Environmentalists Want To Question Wildlife Director Seeking To Ask Whether Politics Involved In Bull Trout Decision

Environmentalists suing the government to protect bull trout said Wednesday they want to question the director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service under oath.

The environmentalists said they want to determine whether politics are the reason the fish stayed off the federal list of endangered species.

In papers filed in U.S. District Court in Portland last week, they requested an immediate ruling on their two-year-old request to grant the fish emergency protection under the Endangered Species Act.

Documents obtained by The Associated Press in February show the service ignored its scientists’ advice to expedite protection of bull trout last year, when the agency kept the fish off the endangered list.

Lawyers for two Montana-based groups, the Alliance for the Wild Rockies and Friends of the Wild Swan, said they notified Fish and Wildlife Service Director Mollie Beattie last week of the request for a formal deposition.

The “notice of deposition” filed in federal court in Portland on Friday also asks for copies of her appointment books, desk calendars, telephone message notes and “all communications regarding petition to list bull trout.”

If Beattie refuses, there will be a request for a court order forcing her to turn over the documents and appear for questioning on May 15 by lawyers for the environmental groups, said Mike Bader, executive director of the alliance.

“The Fish and Wildlife Service has done a great job themselves of showing the overwhelming scientific fact is that this fish is rapidly headed to extinction,” Bader said Wednesday from Missoula.

“They have ignored all that evidence and the result has been two years of illegal failure to protect this species. We suspect political collusion has been involved.”

The groups also want depositions from Michael Spear, the agency’s regional director based in Portland, and from his predecessor, Marvin Plenart.

Beattie was not immediately available for comment Wednesday, an agency spokesperson said. During an interview in February, she denied politics played a role in the ruling.

Federal protection of the bull trout could have significant implications for loggers, miners, livestock grazers and fishermen in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and Nevada.

Bader accused the White House of influencing the bull trout decision after fielding complaints from Western governors and congressmen about effects on logging and mining.

The Fish and Wildlife Service issued an unusual ruling on the bull trout last summer. The agency said the fish “warranted” federal protection, but listing was “precluded” because other higher priority species were on the waiting list.

Since then, the agency’s Northwest regional boss has quietly moved the fish closer to a listing under the Endangered Species Act, upgrading the bull trout’s “threat category” this month and concluding its plight is worsening, according to memos.