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Planted Lynx Fur In Habitat Survey Upsets Legislators bureacrats {Congress can be so easily led}
Associated Press ^ | Monday, December 31, 2001 | Associated Press

Posted on 12/31/2001 5:03:05 PM PST by expose

Planted Lynx Fur In Habitat Survey Upsets Legislators Associated Press

Monday, December 31, 2001 Lawmakers want an investigation into whether government wildlife biologists planted lynx fur in two national forests to make it appear that the animals were present so that people would be kept out.

The Forest Service and Fish and Wildlife Service are tracking the rare Canadian lynx to determine how many there are and where they live. Data from the four-year survey will be used to determine how best to protect the lynx, which is classified as "threatened."

During the 2000 sampling session, biologists planted three samples of lynx fur on rubbing posts in parts of the Wenatchee and Gifford Pinchot national forests in Washington state, areas not usually home to the lynx. Fur taken from such posts is used to indicate if lynx are in the area.

The seven biologists -- three from the Forest Service, two from the Fish and Wildlife Service and two from the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife -- admitted they planted the samples and said they wanted to test whether the lab could identify lynx fur.

The cats, 3 1/2 feet long and 40 pounds at their largest, prey on snowshoe hares. Efforts to protect lynx habitat are underway in 57 forests in 16 states.

None of the seven biologists remains in the lynx survey program. Six were reassigned, and one retired.

House Resources Committee Chairman James V. Hansen (R-Utah) and Rep. Scott McInnis (R-Colo.), chairman of the House forests subcommittee, called that "grossly inadequate punishment given the magnitude of this offense."

They said if it is found that the intent was to skew the study, the biologists should be fired.

"These offenses minimally amount to professional malfeasance of the highest order," the congressman wrote Dec. 18 in a letter to Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman and Interior Secretary Gale A. Norton, whose agencies administer the lynx program.

Some proposed changes to protect the lynx include limiting the thinning of forests to improve habitat for the snowshoe hare and to restrict snowmobiling and some other winter activities. But Hansen and McInnis want a review of all data collected through the program before any land management decisions are made.

Without additional scrutiny of the data, no assurances can be made that the "lynx recovery effort is grounded in science, rather than in the fraudulent behavior of unscrupulous field officers," Hansen and McInnis wrote.

Forest Service Chief Dale N. Bosworth said the fur fiasco is embarrassing but did not threaten the closure of any habitat to the public.

Fish and Wildlife Service spokesman Chris Tollefson said the agency is confident the lynx count has not been tainted.

"We don't believe that there was an intent to submit these results to skew the results of the survey, but it could have compromised the entire survey and forced us to do it all over again," he said.

Hansen and McInnis have asked the General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress, to look into the matter and will convene hearings early next year.


TOPICS: Breaking News; Crime/Corruption; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: fur; lynx; lynxfur
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To: American in Israel, Carry_Okie, kitchen, jennyp, marsh2, redrock
It is both. The greens are involved in closed door meetings in Switzerland (amongst other places) where they and certain government agencies meet to do the settlement of suits thing.

IOW, green #1 talks to Agency Rep# 1 in a mtg in Switzerland. (IUCN?) and when they both get back to the states and green # 1 files lawsuit, Agency Rep # 1 says "We'll settle" and they both go home happy.

result is more collectivist control (which both green # 1 and Agency Rep # 1 want) over the land through the guise of protecting biological diversity, the Man and the Biosphere program, Convention on Biological Diversity, Agenda 21, etc. etc.

61 posted on 12/31/2001 9:59:54 PM PST by sauropod
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To: jennyp
Testing the labs is one thing but planting the hair on the rubbing posts is a whole 'nother matter and every article I've read says that is what they did.
62 posted on 12/31/2001 11:09:05 PM PST by farmfriend
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To: Queen Elizabeth of Iowa
If it's a Canadian problem how do you expect them to "expand"the habitat. They want your farms and homes, not the Canadians.

Every one of these bustards implicated in this should be gone. They are obviously incapable of doing their job in an honest manner.

63 posted on 01/01/2002 3:41:42 AM PST by steve50
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To: Queen Elizabeth of Iowa
Yum, candian lynx, tasty and the fir makes great hats.
64 posted on 01/01/2002 4:57:40 AM PST by Leisler
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To: farmfriend
The previous study came back with so many lynx because they salted that study too!
65 posted on 01/01/2002 5:00:38 AM PST by Leisler
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To: sistergoldenhair
A government study is not a study unless the objective is skewed by or perhaps confused with the subjective.

In fact, if you are really good at sucking from the government teat, objective values are not needed, one need only submit subjective opinions disguised as objective values.

66 posted on 01/01/2002 5:14:14 AM PST by stylin_geek
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To: Navy Patriot
Bunny, you are right, it is fraud, but it was committed (and then exposed) not attempted. The government is going to use the study, and the perps have kept their jobs and moved to another position to do it again for, say kangaroo rats, or some other worthless vermin.

It would be interesting to backtrack and see just what other 'research' these scientists have been involved in, spotted owl maybe?

I remember about 2 yrs. ago there was a story on TV about a man in Wash. ( may have been Ore.) that bought an old farm. He was going to start it up again, build a house, barn, etc. The local gov. said fine. The environazis stepped in and told him he couldn't improve the property because of a list of endangered species on the property. Among the list was SASQUACH.!!!

They had some made up scientific name for it but it was obvious.

Talk about junk science.

67 posted on 01/01/2002 5:54:34 AM PST by Vinnie
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To: expose
Just like Marxists. The end justifies the means. And these people infest the media and the teaching profession. It is just a matter of time before they have the children spying on and reporting their families and neighbors. That is one of the reasons they attack the Christains so often. With the pseudo religion of Marxism thou shalt have no other god.
68 posted on 01/01/2002 6:44:01 AM PST by willyone
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To: jennyp
I take it from post 31 that you are a "tree hugger". You may have honorable intentions but lying isn't the way to accomplish anything.
69 posted on 01/01/2002 6:49:33 AM PST by zip
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To: expose
Thx for the flag. Every time I think the government is serving the people, stuff like this surfaces. Dang, it's hard to be believer in Govt of, by and for the people.
70 posted on 01/01/2002 6:57:00 AM PST by zip
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To: Ben Ficklin
"to make it appear that the animals were present so that people would be kept out."

From this... to Kyoto... to the many acts of terror, the Green Religion is uniformly against one group of living things.... people.

71 posted on 01/01/2002 7:10:38 AM PST by Bryce Buchanan
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To: jennyp
Oh..I know!...I felt the same way when everybody missunderstood (little "p")president (little."c") clinton..in the Lewinski debacle....As Hillary told us early on....Bill has always made it a point to "minister" to the younger generation....Its so sad some people always seem to question the intentions of our humble servents...Too bad more people didn't think like us...What a wonderful world it would be!!!!! Happy New Year...and heres hoping this is the year we'll get a life!...Nobody deserves it more than us...Cheers!!
72 posted on 01/01/2002 7:17:47 AM PST by mtman
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To: willyone; expose
"It is just a matter of time before they have the children spying on and reporting their families and neighbors."

A matter of time? I could have sworn that's exactly what's going on now.

73 posted on 01/01/2002 8:53:13 AM PST by dansangel
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To: jennyp
I understand your attempt at rationally de-fusing this situation, however, you are wrong and illogical on a number of points.

1.) It is never OK to falsify data. The data was not identified as "control" during the testing. This is never OK - except for typical liberal junk science.

2.) If they were worried that the previous test found too many of this type animal, which was their premise, then the reason would have to be that the lab was mis-identifying a different type of fur as belonging to this species. Thus, you would send in bobcat fur, or whatever, that is similar, to see if the lab mis-identified this fur as the subject fur. In other words, their excuse is illogical, based on their premise that too many of the subject were initially found.

This should be a federal offense - a deliberate attempt to place endangered animals where they are not, and to damage the quality of the census of an endangered animal. This is a clear case of fraud. The perpetrators should lose their jobs.

74 posted on 01/01/2002 10:03:18 AM PST by Diva Betsy Ross
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To: sauropod
Freedom Is Worth Fighting For !!

The Right Of The People To Keep And Bear Arms Shall Not Be Infringed !!

An Armed Citizen, Is A Safe Citizen !!

No Guns, No Rights !!

Molon Labe !!

75 posted on 01/01/2002 12:02:10 PM PST by blackie
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To: expose
Remove all species from the endangered lists !!

Stop the madness !!

Freedom Is Worth Fighting For !!

The Right Of The People To Keep And Bear Arms Shall Not Be Infringed !!

An Armed Citizen, Is A Safe Citizen !!

No Guns, No Rights !!

Molon Labe !!

76 posted on 01/01/2002 12:07:37 PM PST by blackie
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To: expose
These biologists are trying to protect you. Without the lynx, snowshoe hares would overrun your property and carry your children off in the dead of night.
77 posted on 01/01/2002 3:39:52 PM PST by Djarum
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To: jennyp
Re: your post #31

To quote you..."INCREDIBLE." LOL!

78 posted on 01/01/2002 4:02:08 PM PST by headsonpikes
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To: headsonpikes
bump
79 posted on 01/01/2002 4:24:41 PM PST by expose
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To: zip
I take it from post 31 that you are a "tree hugger".

LOL! Not even close!

You may have honorable intentions but lying isn't the way to accomplish anything.

Exactly! That's why I started up this thread. Zip, lying is not the way to accomplish anything. Yet we have 2 mutually contradictory sets of facts regarding what exactly happened. Not 2 different characterizations. Not 2 different "spins" on the same story. Two different sets of claims of hard fact. Don't you think it would be important for us to try to determine which of the 2 mutually contradictory stories is the true one & which is the false one? HINT: Just because one story confirms our beliefs about the subject in general does not automatically make it the true one.

Actually, on the other thread I mention one way out of the contradiction: Apparently the WA State biologists were the ones who put lynx hair into the sample vials & labeled them with non-existent numbers so they wouldn't get mixed in with the real data. This leaves the federal biologists, and maybe they were the ones who put lynx hair on the traps in the wild.

If this is the case, then that explains the discrepancy, and seals the case (in my mind at least) against the specific biologists who tried to defraud the system (the feds), and exhonerates the specific biologists who merely did something stupid (the WA State guys).

Now if attempting to solve mutually competing sets of factual claims to determine the real truth makes one a tree hugger, then give me a hammer & sickle & call me "Lillian Hellman".

80 posted on 01/01/2002 6:48:41 PM PST by jennyp
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