What happened: Two high-level officials at the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) developed and adopted flawed scientific models and maps of an endangered species, the American burying beetle, during a preliminary assessment of the Keystone XL pipeline’s effect on endangered species. The only reason that the maps – which reduced the beetle’s habitat by 25 percent (4.5 million acres) – were not used in the endangered species assessment of the pipeline was because a scientific integrity complaint was issued. The complaint alleged 29 points of violations with the scientific integrity policy and were confirmed by the agency during two internal investigations, which found further evidence showing that the two FWS officials were “knowingly impeding” the internal panel’s investigations and retaliating against other FWS scientists – including imposing several staff suspensions and creating a culture of fear against disagreement.
Why it matters: The Endangered Species Act depends upon robust and accurate scientific information to map out critical habitats of endangered or threatened species and, by thwarting this scientific process, two high-level FWS officials worked to undermine the way that science is used to protect endangered species from extinction.
Learn more about how two FWS officials carried out a slew of scientific integrity violations in order to undermine the science-based ways that we protect the American burying beetle and other endangered species.