About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

GAO-01-1018R 1 (2001-08-14)

handle is hein.gao/gaocrptamtw0001 and id is 1 raw text is: SGAO Accountability * Integrity Reliability United States General Accounting Office Washington, DC 20548 August 14, 2001 The Honorable James Hansen Chairman Committee on Resources House of Representatives Subject: Accidental Contamination of Samples Used in Canadian Lynx Study Rendered the Study's Preliminary Conclusion Invalid Dear Mr. Chairman: This letter responds to your request that we investigate the results of a 1998 study concerning the Canadian lynx. The Forest Service contracted with Dr. John Weaver of the Wildlife Conservation Society in New York City to help conduct surveys for the Canadian lynx in the Cascade Mountain range of Washington and Oregon. In a March 1999 interim report, Dr. Weaver concluded that the Canadian lynx resides in certain forested portions of the states of Washington and Oregon. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service cited the 1999 interim report's preliminary data in the final rule it published in the Federal Register on the status of the Canadian lynx.' In March 2000, the Fish and Wildlife Service placed the lynx on its list of threatened species, pursuant to the Endangered Species Act of 1973,2 in the forested portions of 13 states, including Washington and Oregon. Dr. Weaver based his preliminary conclusion on the results of a deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) analysis of hair samples recovered in the Cascade Mountain range of Washington and Oregon. That analysis was conducted by the Science Resource Center of the Wildlife Conservation Society. Additional DNA analysis was performed on the same hair samples by the Wildlife Genetics International Laboratory in Canada, which questioned whether the samples had been contaminated. You asked us to (1) determine whether allegations that the study was deliberately falsified are accurate and (2) confirm that two laboratories reached different conclusions based on an analysis of the same samples. We conducted our investigation between August 2000 and July 2001 in accordance with investigative standards established by the President's Council on Integrity and Efficiency. We interviewed Dr. John Weaver; Dr. George Amato, the Director of the GAO-01-1018R Canadian Lynx Study '65 Federal Register16052. ' 16 U.S.C. § 1531 et. seq.

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most