Miller and Rahall Launch Inquiry into New Conflict of Interest over a Delta Fish

NEWS

Congressman George Miller, California's 7th District

Monday, May 21, 2007
Danny Weiss, 202-225-2095

Miller and Rahall Launch Inquiry into New Conflict
of Interest at Interior Department
Senior lawmakers press Bush Administration on
manipulation of science in a California
endangered species decision

WASHINGTON, DC - Two senior House Democrats launched an inquiry today into reports that a Bush Administration political appointee may have improperly removed a California fish from a list of threatened species in order to protect her own financial interests.

According to an investigative report published Sunday by the Contra Costa Times, Julie MacDonald, who resigned this month as Interior Department Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fish, Wildlife and Parks, was actively involved in removing the Sacramento Splittail fish from the federal threatened and endangered species list at the same time that she was profiting from her ownership of an 80-acre farm in Dixon, CA that lies within the habitat area of the threatened fish.

MacDonald's financial disclosure statement shows that she earns as much as $1 million per year from her ownership of the 80-acre active farm. Federal law bars federal employees from participating in decisions on matters in which they have a personal financial interest.

The Sacramento Splittail, a small fish found only in California's Central Valley, depends on floodplain habitat and has been described by the Fish and Wildlife Service as facing "potential threats from habitat loss."

Today, Rep. George Miller (D-CA) and Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WV), chairman of the Natural Resources Committee, wrote to Interior Secretary Kempthorne requesting a full accounting of MacDonald's role in the Sacramento Splittail decision, an explanation of her apparent conflict of interest, and a thorough review of the science underlying the decision to remove the Sacramento Splittail from the threatened species list.

"It looks like another Bush Administration official was protecting her own bottom line instead of protecting the public interest," said Miller, a senior member and former chairman of the Natural Resources Committee and a long-time proponent of the Endangered Species Act and Bay-Delta fish and wildlife issues. "We are going to fully investigate this matter and determine whether public policy was improperly altered because of personal conflicts of interest."

"This news raises serious questions about the integrity of the Interior Department and its policy decisions," Miller added. "The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta has enough problems without political appointees at scientific agencies cooking the books. Who thought it was acceptable for a Deputy Assistant Secretary to change a major policy decision to exempt her own million-dollar enterprise from the Endangered Species Act even though federal law prohibits such conflicts?"

Rahall, who has served on the Natural Resources Committee since 1976 and became its chairman in January, called on the Department to fully explain what happened.

"Time and again, this Administration has demonstrated a complete disregard for scientists and their work," Rahall said. "Political appointees at the Interior Department have been allowed to overrule biologists and to work more closely with special interests than with their own staff. The Interior Department must explain its deputy assistant secretary's actions in this very troubling case, which is apparently the latest in a long line of efforts to undercut species recovery."

The letter from Miller and Rahall comes just two weeks after a May 9 Committee hearing at which Deputy Interior Secretary Lynn Scarlett was questioned about recent controversies in the implementation of the Endangered Species Act. Her prepared testimony did not mention a report by the Department's Inspector General on an investigation into MacDonald, nor did her testimony indicate awareness of the serious consequences of MacDonald's actions. In the course of the hearing, Scarlett affirmed that "where there is scientific manipulation, we want to correct that," but no specifics were provided.

MacDonald resigned from the Interior Department just one week before Scarlett testified.
The Endangered Species Act established a policy of protecting and recovering species in decline and their habitats. Fish, wildlife, and plants listed as "endangered" are in danger of extinction and the federal government is required to take action to recover them. Species are listed as "threatened" if it is determined that they may soon become endangered. Other threatened species in the Bay-Delta region include the green sturgeon and the delta smelt.
The full text of the letter to The Hon. Dirk Kempthorne, Secretary of the Interior, is below.


May 21, 2007
The Honorable Dirk Kempthorne
Secretary
Department of the Interior
1849 C Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20240

Dear Secretary Kempthorne:

We are writing to reiterate the request we made at the House Natural Resources Committee's hearing on May 9, 2007, and subsequently in writing by Chairman Nick J. Rahall, II, for a complete accounting of how the Department of the Interior is responding to the Inspector General's investigation of Julie MacDonald. Yesterday's newspaper report in the Contra Costa Times on Julie MacDonald and her role in the decision to remove the Sacramento Splittail from the list of threatened species demands an immediate response from the Department. This new information adds very serious charges to her record.

The Contra Costa Times reports ("Decision on splittail raises suspicions") that the Fish and Wildlife Service, at MacDonald's direction, may have improperly ignored scientific evidence when deciding to eliminate the Sacramento Splittail's threatened species designation, and that MacDonald, a non-scientist, was heavily involved in the decision. By statute, as you know, listing and de-listing decisions can only be made on the basis of the best scientific and commercial data available.

More egregious still, the article demonstrates that MacDonald was profiting significantly from agricultural property in Sacramento Splittail habitat. It is our understanding that this is the first and only time that a fish species has been removed from the list of threatened species for reasons other than extinction. It is unacceptable that such an unprecedented policy decision may have been made because a Deputy Assistant Secretary had a direct and substantial personal financial interest.

In light of this highly troubling new report, please provide us with a full accounting of former Deputy Assistant Secretary MacDonald's role from 2002-2004 in the Sacramento Splittail decision, including but not limited to:

1. Details of her contacts with staff in the California and Nevada Operations Office and elsewhere within the Department regarding the Sacramento Splittail;

2. A complete accounting of the changes made by Julie MacDonald, and others, to the Sacramento Splittail listing documents after they were sent to Washington; and

3. Communications regarding the Sacramento Splittail, if any, between MacDonald and interests outside the Department, including the San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority, the State Water Contractors, or the California Farm Bureau.

In addition, please provide us with a full account of former Deputy Assistant Secretary MacDonald's apparent conflict of interest, including but not limited to:

1. Details of her participation in decisions affecting the management of fish and wildlife species in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta region, especially those on or near her property;

2. A description of Interior Department decisions, if any, from which she recused herself based on a conflict of interest, or the appearance of a conflict;

3. A list of officials at the Department who were aware that she continued to own and profit from agricultural property in California while serving as Deputy Assistant Secretary; and

4. All advice or ethics opinions provided to her by the Department regarding these matters.

In order to determine the Interior Department's role in overseeing MacDonald's activities, please provide a description of all formal or informal action taken by the Department in response to her 2004 decision to leak documents to the California Farm Bureau's lobbyist in an apparent attempt to undermine a scientific decision regarding the threatened Delta smelt.

Finally, in order to address the significant policy implications of MacDonald's actions, we request that you direct the Fish and Wildlife Service to re-evaluate whether its decision to de-list the Sacramento Splittail was based solely upon the best available scientific and commercial data, as required by law, and to report these findings to the Congress. In addition, please provide us with the results of each of the three statistical methods employed by the Fish and Wildlife Service to determine the health of the Sacramento Splittail's population. Endangered species decisions must be based on accurate and reliable scientific analysis, not the conflict of interest of a senior departmental official. This is especially true for significant and sensitive decisions such as this one, which could affect the management of California's Bay-Delta and water operations.

We appreciate your prompt attention to our request. Please contact Ben Miller with Rep. George Miller's staff at (202) 225-2095, or Lori Sonken with the Natural Resources Committee staff at (202) 225-6065, with any questions.

Sincerely,

_______________________ _______________________
GEORGE MILLER NICK J. RAHALL, II
Member of Congress Chairman, Committee on Natural Resources