Fudged!

The bureaucrats at the US Fish & Wildlife Service -- the US equivalent of the wildlife department -- had a legitimate fear when they tried to prevent scientists at the institution to reply to a survey on scientific integrity. One-fifth of the 414 scientists who defied the agency to respond to the questionnaire said they had been directed to withhold or alter technical information to be sent in the reports. Forty-four per cent of the scientists who responded to the survey, said they had been asked by their superiors to avoid making findings that would require greater protection of endangered species, according to reports in US media.

One in five agency scientists reported being directed to alter or withhold technical information from scientific documents. And more than half of the respondents -- 56 per cent -- said agency officials had reversed or withdrawn scientific conclusions under pressure from industry groups.

The survey questionnaire was sent by post to 1,400 scientists at the agency by two public interest groups based in the US -- the Union of Concerned Scientists and the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility.

Agency administrators had warned the scientists not to respond -- not even in their personal time. An official in the Great Lakes regional office of the agency asked the staff, in a memo, not to fill out the survey "in the office or from home." Fish and Wildlife Service spokesman, Mitch Snow, said officials in Washington had directed employees only to not answer any unauthorised surveys during working hours. Despite all the restrictions, as many as 30 per cent of the scientists queried responded to the questionnaire.

One scientist from the Pacific region, which includes California and five other western states, reported being involved in two decisions to list species as endangered that were reversed, allegedly due to political pressure. "Science was ignored -- and, worse, manipulated to build a bogus set of rationale for reversal of these listing decisions," the scientist wrote.

Another scientist from the same region concluded: "I have never seen so many findings and recommendations turned around at the regional and Washington level. All we can do at the field is ensure that our administrative record is complete and hope we get sued by an environmental or conservation organisation."

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