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[LYNX HOAX] Wilderness Institute Calls Federal Action Against Scientific Fraud By ESA Officials
The Sierra Times ^ | 19 December, 2001 | Sierra Times Staff

Posted on 12/19/2001 4:18:27 AM PST by brityank

Wilderness Institute Calls Federal Action Against
Scientific Fraud By ESA Officials

Sierra Times 12.19.01

That Washington Times Story is getting legs. More groups are letting their voices be known. The National Wilderness Institute Tuesday called on Congress and the Bush Administration to investigate possible improper conduct by federal endangered species officials who reportedly falsified evidence in an effort to show that lynx were present in the Gifford Pinchot and Wenatchee National Forests in Washington state. The planted evidence was exposed when laboratory tests revealed that the fur samples officials claimed were found in the forest actually came from captive lynx.

When an endangered species is present, regulatory agencies have greatly expanded authority to restrict land management options, recreational and commercial activities in the area.

"The practice of planting bogus evidence shows how politicized and unscientific the application of the endangered species program can be, said Rob Gordon, Director of the National Wilderness Institute. "If these allegations are true, we need to know how many were in on it and remove them from government service. These charges may call into question the scientific integrity of the whole body of work done by those associated with the bogus evidence," said Gordon.

According to NWI Director Rob Gordon, "Federal behavior in this case stands in stark contrast to the government's conduct in Washington, DC where NWI has had to go to court to try to halt the midnight dumping of tons of toxic sludge by a federal agency through a national park and onto the spawning beds of the endangered shortnose sturgeon."

Federal officials have refused to stop the discharges because trucking the sludge to a landfill could increase the cost to local water users and would increase truck traffic in an affluent and influential neighborhood. The discharges are flushed into the Potomac River from a water treatment facility run by the Army Corps of Engineers. It provides low cost water to the Capital area and is the only entity in the Chesapeake watershed that has a permit to discharge unlimited amounts of aluminum, iron and total suspended solids.

"There is a clear double standard when the government may have planted fake information it can use to shut down the economy of a rural community out west while in its own backyard it finds it too burdensome to have several trucks a day haul the sediment through an affluent neighborhood inhabited by government officials and influential Washingtonians," Gordon said.

In Washington, two Reps - House Resources Chairman James V. Hansen (R-UT) and Forest and Forest Health Subcommittee Chairman Scott McInnis (R-CO) called for a thorough review of the government's three-year inventory of the threatened Canada lynx after learning that five federal employees and two Washington State employees planted false evidence of lynx presence in two national forests on Tuesday.

Hansen and McInnis questioned the validity of the inventory in light of the hoax and called for the prompt dismissal of involved employees in a joint letter to Agriculture Secretary Anne M. Veneman and Interior Secretary Gale A. Norton.

"The credibility of the lynx survey is now hanging by a thread," the men wrote the two cabinet members. In a Dec. 13th letter to Congress, the Forest Service asserted that the integrity of the lynx program is being maintained. But no evidence was offered to support that claim, Reps. Hansen and McInnis noted in their letter. They urged the two departments to provide proof of the program's integrity in light of the discovered hoax.

"This lynx survey impacts 16 states and 57 national forests," Hansen said. "Getting this survey wrong could have broad and profound impact on the management of millions of acres of federal land. That, in turn, impacts local economies and people's livelihoods.

"Planting false evidence of lynx presence would limit the use of natural resources in forests wrongly believed to be lynx habitat," Hansen said. "It would limit people's access to those forests. It would virtually destroy recreational opportunities there. That, in turn, could be devastating to nearby local economies that rely on business from tourists and recreationists. This hoax, if it hadn't been discovered, could have wrecked some people's way of life. These involved employees should be promptly fired and the entire national inventory reviewed for proven accuracy."

The hoax took place last fall, in the waning months of the Clinton Administration. Five federal employees and two Washington State employees have admitted to planting three separate samples of Canadian lynx hair on rubbing posts in the Gifford Pinchot and Wenatchee National Forests. The rubbing posts were being used to identify the presence of the cat. The employees claimed they were conducting their own test of the reliability of the federal inventory.

Permission to reprint/republish granted, as long as you include the name of our site, the author, and our URL. www.SierraTimes.com All Sierra Times news reports, and all editorials are © 2001 SierraTimes.com (unless otherwise noted)


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: enviralists; green; michaeldobbs
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To: brityank
I took a quick look at your thread. Something that I would not rule out is that these wacky environmental groups are actually being used (and possibly funded) by those who have a financial interest in seeing the small farmer, rancher, logger, etc lose his property rights. Consolidation of control of tangible assets seems to be the name of the game. Whether there are economic or ideological motivations for doing so is something I don't know.
21 posted on 12/19/2001 7:38:24 AM PST by independentmind
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To: Carry_Okie
Thanks for the link. I think that now would be a good time for a grassroots outcry, perhaps a lawsuit, which will bring the huge wast of money and property to the general public is the only way to go.

When all the countries involved in the Third Way movement openly endorsed and embraced environmental wacko-ism ( i.e.: Kyoto ) the politics and the policies became too deeply intertwined to be separated, except by force of well organized, well informed and dedicated public outcry.

I very much want to know what other "studies" this group of clowns participated in. Spotted owls? Klamath Falls suckerfish? Others? I want every study these people ever participated in reviewed. I want their names, and I want to know what environmental groups and policies they have been known to support. These people directly affect our lives. We have a RIGHT to know.

Remember, this scandal was tied up with an ELF terrorist attack, and that alone should be setting off HUGE amounts of lights and alarm bells in the public mind.

22 posted on 12/19/2001 7:38:45 AM PST by cake_crumb
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To: All
Conservation vs Preservation:

Main Conservation Rights Institute

Freedom.Org has articles and contains links to the same sites I found using a search engine, like

Sovereiginity.net and

The PA Landowners Association

23 posted on 12/19/2001 7:55:18 AM PST by cake_crumb
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To: Waco
If they wanted drug labs, and associated personnel, removed, just declare open season.

I'm getting bored with Bambi.

prambo

24 posted on 12/19/2001 7:59:07 AM PST by prambo
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To: cake_crumb
"those that participated in the spotted owl fiasco"

Eduardo Olmedo conducted surveys for spotted owls, great gray owls, goshawks, song birds, and bald eagles. Currently he is serving as the Canada lynx coordinator for the Mt Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest.Here is the pdf file, scroll down to Chapter 7.

Here are the officers, board members, and other honchos at the WA chapter of the Wildlife Society. Note that most are Fed & State employees. Compare these to the list of names that dandelion compiled on the other thread. brityank has a link to that thread above.

Here is an article, The Myth of Wildlife Management, from the current issue of Field and Stream dealing with the shift in employees at USFWS and some of the malfeasence at that agency

25 posted on 12/19/2001 8:01:50 AM PST by Ben Ficklin
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To: independentmind
Youbetcha.

There is huge investment going on to move our meat industry offshore, primarily to Brazil, and Argentina. How would they increase that return? Does restricting domestic cattle production accomplish that end? 9The situation is worse than it looks because of how they designate what constitutes American beef.) I don't want to go into that now, but it is a huge story. See if you can get a copy of the Western Livestock Reporter.

Meanwhile, the dirty little secret in the world's forests is that they produce more wood than people can use. Of course they produce a lot of other things THAT COULD BE WORTH ECONOMIC VALUE (but for price-fixing by government monopoly), but heck, who really cares about that? (which is why I wrote the book). To hold prices up we burn it and destroy our own forests or cal them "protected areas," much to the delight of the historic owners of old timber corporations such as Weyeryauser or International Paper whose private forests are in fine shape. Who cares if they end up over-run with weeds (another reason I wrote the book). Then there are the bankers who are seeking to prop up those international loans, and the advocates of Global Governance seeking to use the Tobin Tax on currency transfers...

There are a lot of players engaged in a feeding frenzy on the American rancher and farmer and from what I can tell the real goal is to bring the United States to heel and has been for a very long time. That noose is tightening. Unbeknownst to many, we are a nation that is a net importer of food (not ag, food) and it is getting worse VERY fast. It is intentional and a matter of policy (pleases the IMF). Every other communist takeover in history has used starvation to bring its victims to heel so why should global socialism be any different? Isn't control of food, water, and energy a source of coercive power???

26 posted on 12/19/2001 8:02:18 AM PST by Carry_Okie
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To: Ben Ficklin
Thanks very much for the info.
27 posted on 12/19/2001 8:07:14 AM PST by cake_crumb
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To: prambo
"I'm getting bored with Bambi"

I'm not. I just LUUUVVV venison.

28 posted on 12/19/2001 8:11:38 AM PST by cake_crumb
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To: Carry_Okie
. Unbeknownst to many, we are a nation that is a net importer of food (not ag, food) and it is getting worse VERY fast.

Sometime I would like to discuss this further. My brother has an undergraduate degree in horticulture and a keen interest in the subject, and he has told me that this isn't so.

29 posted on 12/19/2001 8:17:41 AM PST by independentmind
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To: cake_crumb;Ben Ficklin;dandelion;independentmind
I want every study these people ever participated in reviewed. I want their names, and I want to know what environmental groups and policies they have been known to support.

Planning to live a long time, eh? I started on that route about three years ago (kinda like what Ben Ficklin and dandelion are doing in this case), but then I found out that the problem was so big that I could spend a lifetime on it and never even dent the monster. You might win a few in the courts but the real actors would skate and the ranchers and farmers would be dying like flies all around you while you choked the crap out of a mere pawn. The real players have too much money to even scratch the surface. You'd get squashed like a bug and they'd find a work-around for any "oversight system" you put in their way. Look at the way agencies flout the law! Dumping metals in the Potomac? Do you really think that oversight and disciplinary actions in agencies will do anything?

The better idea was to cut out the legs from under it by coming up with a better way to do things, a way for people to make money learning how to improve our management of ecosystem resources and value their seemingly insignificant elements on objective bases.

So I did.

30 posted on 12/19/2001 8:19:39 AM PST by Carry_Okie
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To: Ben Ficklin
ah HA...I see what the problem is with the link study!!

I went to the Washington Chapter - The Wildlife Society and was scrolling down through the list of officers. Along toward the bottom, I found this:

Conservation
Position Open

Seems like conservationists may not be welcome there...

31 posted on 12/19/2001 8:24:59 AM PST by cake_crumb
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To: cake_crumb
LOL!
32 posted on 12/19/2001 8:34:33 AM PST by Ben Ficklin
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To: independentmind
Want a REAL source?

Here is a 100 pp paper on the topic prepared for the Millennium Round of the WTO by the Center for North American Studies.

Here is the PowerPoint slide presentation that goes with it.

We are a net agricultural exporter. We are a net FOOD importer. (You can't eat cotton, tobacco, catfish, animal feed, and soybean meal).

33 posted on 12/19/2001 8:37:01 AM PST by Carry_Okie
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To: Carry_Okie
Thanks for the link. I bookmarked it because it's getting late here and I should have gotten offline an hour ago.

I don't think Congressional oversight or disciplinary actions will do ANYTHING. "Counceling". Pffttt.

I posted links on this thread to organizations that support a better way of doig things. We have to find a way of selling this better way to the city-bound armchair-environmentalists who who know nothing of the consequenses of enviro-wackoism. These naive people, who have never spent much time actually interacting with the environment, don't have a clue.

One thing that's needed is TV time. Media coverage of this scandal. Documentaries of the land grabs, denial of water rights, and denial of water needed to fight wildfires. Documentaries detailing the overpopulated red foxes now dying by the age of two due to mange and scabies. The problem bears we deal with in the country after they've been relocated to rural areas because stupid tourists feed them until they become dangerous. Acres of oak, maple and other habitat freindly trees on the sides of hills clearcut by overpopulated beavers. Etc. Interveiws with those who make these documentaries and write these books.

How do we sell this information to the public at large?

34 posted on 12/19/2001 8:41:17 AM PST by cake_crumb
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To: brityank
For the Prez to have any validit with me on domestic issues, he has to fire EVERY one of damian's appointees!!!
35 posted on 12/19/2001 8:48:32 AM PST by poet
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To: brityank
bump!
36 posted on 12/19/2001 8:49:07 AM PST by VOA
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To: independentmind
Here's an interesting commentary: Kyoto: Viewed and Reviewed, by someone who worked with the UN.

Viewed From the Trenches

Having been a registered representative of a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO)to the United Nations for seven years, I have gained deep admiration for the almost seamless process whereby squishy, soft law congeals into binding, hard law. In December, 1997, the Kyoto Protocol became the marble slab upon which the voluntary reduction in carbon dioxide emissions, embraced in 1992 at the Rio Earth Summit as the Framework Convention on Climate Change, was finally ladled out to solidify as binding controls on greenhouse gases for a few countries.

Because only twenty-six specified developed nations and thirteen nations listed as "in transition to market economies" would be bound by the Protocol, some 128 nations under no commitments certainly had to view the process as pure candy-making for themselves.

Tell Us What You Really Think

Why candy? Because what had really been established was economic, not environmental. What really was established was the new anticipated global currency, which I’ll call the "Kyo." The "Kyo" might just be the trading certificate for "GreenHouseGold" (GHG -- although GHG normally means greenhouse gases). In a grand alchemist’s cauldron, non-emissions suddenly transformed into wealth and emissions transformed into debt. Overnight, any industrialized country desiring to undergo any project which required energy use, would be forced to "buy" non-emissions in order to proceed. Lest you think this smacks of extortion, let me assure you, you are correct.

The Kyoto Protocol is a prime piece of the embodiment of a massive, grand, global scheme for redistribution of the world’s wealth from "abilities" to "needs" [Heart of the Third Way]-- a scheme which has flamed in the hearts of egalitarians of all stripes and "-isms" for ten thousand years of known human history.

While Kyoto deals with so-called "greenhouse gasses" rather than agrieculture, you can see how the removal of our agricultural capability in order to make us dependent on the import of recources will redistribute the wealth of the United States to corrupt, poverty-stricken, third world nations, thus making the US into another corrupt, poverty-stricken, third world nation.

Kyoto: Veiwed and Reviewed

Sovereiginty.Net's home Page

37 posted on 12/19/2001 8:54:55 AM PST by cake_crumb
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To: cake_crumb
"scabies"= "RABIES"

Sheesh, I HAVE been online too long.

38 posted on 12/19/2001 8:57:29 AM PST by cake_crumb
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To: Carry_Okie
You can't eat cotton, tobacco, catfish?
39 posted on 12/19/2001 8:59:08 AM PST by razorback-bert
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To: brityank
Once again we are exposed to the truth about situational ethics.

"..bit judge, my intentions were honorable."

40 posted on 12/19/2001 9:00:05 AM PST by Young Werther
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