The Bush era of federally funded science was a smashing success. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service took the southwestern bald eagle off of the endangered species list, the Bureau of Land Management endorsed cattle grazing regulations that would prove "beneficial to animals," and the U.S. Forest Service recommended legislation to protect animals from wildfires, to name a few. Surprised? Well, there is one problem with these success stories: They're all examples of political distortion, manipulation, and suppression of scientific research by the federal government.
In reality, the southwestern bald eagle isn't doing so well. High level officials at the Fish and Wildlife Service and the Department of the Interior forced FWS scientists to manipulate their findings to support a predetermined decision that the eagles do not merit continued protection under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), despite the recommendations by external peer reviewers that the population has not recovered enough ...
