Current work in wildlife, rivers, public lands, and climate

Tuesday, September 20, 2005
Agency accused of botching efforts to save fish

Two former U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service employees claimed on Monday (9/19/05) that the agency willfully violated the Endangered Species Act by letting the Rio Grande run dry at inappropriate times
Contact: Tim Korte Associated Press

Albuquerque, Nm – Two former U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service employees claimedMonday the agency willfully violated the Endangered Species Act by lettingthe Rio Grande run dry at inappropriate times – a threat to the endangeredRio Grande silvery minnow.

Zach Simpson and Keith Basham also said the agency routinely suppressedscientific information regarding the number of dead fish discovered from2002 to 2004 – keeping the number of fish killed by water operations withinallowable limits.

The silvery minnow is deemed one of the key barometers for measuring theriver’s health.

In one instance in 2003, Simpson claimed a contract employee found fivedead minnows but was advised by a Fish and Wildlife supervisor to throwthem into willow shrubs to conceal their deaths.

“He (the supervisor) said those fish weren’t collected under our chain ofcustody,” Simpson recalled in a telephone interview. “But it was prettyclear what had happened .”

At the time, Simpson said the agency was approaching a 250-fish thresholdfor the so-called “take” – the allowable limit for dead fish. He suggestedthe supervisor didn’t want to exceed the limit.

“He said, ‘We can’t keep them. Just throw them away,’ ” Simpson said.

Fish and Wildlife Service spokeswoman Elizabeth Slown said those fish werediscarded because the contractor failed to follow procedures fordocumenting locations where they were found.

She also disputed any suggestion that the fish’s numbers have dwindled andsaid flooding this spring has dramatically improved habitat for the minnowsbecause it simulated the river’s natural cycle.

“The minnow is doing abundantly well in the middle Rio Grande right now,”Slown said.

She said 563,234 minnows were rescued from dry stretches of the river thisyear, compared with 12,700 at the same time last year.

Basham complained about a lack of cooperation between federal and stateagencies that work to keep the Rio Grande flowing.

He said 17 miles of the river dried up in July 2004, exceeding theallowable length by 13 miles.

Basham remembered his struggles to discourage irrigators from pumping thelittle water that remained in the river as federal officials tried tomaintain flow.

“It makes it very difficult for us to do conservation work under thoseconditions ,” he said.

“It takes the morale out of the group when you don’t have everybody helping .”

Slown, however, said the river dried over that stretch because aconservancy district employee assigned to monitor a gate accidentally leftit open. Water flowed into a diversion channel, and the stretch of riverdried two days before a span where low river levels were to be allowed.

“You can’t go and re-wet the river because somebody left a gate open,”Slown said. “Saying the river will be wet on these dates and dry on thosedates is not an exact science.”

Simpson and Basham chose an unusual forum to make their claims: a newsrelease issued by Santa Fe-based WildEarth Guardians, an environmentalist group.

During their time with the Fish and Wildlife Service, Simpson said the twowere discouraged from discussing their work with environmentalists orjournalists .

He said they regularly took concerns to superiors but never felt thoseissues were addressed appropriately by toplevel managers.

“Sad to say, but this is the only way in which these concerns could bevoiced,” Simpson said.

The news release described Simpson and Basham as “biologists” who hadworked for the Fish and Wildlife Service, but Slown said the two weredeemed “biological technicians.”

“It’s an important distinction, basically involving the scope of duties andtheir job descriptions,” she said. “It’s like being the lab techniciancompared to the doctor.” Simpson and Basham left the agency to pursue otheropportunities. Simpson is working on a doctoral degree in philosophy inCalifornia, while Basham is training to become a paramedic in Albuquerque.

Copyright 2005 Santa Fe New Mexican – Reprinted with permission