Julie MacDonald

"For the British journalist, see Julie MacDonald (British Journalist)"

Julie A. MacDonald was a deputy assistant secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks at the United States Department of the Interior from 3 May 2004 until her resignation on 1 May, 2007cite news | url = http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2007/05/01/interior_official_quits_ahead_of_hearing/ | title = Embattled Interior official resigns post | publisher = Associated Press | date = May 1, 2007 | author=Matthew Daly] after an internal investigation which corroborated private sector accusations that she had tampered with scientific findings and which further determined that she had violated federal rules by giving government documents to lobbyists for industry.cite news|last=Broder|first=John M|title=U.S. Agency May Reverse 8 Decisions on Wildlife|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/21/washington/21interior.html?_r=1&ref=us&oref=slogin|publisher=New York Times|date=2007-07-21] The "Washington Post" called the events leading to MacDonald's resignation "the latest in a series of controversies in which government officials and outside scientists have accused the Bush administration of overriding or setting aside scientific findings that clashed with its political agenda."] In the aftermath of her departure, many endangered species designation denials which had been issued during her tenure were reversed.

Biography

MacDonald graduated from University of California, Davis in 1978 with a degree in civil engineering. She joined the Department of the Interior in 1979 as a hydraulic engineer with the Bureau of Reclamation. Since 1987, she has been a government administrator, including at the California Resources Agency. [cite news | url = http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/29/washington/29environ.html | title = Report Says Interior Official Overrode Work of Scientists | publisher = New York Times | date = March 29, 2007] In 2002 she returned to the U.S. Department of the Interior as an aide to the assistant secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks, the official who oversees the Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Parks Service, two of the eight bureaus in the Department of the Interior. On 3 May 2004, the Interior Secretary appointed her a deputy assistant secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks. [ [http://www.doi.gov/news/04_News_Releases/040503b.htm MacDonald Named Deputy Assistant Secretary (press release)] ] The mission of the Fish and Wildlife Service is "to work with others to conserve, protect and enhance fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people", and a major part of its workload is managing designations of species as endangered under the Endangered Species Act.

Events leading to resignation

In 2006-2007, the Department of the Interior's Inspector General undertook an investigation of MacDonald. What prompted this investigationFact|date=September 2008 were accusations contained in an October 2006 report by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), a nonprofit group that advocates scientific integrity. Among the accusations were that McDonald had "personally reversed scientific findings, changed scientific conclusions to prevent endangered species from receiving protection, removed relevant information from a scientific document, and ordered the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to adopt her edits." []

In March 2007, the Inspector General issued his report of that investigation, leveling charges of misconduct against MacDonald. [] The two chief conclusions were that MacDonald repeatedly violated a set of federal rules (specifically, the Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.R.), Use of Nonpublic Information and Basic Obligation of Public Service, Appearance of Preferential Treatment) by giving nonpublic, internal government documents to oil industry and property rights groups and that she manipulated and undermined scientific findings in order to favor the Bush administration's policy goals and assist land developers. [http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-03-29-interior_N.htm?csp=15 Report: Interior official blasted for twisting environmental data] ] According to the Inspector General, "MacDonald has been heavily involved with editing, commenting on, and reshaping the Endangered Species Program's scientific reports from the field."

MacDonald resigned on 1 May, 2007, one week before a House congressional oversight committee was to hold a hearing on the Inspector General's accusations.

In November 2007, a followup report by the Inspector General found that MacDonald could have benefitted financially from a decision to remove the Sacramento splittail fish from the federal endangered species list. [http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/nov2007/2007-11-29-10.asp U.S. Endangered Species Program Burdened by Political Meddling] ]

Aftermath

Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) Director H. Dale Hall, formerly a wildlife biologist, called MacDonald's conduct "a blemish on the scientific integrity of the Fish and Wildlife Service and the Department of the Interior." The Inspector General's findings led the FWS to reopen endangered species decisions made under MacDonald's administration. Director Hall reopened the agency's assessment of the Southwestern willow flycatcher after alleging that MacDonald had told field personnel to reduce the bird's natural nesting range from 2.1 miles to 1.8 miles.] Hall told the inspector general that MacDonald's aim in curtailing the stated territory size of individual birds was so that the range of the species would fall short of California, which in turn was desired because her husband had a family ranch there. However, MacDonald maintained that the property is nearly 300 miles from flycatcher habitat, and that her alteration of the bird’s range was approved by agency experts, including Hall.cite news | url = http://www.gazette.com/opinion/MacDonald_26957___article.html/report_esa.html | title = More to Julie MacDonald case than meets the eye | Colorado Springs Gazette| date = September 6, 2007]

Eight other endangered species decisions were reopened, including the white-tailed prairie dog, Preble's meadow jumping mouse, arroyo toad, California red-legged frog, and the Canada lynx. [] cite news|last=Heilprin|first=John|title=Endangered Species Rulings Under Review|url=http://www.philly.com/philly/wires/ap/news/nation/washington/cabinet/8636542.html|publisher=Philly.com|date=2007-07-23] In November 2007, the FWS announced that of the eight species reviewed, seven had been returned to endangered status after finding that their prior reviews had been "tainted by political pressure".]

Later the same year, in December 2007, the US District Court for the District of Idaho overturned the FWS rejection of a petition to list the sage grouse as threatened and endangered, [cite news | url = http://www.westernwatersheds.org/legal/07/sagegrouse/greater_sage-grouse_sj_decision.pdf | title = Western Watersheds Project v. US Fish and Wildlife Service, Case No. CV-06-277-E-BLW | date = December 4, 2007|format=PDF] citing misconduct by MacDonald. In its decision, the court wrote that "The FWS decision was tainted by the inexcusable conduct of one of its own executives...who was neither a scientist nor a sage-grouse expert, had a well-documented history of intervening in the listing process."

In September 2008, the US Fish and Wildlife Service proposed to more than triple the habitat of the California red-legged frog. The 2008 proposal ignores the previous final designation, due to "the involvement of Department of Interior personnel which may have inappropriately influenced the extent and locations of critical habitat".cite web|url=http://www.fws.gov/news/newsreleases/showNews.cfm?newsId=6C023432-D700-0E3C-FB101DD28AA17E4A|title=Service Proposes 300% Increase In California Red-legged Frog Critical Habitat; Comment Period Opens for Proposal Based on Entirely New Analysis|date=September 16, 2008] .

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