDonald, who has been deputy assistant secretary of the interior for fish and wildlife and parks since 2004, in decisions on protecting endangered species.

The documents show that MacDonald has repeatedly refused to go along with staff reports concluding that species such as the white-tailed prairie dog and the Gunnison sage grouse are at risk of extinction. Career officials and scientists urged the department to identify the species as either threatened or endangered.

Wapo has gone completely off the reservation. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a dumber story in my life, and that’s saying a lot. Where’s the news here? It’s a major, frontpage story when a boss overrules the recommendations of his underlings? Are these people for real? So, where are all the headlines proclaiming “Wapo editor rejects op-ed, ignores recommendation of brilliant staff writers”?

The agenda here couldn’t be any more transparent if these whiny liberals tattooed it on their foreheads.

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