PEEReview

A Publication of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility

The Great Land Robbery
F
ormer Interior Secretary Gale Norton has panding royalty-free sweetheart deals to oil
Winter gone to work for Shell Oil Company to help
this multi-national corporation extract huge
companies for off-shore Gulf of Mexico oil.
This loss could quadruple to $28 billion if in-
2007 quantities of oil shale by churning up the landscape dustry lawsuits against Interior are successful.
of western Colorado. Yet, as oil skyrocketed
Meanwhile, her former above $50-a-barrel and
chief deputy, Steven even the oil companies
Griles, awaits indict- agreed that no more in-
ment for influence ped- centives were needed to
See the
dling and perjury. stimulate exploration,
Centerfold Interior increased what
The true toll of Norton’s
New Year the companies could
stormy five-year tenure
deals on is only now becoming
take without paying
PEER stuff taxpayers;
clear. The domain of the
Interior Department is • Horrendously one-
larger than many coun- sided land exchanges
tries, containing more to the disadvantage of
than one in every five the public and to the
acres of American soil, advantage of adminis-
spanning picturesque tration supporters. One
parks to remote refuges example was the $120
to rolling rangelands. million that Norton’s
Drilling the Taxpayer. The Bush administration is trying to Interior promised to
By almost any measure, deflect responsibility for the multi-billion dollar royalty rip-off.
pay the Collier family
this vast national estate
(prominent supporters
is much worse off. As more scandals ooze to the sur-
of both Bush brothers) for its oil and gas hold-
face, Norton may end up going down as the worst
ings in the Big Cypress National Preserve – an
Interior Secretary since the Teapot Dome scandal
amount more than twelve times their assessed
in the 1920’s, where federal oil interests were also
value; and
handed to political cronies with-
out competitive bidding for ques- • The mammoth and mushrooming tribal trust
tionable favors. fund dispute, whose resolution Norton repeat-
edly cited as her top priority, only worsened.
A partial list of the massive give-
aways and under-the-table deals Viewed against this backdrop, the Jack Abramoff
that Norton and Griles presided scandals are not an anomaly – they are just a sign of
over includes: what the Interior Inspector General dubbed “busi-
Necklace of Oil Production. Gulf ness as usual.”
exploration is booming as oil prices hit • The loss of more than $7
billion to the Treasury by ex- continued on page 12
all-time highs.

u Scores of Refuges Left without Staff in “Preservation Status,” page 7

INSIDE u
u
EPA Scientists Demand Action on Global Warming, page 8
BuRec Wants to Fire Biologist for E-mailing Environmentalists, page 9
 From the Executive Director

Now the Hard Work Begins

Now that the Democrats have retaken both houses of can Congress conduct oversight on what it does not
Congress, the real work begins. Despite talk of biparti- see?
san cooperation, here is how White House press secre-
Congress is not an ideal investigative agency. Rather,
tary Tony Snow describes President Bush’s determina-
Congress is supposed to be an instrument of account-
tion to bypass Congress:
ability, once the information has already been un-
“He’s going to be aggressive on a lot of fronts. He’s earthed. In order to be effective, Congress will need
been calling all his Cabinet secretaries and telling them, cogent and courageous expert witnesses from inside.
‘You tell me administratively everything you can do
Now, more than ever, federal employees need access to
between now and the end of the presidency. I want to
the lawyers and researchers at PEER – the vehicle by
see your to-do list and how you expect to do it.’ We’re
which civil servants can safely speak truth to power.
going to try to be as ambitious and bold as we can pos-
PEER provides free legal representation and expert
sibly be.”
guidance for employees who will be asked to testify
So much for cooperation. With the new Democratic before Congress. It is critical for these witnesses to
Congress, the Bush agenda will be implemented more have legal support not only for the hearing but, even
than ever through re-interpretations of rules, stealth more importantly, afterwards, once the stage lights
budget shifts and secret, internal directives. have dimmed, to help deflect the inevitable retaliation.
During the past six years in Congress, oversight has We expect to be very busy in 2007. Come, help us.
meant to overlook. That is about to change. But how
— Jeff Ruch
Mission Statement
PEER protects public employees who protect our environment. We are a service organization for local, state, fed-
eral and tribal law enforcement officers, scientists, land managers and other professionals dedicated to upholding
environmental laws and values. Through PEER, public servants can choose to work as “anonymous activists” so
that public agencies must confront the message, rather than the messenger.

PEER Staff
PEER Refuge Keeper • P.O. Box 359 Aurora, NY 13026
tel: 315-364-7495 fax: 315-364-7810 email: refugekeeper@peer.org Executive Director • Jeff Ruch
California PEER • PO Box 4057, Georgetown, CA 95634 Associate Director • Carol Goldberg
tel: 530-333-2545 fax 530-333-1113 Legal • Richard Condit & Paula Dinerstein
Florida PEER • P.O. Box 14463 Tallahassee, FL 32317-4463 Development • Leone Bollinger
tel: 850-877-8097 fax: 850-942-5264 Membership • Carrie Hibbard
Maine PEER • P.O. Box 365 Millinockett, ME 04462 Research • Dick Kasdan
tel & fax: 207-723-4656 email: mepeer@peer.org
PEEReview Layout • Dana Serovy
New England PEER • P.O. Box 574 North Easton, MA 02356
tel: 508-230-9933 fax: 508-230-2110 email: nepeer@peer.org
New Jersey PEER • P.O. Box 1 Ringoes, NJ 08551
PEER Board
tel & fax: 609-397-8213 email: njpeer@peer.org Chair • Howard Wilshire (USGS, retired)
Rocky Mountain PEER • P.O. Box 280396 Lakewood, CO 80228 Member • Magi Shapiro (Army Corps, retired)
tel: 303-316-0809 fax: 303-322-4689 email: rmpeer@peer.org Member • Louis Clark (G.A.P. President)
Tennessee PEER • 4443 Pecan Valley Road Nashville, TN 37218
Member • Frank Buono (National Park Service, retired)
tel: 615-313-7066 email: tnpeer@peer.org
Texas PEER • P.O. Box 1522 Austin, TX 78767
PEEReview is the quarterly newslettter of
tel: 512-441-4941 email: txpeer@peer.org
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility
Washington PEER • P.O. Box 2618 Olympia, WA 98507
tel: 360-528-2110 email: wapeer@peer.org
2000 P Street, NW • Suite 240 • Washington, D.C. 20036
Alaska Forum for Environmental Responsibility tel: 202-265-7337 • fax: 202-265-4192
P.O. Box 188 Valdez, AK 99686 tel: 907-835-5460 fax: 907-835-5410 email: info@peer.org • website: http://www.peer.org

 PEEReview
 National Park Service
Rescuing “Orphaned” Park Wilderness
T
he National Park Service has a love-hate relationship
with wilderness. NPS administers more wilderness than
any other federal land-managing agency. The 44 million
acres of designated park wilderness comprise more than half
of all the lands within the national park system and more than
40% of all federal wilderness lands.
Despite this superlative profile, the Park Service has turned
its back on its wilderness. The agency has failed to for-
ward wilderness recommendations to the President, conduct
legally-mandated assessments, prepare management plans or
take a myriad of other steps necessary to protection wilderness
resources.
PEER is launching a three-prong campaign designed to –
1. Resuscitate Abandoned Wilderness Designations. The
process of securing statutory protection for enduring park Olympic Vistas. National park wilderness contains some of the most
magnificent wild land in our nation or, for that matter, the world.
wilderness resources has stopped dead in its tracks. All told,
pending or stalled wilderness proposals would increase • “Cultural” Burning in Wilderness: Olympic is now is
park wilderness land by more than half, putting at least an moving forward with “cultural” burning within designated
additional 26 million acres under wilderness protection. wilderness for the purpose of maintaining specific scenes
within the park.
PEER is seeking to reverse all these abdications of wilderness
stewardship by urging the new Congress to enact the outstand- 3. Get the Big Picture. At present NPS devotes only two peo-
ing wilderness recommendations for lands in 18 parks made ple full time to managing the national wilderness program. This
by several past administrations and pressuring NPS to transmit is the least of any federal agency, even though NPS adminis-
its withheld internal recommendations to the Secretary and to ters more wilderness acres than any other agency. In the 1970s,
Congress for another 21.3 million acres. NPS had an entire office devoted to wilderness. Consequently,
NPS lacks a comprehensive overview of its wilderness needs.
2. Protect Existing Wilderness. Guided by employees on the
In its place, inertia and internal obstruction now constitute the
scene, PEER is stepping up our interventions to halt wilder-
agency wilderness posture.
ness violations committed or condoned by NPS managers. A
prime example is Olympic National Park, which contains the There is new leadership in Congress and at both NPS and its
largest expanse of wilderness of any park in America outside parent agency, the Interior Department, whom we hope to in-
of Alaska, featuring the most magnificent temperate rainforest duce to go beyond the bare legal necessities. Follow the prog-
in the world, glacier-capped mountains and wild, undeveloped ress of this effort in our new web campaign center.
beaches. Currently, 95% of the park is designated wilderness
making it the largest wilderness park, but park managers ne- Sunset for the Unnatural Resources Committee
glect and abuse this wilderness crown jewel. When the Republicans took over the House of Representatives
• No Wilderness Management Plan: Nearly twenty years in 1995, they changed the names of many committees and sub-
after the designation of wilderness, NPS has not completed committees, usually by adding ungainly strings of seemingly
a wilderness management plan for the park yet they are disconnected nouns (e.g., “Subcommittee on Intelligence, Infor-
currently moving forward with many proposals that have mation Sharing & Terrorist Risk Assessment”). One exception
the potential to negatively impact wilderness. was Don Young (R-AK), who took over the Natural Resources
Committee and shortened the name by striking the word “natu-
• Illegal Structures in Wilderness: PEER had to sue to ral.”
stop the park superintendent from airlifting prefabricated
Now the Democrats have returned and the new chair Nick Ra-
buildings into wilderness in clear violation of the Wilder-
hall (D-WV) has restored the original Natural Resources moni-
ness Act prohibition on use of mechanized equipment and
ker to the committee, hopefully ending more than a decade of
construction {see PEEReview, Summer ‘06}. Despite los-
alienation from nature.
ing in court, the park is hatching new development plans.

Winter 2007 
 Massachusetts
Romney’s Legacy of Toxic Sludge
F
or the past eight years, the Mas- cals) reaches public water bodies. “Governor Romney is guilty of a jaw-
sachusetts Department of Envi- dropping abdication of his public health
ronmental Protection (DEP) has Under threat of a lawsuit by a coalition
of groups led by PEER, the outgoing ad- responsibilities,” stated New England
allowed hundreds of industries to dis- PEER Director Kyla Bennett, noting that
charge tons of toxic chemicals into mu- ministration of Governor Mitt Romney
issued a last-minute proposal to margin- only 5% of Massachusetts waters meet
nicipal sewage plants without state per- minimal standards for fishing and swim-
mits, according to a PEER investigation. ally strengthen oversight of industrial
discharges. The Romney plan, however, ming. “There is no excuse for this egre-
As a result, streams of harmful chemicals gious dereliction of duty.”
may be entering Boston Harbor and other left the hard work to incoming Gov. De-
water bodies without any warning to con- val Patrick to establish rules for industrial
sumers, fishermen or municipalities. toxics reporting, subdivisions seeking to Calling All Cops
hook up to failing sewer systems and a Massachusetts Environmental Police
Beginning in 1998, DEP has issued “for- broken state enforcement program. say they cannot do their jobs due to
bearance letters” to at least 278 industrial political interference, poor leadership
wastewater dischargers. These forbear- and inadequate support, according to
ance letters “temporarily” waive all per- a PEER survey. Massachusetts Envi-
mit limits, monitoring requirements, and ronmental Police (MEP) officers are
holding tank approvals, as well as all fees. tasked with enforcing environmental
These waivers remain in effect today. health and public safety laws, rang-
ing from hazardous waste disposal to
Based upon records PEER obtained, the illegal fishing and boat safety.
state waived regulation over 1.4 million • Nearly four out of five disagree
gallons of wastewater entering munici- that “environmental enforcement
pal sewage systems every day. Although in Massachusetts has become
some municipal plants monitor industrial stronger in the past four years”;
dischargers carefully, others do not. Due
• One in five officers report that
to a lack of state tracking, it is unknown managers “inappropriately inter-
how much of the chemical mix (every- vened in a criminal investigation”
thing from radioactive elements, such as Wastewater Treatment Plant. Many industrial
during the past two years and
wastewater plants lack the ability to prevent
radium, to heavy metals, as well as an ar- harmful chemicals from reaching surface more than one-third of respon-
ray of acids, acetones and other chemi- waters. dents “fear retaliation from my
chain of command for advocating
OCD — Obsessive Construction Disorder environmental enforcement”; and
• More than half do not see
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency presented one of its five 2006 Na-
management as “committed to
tional Awards for Smart Growth Achievement to Massachusetts “for creating the
enforcement of environmental
Office of Commonwealth Development (OCD)” in 2003. The EPA award observes
laws.”
that OCD has “protected approximately 35,000 acres of land.”
“The problems in the Massachusetts
While that number is accurate, it is substantially less than the land protected
Environmental Police run deep and
before OCD was created. According to figures compiled by PEER, under Gover-
require a complete overhaul,” stated
nor Mitt Romney Massachusetts protected fewer acres at greater cost than under
New England PEER Director Kyla
his predecessors. During Romney’s tenure, land protection took a nose dive,
Bennett, who conducted the poll. A
falling from more than 33,000 acres protected in 2001 to less than 6,900 acres in
similar survey of MEP officers that
2006 — a lower total than any year since 1991.
PEER conducted five years ago pro-
“With its own record of being missing in action on important land use issues, duced less negative results in key
EPA giving an award to Massachusetts for smart growth achievement is like a areas. “Hopefully, the next adminis-
deserter passing out medals for heroism,” stated New England PEER Direc- tration will choose better managers,
tor Kyla Bennett, a former EPA lawyer and biologist, noting that, on average, remove barriers and provide ade-
40 acres of undeveloped land are lost per day in the Commonwealth. “By any quate resources so that environmen-
measure, Massachusetts is losing the war on sprawl by widening margins; under tal law enforcement in the Common-
Romney, the cause of smart growth lost significant IQ points.” wealth stops being such a joke.”

 PEEReview

Manatee Recovery in Doubt
D
espite record death levels and
growing threats, the Florida Fish
and Wildlife Conservation Com-
mission is downgrading the protected sta-
tus of the Florida manatee. Although it is
projecting a 30 to 50% decline in mana-
tee population over the next 60 years,
the new state “recovery” plan lays out
no concrete steps to combat what it con-
cedes are growing threats, including—
• More Propeller Deaths and
Maiming: “In addition to the ex-
pected increase in boat numbers,
there are other factors that may act
synergistically to increase the risk
of fatal collisions between manatees
and watercraft.”
• Worsening Habitat Destruction:
Losses “of warm-water refuges over
the next several decades present one
Losses Mounting. Florida registered record manatee death levels
in 2006.
When In a Hole, Corps Keeps Digging
The latest plan by the U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers would make it much easier
to destroy wetlands in the areas hardest
hit by Hurricane Katrina. Developers
could destroy up to five acres of wetland
per project (a ten-fold increase) with no
public input, thus reducing flood stor-
age capacity, drinking water quality and
aquatic ecosystems.
The plan also eliminates any protection
for ephemeral streams and allows de-
Winter 2007
of the most serious long-term threats
to manatees in Florida.”
• Red Tides and Harmful Algal
Blooms: “Red tide represents a ma-
jor natural source of mortality for
manatees in the southwestern region
that is beyond the control of manag-
ers.”
PEER is protesting the action and push-
ing the agency to adopt a recovery plan
that actually takes concrete steps to help
revive struggling manatee populations.
“Our current strategy in Iraq has a bet-
ter chance of succeeding than this mana-
tee plan,” stated Florida PEER Director
Jerry Phillips, a former enforcement at-
torney with the state Department of En-
vironmental Protection.
The FWC plan fails to offer any coherent
strategy or specific steps
(apart from additional
research) to prevent the
manatee populations
from suffering continu-
ing losses. The plan –
• Eschews any tighter
speed limits, despite
the current chaotic
county-by-county
speed policies that
hinder consistent pro-
tections;
velopers to fill up to 300 feet of peren-
nial streams. In addition, it permits new
structures in the 100-year floodplain.
The thrust of the Corps’ plan is precisely
contrary to the recommendations of an
array of expert panels, as well as its own
policies and a presidential order forbid-
ding new development in floodplains.
“This is a wrong-headed solution offered
by the very organization, the Corps, that
Florida
(Photo courtesy of Donna Clements,
Marine Animal Rescue Society)
Increasingly and Distressingly Common.
Propeller wounds are the single biggest cause
of manatee mortality.
• Undermines enforcement by urg-
ing warnings to violators rather than
fines, even in egregious cases; and
• Weakens harassment protections by
advocating that marine patrol must
show that the harm caused to the ani-
mal was intentional or the result of
negligence.
The plan proposes a goal of 2,500 mana-
tees but does not explain why this level
provides a safety net for long-term sur-
vival. In addition, FWC admits that it
needs far more reliable means of moni-
toring population changes, so that quick
intervention is even possible.
“The Fish and Wildlife Commission
should consider changing its name to the
Boating and Marina Board,” added Phil-
lips. “The state should be ashamed of it-
self for putting this monstrosity forward.”
did the most to help create the problem,”
stated PEER’s Kyla Bennett, a biologist
and lawyer formerly with the wetland
program of the U.S. Environmental Pro-
tection Agency. “The last thing the Mis-
sissippi Coast needs is sprawling, flood-
vulnerable development.”
PEER is teaming up with groups such as
the Gulf Restoration Network to fight the
Corps plan.

 U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
National Bison Range Experiment Ended
O
f late, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has not been
known for casting profiles in courage. So it was a sur-
prise when, in mid-December, the agency issued a no-
tice of immediate termination to the Confederated Salish and
Kootenai Tribes (CSKT) ending the tribes’ role in the troubled
two-year joint operation of the National Bison Range Wildlife
Refuge in Montana.
The action abruptly ended a controversial agreement under
which CSKT was awarded approximately half the positions and
funding for the National Bison Range and nearby Ninepipe and
Pablo National Wildlife Refuges. It was surprising because the
CSKT had made political contributions and connections such
that the Bush administration blithely
brushed aside the vehement objections
of more than 120 national wildlife ref-
uge managers and 40 conservation or-
ganizations, including PEER, that the
arrangement was unworkable. (See
PEEReview Winter ’05 for a profile of
that PEER campaign.)
In late 2004, after closed door negotia-
tions, the deal was imposed on the ref-
uge by Paul Hoffman, a former Dick Caught in the Middle. Contracting out refuge
Cheney aide who was then a top official operations to a tribe was deemed a failure.
at the Department of Interior (DOI), the
parent agency for the Fish & Wildlife Service and its refuge
system. While Hoffman did not particularly care about the
welfare of Native Americans or tribal self-determination, the
deal furthered the Bush administration agenda of contracting
out refuges and national parks.
The basic problem with the arrangements was that, to para- our drive to end the Bison Range agreement. “Contracting out
phrase Lincoln, a refuge divided cannot stand. Despite a thou- operation of a refuge or park to an outside entity, be it a tribe
sand-page protocol that covered virtually every aspect of the or a multinational corporation like Halliburton, dilutes the ac-
split operation, it lacked any mechanism to make sure that the countability for public resource management.”
agreed-upon work was actually done.
Violence Closes Border Refuge
While national parks and refuges have been closed due to
weather conditions or the need to isolate sensitive wildlife,
the first closure due to crime was recorded at the Buenos
Aires Refuge on the Arizona border. Citing heavy human
and narcotics trafficking, the southern strip of the refuge
will remain closed to the public indefinitely. As refuge
manager Mitch Ellis explained, “You’ve got well-armed
bad guys as well as well-armed good guys, and we don’t
want the public down there in the middle of all that.”
In its termination letter, the Service found, among other lapses,
that CSKT—
• “Failed to comply with Service bison management stan-
dards, including herding bison while cows were giving
birth during the calving season [and] feeding insufficient
quantities of hay to bison being held for transport;”
• Left incomplete biological surveys and reports and ig-
nored monitoring standards “including altering survey
protocols;” and
• Did not maintain “fences to standard, resulting in a
serious loss of grazing management control, damage to
interior fences and the conditioning
of bison to find and utilize weak loca-
tions for escape.”
These problems had been known for
months but the Service was under or-
ders to work things out. Despite its poor
performance, CSKT not only demanded
more funds but also total management
control over National Bison Range plus
the Swan River and Lost Trail National
Wildlife Refuges and five waterfowl
production areas near Kalispell. With its
political connections, CSKT nearly suc-
ceeded with its gambit.
“In the private sector, this contract would have been cancelled a
year ago for non-performance but in the world of politics, per-
formance does not matter— doing a poor job can justify asking
to take over the whole business,” stated PEER Refuge Keeper
Grady Hocutt, a long-time former refuge manager who directed
This is not just a local controversy in that the Bison Range
deal could have become the model for 34 national parks and
31 wildlife refuges that are eligible for similar deals under the
Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act. Not-
withstanding the precedental impact of its actions, Interior has
refused to adopt a national policy governing these agreements,
as PEER has urged.
By late December, CSKT had pressured Interior to reopen
negotiations, meaning the controversy will continue. “CSKT
should play a role in the National Bison Range but there are
other means which could allow the tribes to participate without
sacrificing effective and cohesive refuge management,” Hocutt
added. “Refuges are supposed to be run to benefit wildlife, not
promote politics.”

 PEEReview
 U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
Refuges Retreat to “Preservation Status”
T
he Bush administration has ordered an across-the-board
cutback in funding for the National Wildlife Refuge
System, leaving scores of refuges
without any assigned staff. Under the
Bush plan, the Refuge System, a part of
the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS),
will see declining budgets through 2011
despite significant increases in the number
of refuges, visitors and operating costs.
Each of the seven FWS regional offices
across the country is now formulating
plans to absorb the cuts. The Southeast
Region, with the largest number of ref-
uges (128), will eliminate approximately
80 staff positions, leaving more than one-
third (43) of its refuges with no staff at all
– a condition the agency calls “Preserva-
tion Status.” More than half of the ref-
uges in the region will be left with fewer
than three staff positions.
“Make no mistake about it – this is the first
stage in dismantling the National Wildlife
Refuge System,” stated Grady Hocutt, a
Mothballing Nation’s First Refuge.
former long-time refuge manager who di- Established a century ago by President Teddy
rects the PEER refuge program. “It took Roosevelt, Pelican Island has had its staff cut
a century to build this network of wildlife from six to two positions.
Survey: Refuges Headed in Wrong Direction
The National Wildlife Refuge System is headed in the wrong
direction, according to a new survey of refuge managers
conducted by PEER. Nearly four out of five managers feel
the National Wildlife Refuge System is not “moving in the
right direction.” More than two in three are not “optimistic
about the future” of the refuge system.
Lack of resources is one big concern. Nearly two in three
conclude that the refuge system is not “currently accom-
plishing its missions.” An even higher percentage estimates
that staffing levels for their refuges fall below “core require-
ments” by more than 25%.
Safety and wildlife protection are two casualties. More than
two out of three say anti-poaching and other resource law
enforcement is suffering while a slightly smaller percentage
register similar concerns about visitor safety.
Nearly half perceive the injection of politics into wildlife
Winter 2007
sanctuaries into the envy of the world but much of that work is
being undone in just this decade.”
Established by President Theodore Roos-
evelt, the National Wildlife Refuge Sys-
tem now covers 96 million acres (an area
bigger than the State of Montana) and
encompasses 545 individual refuges and
37 wetlands management areas. Apart
from providing critical wildlife habitat,
national refuges are a major recreational
outlet, with an estimated 40 million visi-
tors each year, including hunters and an-
glers. There is at least one refuge located
within an hour’s drive of every major city
in the U.S.
The Bush administration is proposing a
slight decrease in the $380 million refuge
budget. Given rising costs and more ref-
uge units (17 new refuges have been es-
tablished since 2001), this posture of flat-
lining the budget amounts to a significant
resource reduction in real terms. When
the refuge system’s $3.1 billion opera-
tions and maintenance backlog is added
to the picture, the outlook for the refuges
becomes even bleaker.
protection decisions with more than one in five report being
“pressured to approve activities that I believed were incom-
patible with the purposes of my refuge.”
Perhaps most striking were growing frustrations with weak
leadership and crippling micro-management. More than
three in four estimate that they are able to spend less than
half of their time doing “conservation work, as opposed
to purely administrative tasks.” Red tape has “become in-
creasingly cumbersome,” according to an overwhelming
percentage (96%).
A strong majority lacks “confidence in the current leader-
ship of the Fish & Wildlife Service;” not a single manager
registers strong confidence in agency leadership. Perhaps
as a consequence, nearly half the managers think that the
Refuge System should be removed from the Fish & Wild-
life Service and made into a separate agency. Full survey
results can be seen on the PEER website.

 Environmental Protection Agency
EPA Scientists Demand Global Warming Response
I
n an unprecedented action, repre-
sentatives for more than 10,000 U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency
scientists are urging Congress to take
immediate action against global warm-
ing, in a petition organized by PEER in
conjunction with a coalition of public
employee unions. The petition also calls
for an end to censorship of scientists and
other specialists on topics of climate
change and the effects of air pollution.
The petition signatories represent more
than half of the total agency workforce.
EPA Says Law Has Expiration Date
The U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency is seeking to insulate itself from
statutory requirements that it implement
lead-safe housing rules that were due by
law a decade ago. In a recent court filing,
EPA contends that once six years have
elapsed it is no longer compelled to com-
ply with the law. EPA struck this novel
legal posture in a motion to dismiss a
lawsuit brought by PEER and a coalition
of public health and community organi-
zations.
By law, EPA was supposed to have adopt-
ed lead-safe regulations for repairs and
renovations in older housing by 1996. Up
until 2005, EPA claimed that, while tardy,
it was still working to develop rules. That
year, however, PEER discovered the EPA
public statements were false and that the
Preventable Tragedy. Improper repair work in older housing is
a principal pathway for lead exposure. In Chicago, for example,
one in five children under age 5 has dangerously elevated
blood-lead levels.
 PEEReview
Addressed to the members of the Senate
and House committees overseeing EPA,
the petition states:
• The Bush administration strategy
of “using primarily voluntary and
incentive-based programs” to reduce
greenhouse gases is not working nor
“has [this approach] been effectively
carried out;”
• EPA has abdicated its responsibili-
ties by “failing to investigate coal-
electric plants for technical options
to control carbon;” and
agency had made a secret decision to
abandon the rules altogether. PEER then
filed suit against EPA.
“The implications of EPA’s latest position
are just appalling – the agency can run
out the clock by assuring everyone that it
is working on compliance and then sud-
denly say it is immune from suit,” stated
PEER Senior Counsel Paula Dinerstein.
“Congress does not write laws in ink that
evaporates after six years.”
The law at issue requires all remodeling
in buildings constructed before 1978 be
performed by certified contractors and
workers trained in lead-safe practices.
Each year, approximately 7 million home
renovations produce hazardous quanti-
ties of lead dust exposing tens of thou-
sands of American children who suffer
irreversible damage, such as
lost IQ points and develop-
mental disabilities.
Under pressure from Sena-
tor Barack Obama and other
Democrats, in 2006 EPA fi-
nally proposed a rule but it
does not cover day-care cen-
ters, housing occupied by
pregnant women or children
over age 6, or vacant build-
ings that could later house
families with young children.
• “EPA’s scientists and engineers
[must be able] to speak frankly and
directly with Congress and the pub-
lic regarding climate change, without
fear of reprisal.”
“Professionals working for the Environ-
mental Protection Agency are protest-
ing being directed to sit on the sidelines
while we face the greatest environmen-
tal challenge of our generation,” stated
PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch, not-
ing that the petition began at a grassroots
level among agency staff and was signed
by presidents of 22 locals of five unions.
Blowing Smoke
President Bush often defends his pol-
lution-related policies by pointing out
that Stephen Johnson, “a career sci-
entist,” heads the U.S. Environmen-
tal Protection Agency. Johnson may
have spent a career at EPA but he
has not functioned as a scientist for
quite a spell. Consider this statement
by Johnson in a September 14, 2006
news release entitled “Eastern Skies
Continue Getting Cleaner”:
“EPA’s success in reducing air pollu-
tion from power plants and manufac-
turing facilities proves we are not blow-
ing smoke. Long term trends show
that our nation’s air is cleaner than
over a generation ago, and continues
to improve under the Bush Adminis-
tration’s innovative clean air policies.
By keeping pace in our steady march
toward cleaner air and healthier lives,
America is breathing easier because
of President Bush’s commitment to
improving our air quality.”
EPA admits it lacks evidence that
Bush policies played any role in pollu-
tion reductions, as Johnson claimed.
As a political appointee, he is appar-
ently free to engage in such puffery.
By contrast, EPA’s real scientists are
forbidden from providing factual infor-
mation to reporters unless cleared by
the press office.

Biologist Faces Axe for E-mailing Environmentalists
T
he U.S. Bureau of Reclama-
tion has proposed to fire a biolo-
gist after finding candid e-mails
he had sent to environmentalists and to
other agencies. In its letter of proposed
termination, the agency alleged the “sub-
versive” activity of communicating with
“environmental organizations which are
opposed to Reclamation generally and
adversarial in nature” justifies immediate
removal.
Charles (Rex) Wahl, a GS-12 Envi-
ronmental Specialist, has been on paid
administrative leave for the past four
months while the agency continues to
ponder his fate. Shortly after Wahl was
notified of his proposed firing on Sep-
tember 18th, the Bureau of Reclamation
also dismissed his wife Cherie from a
temporary clerk-typist position.
Ironically, Wahl’s main duty in Recla-
mation’s Yuma Area Office was to keep
stakeholders, including environmental-
ists, abreast of agency “actions and ini-
tiatives” as required under the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). In
Paying the Piper for Park Cell Towers
PEER is often critical of both political
appointees in the Interior Department
and career National Park Service (NPS)
managers who make decisions that de-
grade our nation’s parks. So, it is fitting
to recognize officials when their conduct
protects the national park system. Such
conduct by Superintendent John Donahue
of Delaware Water Gap National Recre-
ation Area deserves praise and gratitude.
In 2004, ATT and Verizon Wireless filed
eight applications to site cellular tele-
phone towers in Delaware Water Gap.
The towers would be near the tops of
ridges, and rise anywhere from 100 to
150 feet with possible extensions to 199
feet where the tree canopy is higher.
Thus, the towers would have been visible
from much of the park.
Winter 2007
Bureau of Reclamation
addition to his contact with environmen-
talists, Wahl is also charged with reveal-
ing “administratively controlled informa-
tion” to other federal agencies.
“These charges are both insulting and
illegal,” stated PEER Senior Counsel
Paula Dinerstein, who is leading Wahl’s
legal challenge against any proposed dis-
ciplinary action. “Public servants cannot
be fired simply for telling inconvenient
truths.”
Wahl’s disclosures concern a slew of
proposed Reclamation projects on the
Lower Colorado River. He also revealed
that Reclamation had falsified material
in a permit it submitted to the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers. In addition, Wahl
suggested to a staff member of an envi-
ronmental group that she obtain certain
agency reports through the Freedom of
Information Act.
“Federal employees are not required
to swear bureaucratic omertà – silence
to the detriment of the public interest,”
Dinerstein added. “Part of the Bureau’s
The Organic Act of 1916 charges NPS
with conserving, among other things,
park scenery. Eight towers (even a single
tower), visible for miles, would certainly
impact that scenery. Therefore, Super-
intendent Donahue determined that the
towers would require a thorough review
under the National Environmental Policy
Act. The NPS informed Verizon that the
company would need to pay for that pro-
cess – an estimated $178,000.
Verizon promptly withdrew its applica-
tion, claiming the cost was “significantly
beyond what Verizon Wireless believes
is required.” The letter continued “the
costs…are beyond industry standards
within this region for such a review.”
While Verizon may view the parklands
of Delaware Water Gap as the equivalent
Rex and Cherie Wahl. In September,
Reclamation discovered the emails Rex Wahl
had sent months earlier as it cleared the hard
drive of his computer. Since then, he has
been on paid administrative leave and she was
abruptly let go from a temporary job.
problem is that it regards environmental-
ists as enemies. Contrary to its paranoid
posture, Reclamation is required to be
forthright about what it is doing.”
Reclamation is under no deadlines to act
on Wahl’s case. Facing a short statute of
limitations on filing complaints, how-
ever, PEER has initiated an investigation
into the matter by the U.S. Department
of Labor under the whistleblower provi-
sions of the Clean Water Act, Clean Air
Act and Solid Waste Disposal Act.
of a roadside location along a New Jersey
commercial strip, Mr. Donahue perceived
the difference.
The approach to cell towers in Delaware
Water Gap is in sharp contrast to the
cell tower right-of-way overlooking Old
Faithful in Yellowstone, for example,
where two-thirds of that park now has
cell coverage. The NPS also has issued a
right-of-way for a 185-foot tower in the
heart of Mammoth Cave National Park.
PEER is campaigning for more parks to
follow the example of Superintendent
Donahue, and we are pressing the NPS
to adopt system-wide plans and policies
so that park scenery, solitude and sound-
scapes are not needlessly thrown away to
service telecommunications corporations.

 PEER Perspective
Withholding Judgment
This issue we temporarily suspend our judgment and allow readers to decide what digits (thumbs or
otherwise) the following items deserve.
Sort of Like the War on Drugs Chuckle on Your Own Time
After twenty years of uniformly “can do” rhetoric, the In its never-ending campaign against computer porn and
U.S. is now conceding the war against exotic invasive online gambling, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has
species is un-winnable. Speaking at a recent DC confer- instituted a new “Internet filtering tool named Websense,”
ence, Agriculture Department Undersecretary Dave Tenny according to an agency memo. The new filter is so sensitive
admitted the fight against invasives, such as the Asian that it also blocks “access to comics such as Doonesbury, and
longhorned beetle and the ze- the word ‘humor’…a search for
bra mussel, is “not a battle we “Park directors that stand up and ‘humor in the workplace’ will
are going to win ultimately.” only reach a warning page that
Another USDA official stated do the job won’t last too long.” humor is off-limits,” writes one
that we are losing at an acceler- --The late William J. Whalen, National Park PEER member. Websense may
ating rate, with more invasives Service Director 1977-80 be ill-named as it also filters out
entering the U.S. during the a variety of legitimate resource
past 15 years than in the previous 60, adding “Even if we issue-related sites. Paradoxically, agency employees can
had a blank check, it wouldn’t be enough.” Nonetheless, still access the PEER site despite our best efforts to get
the U.S. will continue to spend billions to combat exotic banned in Boston.
life forms. Hmmm…pouring money into an un-winnable Petroleum Kool-Aid Acid Test
conflict sounds familiar; maybe it is becoming the new
American way of warfare. Though their economies are based on oil, Louisiana, Texas
and Oklahoma have never mapped the petroleum pipelines
Even the Snakes Have Ears. within their borders. Nor are the federal maps of interstate
In a related item, Burmese pythons are proliferating through pipelines reliable. As these states hold some of the oldest
the Everglades, with hundreds of the big, wily predators pipelines, which are more prone to leak, this information
eating their way through the River of Grass. Last year, in gap is becoming a public safety concern. Fortunately, the
an incident worthy of the novelist Carl Hiaasen, a 13-foot U.S. Geological Survey is on the job and has assembled
python exploded after swallowing a six-foot gator. While teams armed with aerial photographs and permit records.
park officials captured nearly 150 of the big constrictors Louisiana is a particular challenge, with more than 15,000
last year, they concede they are only scratching the scaly miles of pipelines snaking through its swamps and bayous.
surface of a python population spike. Conventional trap- As there was no pipeline master-plan, the resulting maps
ping has not worked, so they are trying a new approach of are something to behold. As USGS Researcher John Snead
releasing snakes implanted with radio transmitters. “They said, “A map of pipelines in Louisiana looks like a web
sort of rat out their own kind,” said park biologist Skip made by spider on LSD.”
Snow, claiming that the technique is so successful that the They Don’t Make ‘Em Like They Used To
initial troop of “Judas animals” has been hiked from four to Two U.S. Forest Service researchers based in Ogden, Utah
seven. “Snakes have some kind of way to find each other,” had to be evacuated by helicopter from the Sawtooth Na-
Snow adds. “If we can get a clue as to what that is, it will tional Forest in Idaho after they became frightened by howl-
certainly help.” Maybe we could bottle it? ing wolves while conducting a forest inventory. Unaware
that the wolves were hunting elk, not PhDs, the researchers
Bush’s Secret Plan to Fight Global Warming climbed atop a rock outcropping and called their supervisor
UN climatologists are grappling with reports that a layer of on their satellite phone asking to be airlifted out. “They were
pollution deliberately spewed into the atmosphere may help very scared and wanted to get out,” said a forest spokesman.
cool the planet and check dangerous global warming. This While Idaho has never recorded a wolf attack on humans,
form of “geoengineering” is now being seriously considered “these employees were probably not aware of that fact,”
by U.S. policy-makers, according to published reports. One he added. The forest is reviewing its use of helicopters
drawback, however, is the worldwide pollution blanket in designated wilderness. Two days later, a Forest Service
could kill millions from pulmonary diseases in order to save crew hiked in to retrieve the researchers’ abandoned gear
hundreds of thousands of global warming victims. where it lay unmolested by wolves.

10 PEEReview
 Environmental Protection Agency

EPA Closes Half Its Libraries

W
ithout waiting for Congressional approval, the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency has shut down
much of its network of libraries, ending public ac-
cess to research materials and boxing up unique collections. A
furious counter-campaign led by PEER on behalf of outraged
agency specialists has generated national news coverage, criti-
cal editorials and pledges by incoming committee chairs in both
houses of Congress to reverse the agency actions.
While initially citing fiscal motives, EPA abandoned that ra-
tionale and now claims that it wants to “modernize” its infor-
mation systems by digitizing thousands of documents page-by-
page. In the interim, whole collections will be inaccessible to
both agency specialists and outside researchers.
The agency’s inability to provide a rational explanation for the
closures has only fueled opposition. A mass petition by EPA
scientists claims the action is an “effort to suppress information Closed for Business. Sign posted at Region 5 (Chicago) library indicates
on environmental and public health-related topics.” At times, this facility, which served a multi-state area, will not be re-opening.
Meanwhile, every stick of furniture has been sold for less than pennies on
EPA’s actions have taken on an Orwellian cast— the dollar.

• Thousands of documents were “recycled” and whole

collections were hastily dispersed to anyone willing to
accept them;
• “Repositories” of un-catalogued documents have grown
into giant information dumps; and
• In Chicago, the largest library, all furnishings (shelves,
desks, cabinets, even pencil sharpeners) worth some
$40,000 were sold for a mere $327.
The agency even coined a term (“deaccessioning,” defined as
“the removal of library materials from the physical collection”)
to describe the dismantlement of its network of 26 technical
libraries.
In October, EPA abruptly shut down its DC Headquarters Li-
brary and, shortly thereafter, shuttered its specialized library on
the effects and properties of chemicals. This latter action, with
no notice to the scientists who rely on those holdings to analyze
new pesticides and toxic chemicals, galvanized public attention
because it so clearly hampered needed research.
Throughout the past several months, PEER repeatedly revealed
agency actions using internal e-mails and other internal records
to document what was occurring behind now permanently
closed doors. A key part of the campaign was to demonstrate
how counterproductive the library closures were by airing—
• Internal studies showing that full library access saves at
least 214,000 hours in professional staff time worth some
$7.5 million annually, an amount far larger than the total
agency library budget of $2.5 million;
• A briefing paper for the agency enforcement director
showing that the loss of library access would substan-
tially impede investigations and prosecutions of pollut-
ers; and
• Memos describing how much material, paid for with
tax dollars, will become completely inaccessible.
“By putting vast troves of technical information beyond reach,
EPA actually threatens to subtract from the sum total of human
knowledge,” observed PEER Associate Director Carol Gold-
berg, who coordinated our campaign. “I am mystified the agen-
cy has yet to offer a legitimate explanation for its actions.”
Leaders in the new Congress, led by incoming committee
Chairs, such as Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Rep. Bart Gor-
don (D-TN), are vowing to undo the shutdowns. Under this
pressure, EPA has temporarily halted further closures.
The library closures are one of a series of steps, such as divert-
ing public health research funds, which PEER has labeled a
“self-lobotomy” being performed on EPA. One silver lining
is the closures may be a chance for dispassionately evaluating
the entire information posture at EPA and improving both the
amount and manner of information the agency makes available
to its own staff as well as the public. PEER is now recruiting
EPA specialists to help guide these next steps.

Winter 2007 11
 Public Land Disinvestment
Land Robbery
continued from page 1
While these scandals have been in the
headlines, an array of behind-the-scenes
concessions may have even more last-
ing significance for generations to come.
One is the huge rip-off from oil “in-kind”
payments to Interior. Another is the dis-
mantlement of the auditing ability within
the Minerals Management Service to
track coal and oil payments due the Trea-
sury. Interior increasingly resembles a
kleptocracy fueled by a furiously swing-
ing revolving door.
One cumulative effect of these resource
heists is that federal land management
agencies are feeling the first signs of mal-
nutrition. They are forced to cut services,
leave positions unfilled and abandon
needed husbandry efforts.
Within Interior, the Bureau of Land Man-
agement (BLM) is looking, for the first
time, to proceeds from the sales of lands
as a major revenue source. The penury
facing our National Wildlife Refuge Sys-
tem is profiled on page 7. We detailed
the National Park Service budget quan-
dary in PEEReview Spring ’06.
Shrinking support is also being felt be-
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility
2000 P Street, NW, Suite 240
Washington, DC 20036
Return Service Requested
Printed on Recycled Paper
yond Interior. The Forest Service within ing, grazing, logging and mining to
the Agriculture Department is closing an capture true costs of these activities
estimated 1,500 campsites, roughly 10% to the taxpayer.
of its total. Sites will be stripped of all
We can no longer use 19th century re-
accoutrements – from latrines to trash
source laws to protect our public lands
cans, picnic tables and water systems;
patrimony through the 21st century.
even the fire rings will be removed. At
PEER will help reformers make this case
the same time it is closing campsites, this
for change.
conflicted agency is launching an effort
called “More Kids in the Woods” to get
more children camping.
Norton’s successor, Dirk Kempthorne,
has yet to reverse course but the new
Congress appears to ready to act. The
larger challenge of returning a firm finan-
cial foundation will require more than
chasing the thieves out of the public cof-
fers; it necessitates—
• Ending the oil royalty giveaways
and reinvesting that revenue in the
public lands system;
• Fully funding the Land & Water
Conservation Fund ($900 million
per year from oil and gas royalty
revenue); and
• Pricing extractive permits for drill- Hundreds of campgrounds will be closed
throughout our national forest system.
NON PROFIT ORG.
U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
WASHINGTON, DC
PERMIT NO. 6094
Help the Environment Even More...
Go Paperless with PEER
See centerfold for details.
 Website update! Visit www.peer.

ø
org to get involved in the new
Campaign Center, check out
PEER’s activities in your backyard
at States Watch, and browse agency
action in Federal Beat.

The blogsphere is abuzz with PEER press. Now

you can get involved in our own Anonymous
Activist blog at www.peer.org/wordpress. Sign
in to share your thoughts on the management
of our natural resources, or email info@peer.
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Thank you!
We are very grateful to the Herb Block,
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and Dr. Justin O. Schmidt, and all of
our dedicated individual donors. Your
generosity makes PEER’s work defending
public employees possible.
 Blue Frontier: Saving America’s
Living Seas
David Helvarg’s fascinating account
of America’s oceans and the impact of
history, commerce and policy on ma-
rine life (and by extension, all life on
earth) is a must-read for all of us on
the blue planet.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. raves that
the book is “an infuriating portrayal of mankind’s most
breathtaking crime, the destruction of the oceans that
birthed our species.”
Baywatch actress Alexandra Paul: “I thought I knew the
ocean, until I read David Helvarg’s book. Blue Frontier is
a fascinating read.”
Special offer for PEEReview readers: $17.00 (includes
shipping and handling). Save $8 off the cover price!

“Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to
work hard at work worth doing.” – Theodore Roosevelt
Choosing a Conservation Vocation or a Bureaucratic
Career: Personal Choices and the Environmental Con-
sequences is a good guide for those in search of a mean-
ingful job in the environmental field.
Richard Kroger uses his personal
career experiences to explain why
environmental government agencies
do such a poor job of protecting our
public natural resources and how this
malady can be cured. $14 for PEER
members.

14 PEEReview
 The perfect gift for your favorite undercover activist --
socially conscious skivvies!
Symbolic of our work with anonymous public
employee activists, the only PEER apparel is not
a T-shirt or a baseball cap; it’s UNDERWEAR.
PEER’s white cotton/poly blend boxer shorts
have the legend “Undercover Activist” on the
rear and the PEER logo silk-screened on the
right leg. PEER boxer shorts are the apparel
undercover activists can wear in the office! Now available directly
from PEER for $15.00/pair, includes shipping and handling.
Available in Small (waist size 30-32), Medium (34-36), Large (38-
40) and X-tra Large (42-44).

Order Form
Select your purchases on the order list below, fill out the reverse
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Undercover Activist boxers $15.00
Blue Frontier: Saving America’s Living Seas by
$17.00
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Choosing a Conservation Vocation or a
$14.00
Bureaucratic Career by Richard Kroger
Beloved of the Sky: Essays and Photographs on
$15.00
Clearcutting, by various authors
The Terrorist Next Door: The Militia Movement
$16.00
and the Radical Right, by Daniel Levitas
A Sword for Mother Nature: The Further
Adventures of a Fish and Game Warden by $14.00
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The Art of Anonymous Activism: Serving the
Public While Surviving Public Service by $10.00
PEER, GAP & POGO
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Winter 2007 15
 Save trees, Hug PEER
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16 PEEReview