The Fish and Wildlife Service's letter largely confirms what everyone already knew by now:  political appointees in the Interior Department (most notably former Deputy Assistant Secretary Julie MacDonald) had interfered with dozens of agency decisions in the last few years, and that this interference led to many deserving species being precluded from the Endangered Species list or receiving less habitat protection than they needed.  The letter is news, however, in its ostensible commitment to fix at least seven of those decisions.  The vigor behind that commitment and the will to right these wrongs in a timely fashion is another story.

Congressman Nick Rahall (D-WV), chair of the House Natural Resources Committee, released the November 23rd letter on Tuesday, saying the cases of interference it cataloged were examples of "this Administration's penchant for torpedoing science."  The letter committed the Service to reversing most of the decisions in question, including the negative initial finding on our petition to protect the white-tailed prairie dog, but it only offered specific dates for the proposed corrective actions in two cases (the proposal to remove protections for the Preble's meadow jumping mouse and the denial of appropriate critical habitat to the Canada lynx).  In both of these cases, the Service was already under court order to offer these corrected decisions by these dates.  So much for the agency jumping of its own accord to fix its past errors.

Because of this lack of commitment to take prompt action, we have sued the Service over the white-tailed prairie dog finding.  Our intention is to secure a date certain to which we can hold the Service legally accountable.  Unfortunately, given the state of the Service's budget and internal priority setting, this is the only way to ensure that the white-tailed prairie dog, which every day faces more and more oil and gas wells in its habitat, will see the protection it needs anytime this decade.

The Service's letter caused a big media splash, aided largely by Congressman Rahall's news release.  The Washington Post reported on the letter as well as our lawsuit.  The Jackson Hole Star Tribune, Denver Post, and Rocky Mountain News also ran stories.  The L.A. Times' story included an astute observation from Kieran Suckling, Policy Director at Center for Biological Diversity, that the Service has been politically calculated in narrowing down their list of tainted decisions to the seven in their letter.  While referencing the dozens of other species decisions that groups like CBD, Union of Concerned Scientists, and Center for Native Ecosystems have already exposed as politically tainted, Suckling said "[t]hey [the Fish and Wildlife Service] are not giving anything up. . . . They're desperately trying to contain a public scandal rather than investigate the depths of corruption at Interior."

Indeed, Union of Concerned Scientists lists at least thirty endangered species decisions from the past several years that were manipulated by political appointees who forced staff scientists to alter or ignore scientific findings.  CBD has filed at least six other lawsuits on species affected specifically by Julie MacDonald's meddling, and Center for Native Ecosystems and others are continuing to pursue legal redress for the Gunnison sage grouse,  greater sage grouse, and Gunnison's prairie dog, all of which were influenced by Julie MacDonald.

We have been saying for long time now that two things need to happen in light of the Julie MacDonald scandal.  First, the specific decisions that she and others like her tampered with need to be corrected, and second, the internal workings of the Interior Department need to be reformed so that such corruption of science-based decision-making cannot happen again.  Yesterday's revelation from the Fish and Wildlife Service only addresses part of the first of those need.  Clearly, much more needs to be done before our at risk wildlife and plants will be safe and our confidence in the federal body charged with protecting species on the brink of extinction is restored.

Thanks to a 1986 international moratorium on commercial whaling, populations of one of the world's most beloved animal, the humpback whale, have rebounded.  While estimates put the humpback's numbers at around 30,000, much better than the historic low of 1,000 in 1960, officials still consider the whale to be at high risk of extinction.  Japan is about to test that assertion by conducting an organized hunt, under the guise of scientific research, to harvest fifty humpbacks along with 1,400 whales among seven species.

Japan has been one of the most outspoken, and rebellious opponents of the whaling moratorium, filing protest after protest and claiming whaling as an important part of its culture.   Japan has actually been conducting these "research" hunts for nearly 20 years, but this is the first time they have targeted the endangered humpback.  Supporters of the humpback believe that this hunt is a way for Japan to test the resolve of conservation groups and those who protest whaling.  If there is little or no protest of this hunt, the flood gates may open, leaving Japan to harvest the endangered humpback to historic lows yet again.

Listen to their haunting songs.

Breaking news: Australia may use military forces to monitor Japan's whale hunt.