Biologist Andrew Eller is still facing dismissal from his job at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, even though a federal judge has upheld his scientific findings on protecting the endangered Florida panther. [1]
Late last month U.S. District Judge James Robertson threw out a permit for a rock mining operation near Fort Myers, Florida, ruling in favor of a coalition comprised of the National Wildlife Federation, Florida Wildlife Federation and Florida Panther Society, which filed the case against the Fish and Wildlife Service and the Army Corps of Engineers.
Judge Robertson found that the Service had erred in its finding that the mine was no risk to the Florida panther, saying the agency should have considered the cumulative impact of varied developments in panther habitat, rather than the mine as an isolated project.
"The environmental groups who challenged this permit had to show that the agency action was 'arbitrary and capricious' -- one of the heaviest burdens in jurisprudence," said Jeff Ruch, executive director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), which has been assisting Eller legally.
When Eller, a 17-year veteran of the Service, and fellow biologists were ordered to give the mine a pass -- along with several other projects sited in vital panther habitat -- Eller publicly charged the Fish and Wildlife Service with knowingly using bad science on panther demographics, habits and habitat needs to support policy decisions.
Eller filed formal charges in May. In July, he received a letter from his supervisor notifying him that his employment with the Service might be terminated for unacceptable performance. [3]
While Eller continues to work, and has filed a 53-page response to the termination notice, "we anticipate that he'll be fired," Jeff Ruch told BushGreenwatch. "We think the decisions [to fire Eller] are being made by political appointees in Interior, not the Fish and Wildlife Service."
Ruch says that other Fish and Wildlife Service biologists, after being forced to sign off on development projects harmful to the Florida panther, have largely transferred out of the agency. "Some of the saddest people I've met are employees of the Fish and Wildlife Service. They feel like they're Sisyphus, pushing the boulder up the mountain."
"There are only 78 Florida panthers left in existence, 19 of them females of breeding age," Ruch tells BushGreenwatch, "and they're sitting foursquare in the middle of Florida's development boom.
"The Bush administration has indicated it doesn't want to do anything to get in the way of development in southwest Florida," adds Ruch, "and the endangered Florida panther is not likely to survive it."
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Go to PEER's website for action alerts and campaigns on the integrity of science and the Florida panther.
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SOURCES:
[1] PEER press release, Aug. 24, 2004.
[2] "Judge refuses mining permit near Fort Myers; ruling seeks to protect wildlife habitat," Florida Sentinel, Aug. 21, 2004.
[3] BushGreenwatch, Aug. 5, 2004.
