The agony of dissent

Choice for Head of Wildlife Agency Provokes Dissent... this somewhat overblown headline from the WashPost this morning about the inevitable Senate confirmation of Dale Hall as the head of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service...

Hall, a 27-year Fish and Wildlife Service veteran, has infuriated wildlife activists, not to mention some of his staff, by not pushing more aggressively to protect threatened and endangered species in the Southwest. In May, he told agency biologists they should rely on the genetic science available at the time of a species' listing when deciding whether to recommend new safeguards for an imperiled plant or animal, even if that science dated back to the 1970s.

"He consistently tries to get the staff to change the science," said retired agency biologist Sally Stefferud, who worked under Hall during part of her 20-year tenure at Fish and Wildlife. She predicted "substantially less protection for the species" under Hall's leadership.

But Senate Democrats and the Bush administration do not see it that way. Diane Derby, a spokeswoman for the ranking member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, James M. Jeffords (I-Vt.), said there has been little opposition to Hall's nomination and she expects "a quick and easy vote."

Sigh. It's pretty sad when you can't even get the environmentalist fired up anymore.