This is from the Denver Post, June 8:
Group alleges political meddling in wolf program
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.—The effort to return the Mexican gray wolf to the American Southwest has been fraught with legal disputes, illegal shootings, livestock deaths and emotion. Now a watchdog group is questioning the integrity of key scientific findings related to the endangered animal’s recovery.
Public Employees of Environmental Responsibility filed a complaint this week with the U.S. Department of Interior, alleging that political meddling has threatened to lower the number of wolves required for recovery.
The group also contends the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service suspended recovery planning in May in response to political pressure that followed the release of confidential documents to politicians and advocacy groups and concerns voiced by officials in Utah and Colorado about expanding the wolf recovery area to their states.
Jeff Ruch, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based group, called the science behind Mexican gray wolf recovery a “political football.”
“The time for political negotiation comes after the scientific work is done,” Ruch said. “In this instance, Obama officials are attempting to improperly pre-negotiate the science to accommodate political partners.”