[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 2 (Thursday, January 24, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E27]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    REGARDING CANADIAN LYNX AND ESA

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. RICHARD W. POMBO

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, January 24, 2002

  Mr. POMBO. Mr. Speaker, over the years I have become very disturbed 
with the high levels of unethical behavior from various Federal 
Government officials.
  In the past 8 years, narrow-minded, radical environmental Federal 
Government employees have violated the trust of the American people.
  Today, we should be shocked that a recent investigation revealed 
several Federal and State employees submitted unauthorized control 
samples for analysis as part of an ongoing nationwide Canada lynx 
survey. The ``lynx'' fiasco illustrates just how vulnerable the 
public's access rights are to agenda-driven advocates within the 
Federal and State land management agencies:
  Then there is the case of Donald Fife, a professional scientist 
specializing in environmental mining and engineering geology, who 
learned from a former U.S. Forest Service official that plants listed 
under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) had been secretly placed on his 
property in an attempt to close about 30,000 acres of the highest 
mineral valued land in southern California.
  Then there is the case of a high-ranking official at the Northwest 
Regional Office at National Marines Fisheries Service (NMFS) who took 
the time to share her thoughts about the implementation of the 
Endangered Species Act.
  And I quote from the International California Mining Journal (January 
2002):

       * * * when we (NMFS) make critical habitat designation we 
     just designate everything as critical, without an analysis of 
     how much habitat an ESU (Evolutionarily Significant Unit) 
     needs, what areas might be key, etc. Mostly we don't do this 
     because we lack information. What we really do is the same 
     thing we do for section 7 consultations. We just say we need 
     it all.

  The nature of all these events highlight the lack of trust with the 
Federal agencies that are charged with the task of managing our public 
lands. The Federal land agencies must be held to the same standards of 
truth, honesty and accountability as the private sector.

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