Bush Administration Suppressed Scientific Panel Recommendation to protect Arizona Bald Eagle

[nam78_two]

http://www.enn.com/net.html?id=1783

Bush Administration Suppressed Scientific Panel Recommendation to Keep Arizona Bald Eagle on Endangered Species List
PHOENIX, Ariz. — The Center for Biological Diversity and the Maricopa Audubon Society filed suit today challenging the Bush administration's suppression of scientific reports concluding that the Arizona Bald Eagle should remain on the endangered species list. The suit seeks an injunction barring the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service from removing the Arizona eagle from the endangered list and requiring it to incorporate the scientific studies in its management plans.

Nationally, the bald eagle has experienced an extraordinary recovery, growing from just 416 pairs in 1963 to about 10,000 pairs today. The recovery of the Arizona population, however, has been much more modest.

"If its population keeps growing for another 15 years, the Arizona bald eagle may reach recovery," said Robin Silver, board chair of the Center for Biological Diversity, "but it's certainly not recovered now. No scientist in the world would conclude that a population with just 39 breeding pairs is recovered. It defies logic. It doesn't pass the laugh test."

"Arizona is the fastest-growing state in the nation," said Bob Witzeman, conservation chair of the Maricopa Audubon Society. "Urban sprawl is rapidly dewatering our fragile desert rivers. Arizona's unique eagle population needs more protection, not less."

Historically, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service managed the Arizona bald eagle as a population distinct from all other eagles in the U.S. It has its own recovery plan and recovery program. In 1999, however, the agency proposed to treat all eagles in the lower 48 as a single population and remove them from the endangered list. The agency convened a seven-member scientific panel to peer-review the delisting proposal. On Aug. 11, 2006, the panel approved of the national delisting effort but recommended that the Arizona population not be delisted.

The Center for Biological Diversity and the Maricopa Audubon Society petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to keep the Arizona bald eagle on the endangered list on Oct. 6, 2004. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service denied the petition on Aug. 30, 2006. It agreed the Arizona population as a valid population, but declared that it was neither endangered nor biologically significant.

Despite having the peer-review panel as well as assessments in hand from Robert Magill, former Chairman of the multi-agency Southwestern Bald Eagle Management Committee that recommended in June 2006 that the eagle have continued protection, the Fish and Wildlife Service declared that the agency did not possess "information that would lead a reasonable person to believe that the measure proposed in the petition may be warranted." The decision does not discuss or admit the existence of either assessment. The agency suppressed the documents until the Center was tipped off by an angry federal scientist.

"This is brute suppression of science," said Silver. "When the peer-review panel disagreed with the predetermined conclusion, it was thrown in the dustbin. When the head of the recovery program objected, his letter was hidden away."

Links to all cited documents and newsprint-quality photos are available online at the Center for Biological Diversity site

The Center for Biological Diversity is a non-profit conservation organization with more than 32,000 members dedicated to the protection of imperiled species and their habitats.

Maricopa Audubon Society is an organization of volunteers dedicated to the enjoyment of birds and other wildlife with a primary focus on the protection and restoration of the habitat of the Southwest through fellowship, education, and community involvement.

Contact Info:

Robin Silver
Center for Biological Diversity
[phone]

Bob Witzeman
Maricopa Audubon Society
[phone]

Website : the Center for Biological Diversity

[nam78_two]

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[Jeffersons Ghost]

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I LIKE EAGLES!

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[nam78_two]

3. I was wondering too

Thanks for the recommend!

We need to get Colbert on board ;).

[Swamp Rat]

4. Colbert was the first person that came to mind

Send him an email.

:kick: