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Message: [QUOTE="bbbom, post: 224328, member: 16301"] [b]Update!!!!!!![/b] [b]Biologists may be fired over lynx hoax Federal workers planted fur samples during survey of endangered species Associated Press WASHINGTON _ Lawmakers want an investigation to determine whether government wildlife biologists reported finding lynx fur in two national forests to keep people out of the areas. 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 under the Endangered Species Act. During the 2000 sampling session, biologists sent the lab doing DNA tests for the project three fur samples they said had come from parts of the Wenatchee and Gifford Pinchot national forests in Washington state. Those areas are normally not home to lynx. The biologists later admitted they planted the samples, saying they did so to test whether the lab could accurately identify lynx fur. None of the seven remain in the lynx survey program. Six were reassigned and one retired. House Resources Committee Chairman James Hansen, R-Utah, and Rep. Scott McInnis, R-Colo., chairman of the House forests subcommittee, called the action "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," they wrote Tuesday in a letter to Agriculture Secretary Anne Veneman and Interior Secretary Gale Norton, whose agencies administer the program. Hansen and McInnis want a review of all data collected through the lynx recovery program before any land management decisions are made. The Canadian lynx is about 2 to 31/2 feet long and weighs 10 to 40 pounds with thick brownish gray fur, broad furry paws, black-tufted ears and a short, black-tipped tail. Its principal prey is snowshoe hares. Efforts to protect lynx habitat are under way in 57 forests in 16 states, mostly along the northern border of the United States, plus Utah and Colorado.[/b] Full Story and a chance to comment is: [URL=http://www.spokesmanreview.com/news-story.asp?date=121901&ID=s1072638]Here[/URL] Get you letters of support for Hansen & McGinnis out to - Write Your Rep is a great place to start!! [/QUOTE]

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