Department of Interior

Following are PEER news releases, white papers, surveys and other activities for Department of Interior:
News Releases
June 10, 2009  FEDERAL AGENT SACKED FOR REPORTING ILLEGAL COUGAR KILLS — Upcoming Whistleblower Hearing to Air Corruption in Nevada U.S. Wildlife Services
June 9, 2009  INTERIOR SUED TO OBTAIN OIL ROYALTY REVENUE DATA — Feds Claim Prices Oil Company Paid for Royalty-In-Kind Oil Are Trade Secrets
May 7, 2009  COMMERCIAL AQUACULTURE IN WILDERNESS PUSHED BY KEY SENATOR — Point Reyes National Seashore Oyster Farm Dispute Opens Legal Can of Worms
February 17, 2009  HIKING AND PARK GROUPS URGE WITHDRAWAL OF MOUNTAIN BIKE PLAN — New Mountain Bicycle Trails Will Drive Out Other Users and Aggravate Backlog
January 28, 2009  GRAND CANYON FLOW FIGHT BURSTS INTO THE OPEN — Early Test for Interior Secretary Salazar Pledges of Ethics and Scientific Integrity
January 9, 2009  REPUBLICAN APPOINTEES REJECT CHAMBERS APPEAL — More Litigation in U.S. Park Police Case Unless Obama Administration Intervenes
December 31, 2008  DRILLING AND MINING IN STORE FOR TWO ICONIC SOUTHWEST PARKS — Falling Commodity Prices Brings Brief Reprieve for Petrified Forest and Aztec Ruins
December 30, 2008  INTERIOR DEPARTMENT NEEDS NEW BROOMS TO SWEEP IT CLEAN — whistleblowers and reformers required to rejuvenate ravaged agencies
December 8, 2008  GREEN GROUPS GALVANIZE BEHIND GRIJALVA FOR INTERIOR SECRETARY — 106 Groups Say AZ Congressman Is Right Person to Reform Troubled Agency
November 10, 2008  LESS THAN 1% OF COMMENTS FAVOR BUSH ENDANGERED SPECIES PLAN — Proposed Changes Never Reviewed by U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service; Call for Congress to Close the Federal Register Now
October 20, 2008  U.S. PARK POLICE CHIEF JOB VACANT AGAIN — Latest Resignation Punctuates Ongoing Turmoil, Shortages and Political Interference
October 13, 2008  INTERIOR READIES MOUNTAIN BIKE EXPANSION IN NATIONAL PARKS — Lame Duck Rule Would Clear Way for Mountain Bike Trails in Park Backcountry
September 18, 2008  INDUSTRY LAWYERS DIRECTED BACA WILDLIFE REFUGE DRILLING STUDY — Concerns of Refuge Scientists Overridden by Interior, Justice Officials
September 17, 2008  TRIBAL WILDLIFE REFUGE TAKEOVER DEEPLY FLAWED — National Bison Range Deal Sets Precedent for 75 Other National Parks and Refuges
September 11, 2008  INTERIOR ETHICS SCANDALS INVOLVE MORE THAN “A FEW” — Widespread Industry Penetration of Interior Tatters Kempthorne Ethics Vows
August 18, 2008  RECLAMATION JETTISONING ENVIRONMENTAL FUNCTIONS — Lame Duck Reorganization Cutting Green Jobs to Promote Outsourcing
August 13, 2008  REVOLVING DOOR WOES MOUNT AT FEDERAL MINERALS AGENCY — Following Guilty Plea MMS Director Warns Workers to Expect More Shoes to Drop
August 12, 2008  CHENEY AIDE FINALLY LEAVING INTERIOR DEPARTMENT — Hoffman Tenure Marked by Failed Park Policy Rewrite and Reversals of Scientists
July 9, 2008  WE HAVE MET THE ENEMY…AND HE IS US — Bush Sporting Council Identifies Administration Policies as Highest Hunting Hurdles
May 20, 2008  SHELL’S REVOLVING DOOR SWINGS U.S. ARCTIC DRILLING PROGRAM — Oil Company Grabs Top Agency Managers to Push What They Used to Regulate
May 15, 2008  U.S. TRUSTING OIL COMPANIES TO SAFEGUARD ARCTIC WILDLIFE — Industry Permit Plans Not Subjected to Required Peer-Review or Monitoring
April 17, 2008  BUSH ORDER TO PROMOTE HUNTING MAY SPARK NEW OFF-ROAD CURBS — Rangers Want Agencies to Help Hunting & Fishing by Ending Reckless Off-Roading
April 10, 2008  U.S. OFFSHORE LEASING PREMISED ON FUTURE OF CHEAP OIL — Planning Assumes $30 a Barrel Oil to Minimize Potential Environmental Impacts
April 9, 2008  AUDIT FINDS MAJOR HAZARDS IN INTERIOR DEPARTMENT — 28% of HQ Workers Cite Health Threat – Modernization “Pause” for Evaluation
March 6, 2008  CONSERVATION GROUPS CHALLENGE SHRINKING HABITAT FOR RARE PLANT ON ALGODONES DUNES —

March 3, 2008  INTERIOR DEPARTMENT STAGES GRAND CANYON GREEN WASH — Exclusive Footage Offered to NBC “Today” Show to Profile High Flow Experiment
February 26, 2008  SETTLEMENT IN WHISTLEBLOWER CASE OF INTERIOR LAWYER — Robert McCarthy Testified Against Government in Tribal Trust Accounts Trial
February 19, 2008  BOWHEAD WHALE IMPERILED BY ARCTIC DRILLING PLANS — Scientific Warnings on Oil Spills and Seismic Noise Disregarded to Speed Lease Sales
February 13, 2008  ARCTIC OCEAN OIL REVIEWS SOFT-PEDALED EXXON VALDEZ — Oil Spill Dangers to Wildlife Minimized to Keep Lease Sales on Schedule
February 4, 2008  LEAKED E-MAILS MAY SINK ARCTIC OFFSHORE LEASE SALES — Officials Scramble to Suppress Scientific Dissent over Bush Arctic Oil Initiative
January 24, 2008  INVASIVE SPECIES THREAT FROM ARCTIC OFFSHORE DRILLING IGNORED — Interior Purged Scientific Concerns about Introduction of Exotics in Arctic Waters
January 21, 2008  INTERIOR STIFLES POLAR BEAR PROTECTIONS FROM ARCTIC DRILLING — Listing Delay Blocks Safeguards Urged by Scientists Contrary to Agency Testimony
January 17, 2008  INTERIOR WITHHOLDING KEY DOCUMENTS ON ARCTIC DRILLING — Shell Plans for LNG and Tanker Traffic in Chukchi Sea Barred from Lease Review
January 10, 2008  FEDERAL WILDLIFE ENFORCEMENT RECORDS SOUGHT IN LAWSUIT — Corruption in U.S. Fish & Wildlife Headquarters Targeted in Test of New FOIA Law
January 7, 2008  OUTSOURCING OF FEDERAL NATURAL RESOURCE JOBS BLOCKED — Congress Kills Key Bush Management Agenda Plank for Park and Forest Services
December 18, 2007  INTERIOR ETHICS INITIATIVE EVAPORATES BEHIND CLOSED DOORS — Vaunted Effort Scaled Back and Unimplemented While Scientific Fraud Ignored
November 6, 2007  TRIBAL TAKEOVER OF NATIONAL PARKS AND REFUGES ON FAST TRACK — Legislation Would Set “Targets” for Transferring Jobs and Funds to Tribal Control
October 22, 2007  INTERIOR ATTORNEY TO TESTIFY AGAINST GOVERNMENT IN COBELL CASE — Whistleblower to Detail Gross Mismanagement of Indian Accounts by Interior
September 24, 2007  AGENCY AUDIT VERIFIES WHISTLEBLOWER MISMANAGEMENT CHARGES — Interior Continues to Mangle Indian Trust Accounts, Losing Millions Monthly
September 17, 2007  INTERIOR ATTORNEY PLACED ON PROTECTED WITNESS LIST — Secrets Case on Assets Mismanagement Elevated to Presidential Appointee
August 30, 2007  MASSIVE CALIFORNIA WATER RECLAMATION SCHEME FULL OF HOLES — EPA Warns of Unproven Approach, Severe Eco-Effects and Huge Taxpayer Costs
August 28, 2007  LAWYER EXPOSING RIP-OFF OF INDIAN ASSETS FACES FIRING THREAT — Government Cites Secrets Act to Punish Whistleblower for Talking to Reporter
August 20, 2007  BUSH ORDERS FEDERAL AGENCIES TO PROMOTE HUNTING — Refuges, Forests and Grasslands Directed to Maximize “Hunting Opportunities”
July 3, 2007  INTERIOR SECRETARY VOWS AN ETHICAL CULTURE AMID SCANDALS — New Directives in Wake of Griles Prison Sentence and Spreading Investigations
June 26, 2007  BAD AIR AT INTERIOR HQ RECONSTRUCTION ADMITTED — Previous Assurances of Safe Conditions to Employees, Congress and Media Untrue
June 18, 2007  GRILES SEEKS TO ESCAPE JAIL BY WORKING FOR DISNEY — Plea to Judge Blurs Line between Community Service and Corporate Networking
May 31, 2007  NEW HEALTH REPORT CONFIRMS SICK INTERIOR HEADQUARTERS — Workers “Intentionally” Exposed to Chemical Vapors, Smoke and Debris Dust
May 9, 2007  LEGACY OF SCIENTIFIC FRAUD HONED BY BUSH ADMINISTRATION — Julie MacDonald Scandal Symptomatic of Broad Pattern of Mendacity
March 27, 2007  NEW BUSH PLAN TO GUT ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT — Key Wildlife Protections Weakened by a Series of Administrative Redefinitions
March 5, 2007  OSHA THREATENS SAFETY INSPECTIONS AT INTERIOR HQ — Interior Must Prove That Hazards Have Been Abated or Face OSHA Intervention
February 21, 2007  INTERIOR HQ IS A VERY DANGEROUS PLACE TO WORK — Scathing Building Audit Finds Major Safety, Health and Environmental Violations
January 3, 2007  RECLAMATION PROPOSES NEW GROUNDS TO FIRE E-MAILING BIOLOGIST — New Reasons: E-mails “Caused Embarrassment” and Cast “Unfavorable Light”
December 19, 2006  FEDERAL BIOLOGIST FACES FIRING FOR E-MAILING ENVIRONMENTALISTS — Bureau of Reclamation Cites “Subversive” Behavior in Revealing Agency Misdeeds
October 17, 2006  INTERIOR PLEDGES SCIENCE INTEGRITY BUT PRACTICES SCIENCE FICTION — New Strategic Plan Does Not Square with Track Record of Political Manipulation
May 23, 2006  HOUSE CHIDES INTERIOR FOR INACTION ON SICK HEADQUARTERS — Budget Asks for “Corrective Action Plan” and an Employee Grievance Process
March 8, 2006  BUFFALO BETRAYED BY OFFICIAL CRUELTY AND INDIFFERENCE — Massive Slaughter Makes Bison Logo for Federal Agency “Misleading Advertising”
February 22, 2006  INTERIOR IGNORING HUNDREDS OF HQ WORKER HEALTH COMPLAINTS — “Good Practices Are Not Being Followed” in Building Makeover, Says NIOSH Report
December 21, 2005  OSHA TO INTERIOR WORKERS – DROP DEAD — OSHA Refuses to Inspect Despite Mounting Health Complaints
December 6, 2005  INTERIOR HQ MODERNIZATION MAKING WORKERS SICK — Fumes and Smoke Entering Offices; Employee Health Complaints Ignored
June 23, 2005  THE IMMACULATE SCANDAL: BIG CYPRESS OIL SCAMMERS GO SCOT-FREE — After Three Years, Interior Inspector General Finds No One Responsible
April 22, 2005  “FEE-FOR-SCIENCE” PLAN DROPPED BY INTERIOR — Fundraising Quotas for Scientists Abruptly Axed After Media Inquiries
April 20, 2005  FEDERAL SCIENTISTS TOLD TO RAISE RESEARCH FUNDING — Each Must Generate $110,000 a Year to Avoid Bad Performance Rating
April 12, 2005  9TH CIRCUIT NOMINEE IN THE LOOP ON GRAZING DEAL — New Questions on Myers’ Veracity Warrant Investigation
February 23, 2005  NEW QUESTIONS ABOUT 9TH CIRCUIT NOMINEE ROLE IN SLEAZY DEAL — “Deflector General” Tries to Blame Myers’ Out-of-Control Subordinates
February 16, 2005  NEW REPORT RAISES QUESTIONS ABOUT 9TH CIRCUIT NOMINEE — Inspector General Slams Sleazy Grazing Deal That Myers Commissioned
August 2, 2004  “CULTURE OF FEAR” AT INTERIOR — Agency-wide Survey Shows Wide Expectation of Retaliation & Unfairness
December 1, 2003  UTAH LAND TRADE REFERRED TO ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR PROSECUTION — Special Counsel Withholds Norton's Probe into Whistleblower Allegations
October 2, 2003  NEW CHARGES FILED AGAINST INTERIOR SOLICITOR — As Interior's Top Lawyer Resigns
August 26, 2003  MORE ATTACKS ON FEDERAL RESOURCE EMPLOYEES — Violence Against Forest Service, BLM and Wildlife Staff Rises for Third Straight Year
August 6, 2003  INFORMATION REQUEST FILED TO UNCOVER WHITE HOUSE MANIPULATION OF KLAMATH POLICY — Groups Seek to Clarify Karl Rove's Role in Dictating Klamath Policy Resulting in 33,000 Dead Salmon
August 5, 2003  ETHICS COMPLAINT FILED AGAINST INTERIOR SOLICITOR — Interior's Top Lawyer May Have Violated Ethics Agreement
June 16, 2003  INTERIOR TO CONSOLIDATE ALL REAL ESTATE APPRAISALS IN NEW UNIT — Protection from Future Political Interference Unclear
June 9, 2003  INTERIOR TO GIVE MANAGEMENT OF PARKS AND REFUGES TO TRIBES — 34 National Parks and 41 Refuges Targeted
April 8, 2003  SECRETARY NORTON IGNORES BALANCE AND BEST SCIENCE WITH PERMIT TO OPEN DUNES HABITAT TO ORVS — Wildlife Agency Pressured to Rely on Industry Report, Ignore Other Experts and Science
September 30, 2002  APPRAISAL FOUNDATION BLASTS INTERIOR LAND EXCHANGES — Call for Moratorium and Criminal Investigation
September 30, 2002  SPECIAL COUNSEL FINDS "WRONGDOING" IN UTAH LAND DEAL — Investigation to Target Top Norton Aides
September 26, 2002  GARBAGE RAILROAD CONSTRUCTION TRASHING ENDANGERED SPECIES AND DESERT PUBLIC LANDS — Conservationists challenge work to haul L.A.'s trash to dump near Joshua Tree NP
August 29, 2002  ATTACKS ON FEDERAL FOREST, FISH & RANGE WORKERS ON RISE — Forest Service Violence More Than Doubled in 2001
August 5, 2002  SPECIAL COUNSEL FINDS "GROSS WASTE AND MISMANAGEMENT" IN UTAH LAND DEAL — Investigation to Target Top Norton Aides
January 29, 2002  GALE ("TYPHOON") NORTON WREAKS HAVOC AT INTERIOR — Disastrous First Year, Say Employees
October 25, 2001  INTERIOR SECRETARY BLASTED FOR MISLEADING CONGRESS — Groups call for Senate Investigations
October 19, 2001  SECRETARY NORTON FALSIFIED ARCTIC REFUGE DATA — Misled Congress on Environmental Effects of ANWR Drilling
August 14, 2001  ATTACKS AGAINST FEDERAL WORKERS ON THE RISE — Assults, Arson & Threats Up in 2000, Agencies Report
March 12, 2001  BUSH/NORTON PLAN BIG STAFF CUTS AT INTERIOR — Secretary's Office Grows While Field Staff Shrinks
White Papers
Tortoise on the Half-Shell — Environmental Malpractice at Mojave National Preserve (November 1999)
Details an inside account about how a federal agency legally dedicated to conservation has abdicated its responsibilities to the direct detriment of the natural resources and wildlife in its care. As a consequence of political presure and bureaucratic inertia, legal mandates have been flaunted, critical scientific data ignored and park managers have taken the posture that grazing at Mojave NP is, and will likely remain, unmonitored, unregulated and untouchable. more >>
War of Attrition — Sabotage of the Endangered Series Act by the U.S. Department of Interior (December 1997)
The U.S. Department of the Interior consistently ignores its own scientists' recommendations to list species as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). To stall discussion and shift the burden, the Department of the Interior is waiting for Congressional approval for a reauthorization bill that would greatly weaken the act. more >>
Surveys
2005  Interior Biologists Told To Fundraise
Other PEER Activities
Protest of Nomination of Craig Manson, for Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Fish, Wildlife and Parks