Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

A bad choice for FWS chief

Just when you thought you'd heard it all about the Bush administration's disdain for the environment, someone does something to top it. The latest outrage is Interior Secretary Gale Norton's pick as acting director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Matthew Hogan.

Hogan's job before coming to work at FWS was as chief lobbyist for Safari Club International. The club has set hunting awards for its members like the Africa Big Five, in which a member shoots a leopard, elephant, lion, rhino and buffalo. Then there's the American Twenty Nine or Big Cats of the World.

For a member to get all 29 awards, he would have to kill at least 322 different animals. That can get expensive, so some members cheat by shooting captive animals or using questionable hunting tactics, according to the Humane Society of the United States.

Guess which agency decides who gets to bring stuffed trophy animals into the country? Yes, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

"Having a Safari Club lobbyist in charge, even temporarily, of the federal agency that is supposed to protect endangered species is precisely the wrong course to pursue for any administration," said Wayne Pacelle, HSUS president.

But this is the Bush administration, where a prologging forest plan is called "Healthy Forests," polluter-friendly clean air rules are "Clear Skies" and a man who used to advocate for those who kill endangered species for sport is now in charge of the hen house.

[Last modified April 15, 2005, 00:48:13]