Something stinks in the USFWS delisting process for Yellowstone grizzly bears. A top official - Deputy Director Matt Hogan - has ties to a large energy company. An oil & gas services company, whose CEO is a former Halliburton executive, is the "independent" third party overseeing the peer review. Bear Trust International, a powerful group pushing delisting, is sponsored by energy, timber and mining companies. Why? Because removing grizzly bears from the Endangered Species list dramatically loosens restrictions on development of three million acres of land in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Please help us shed light on this massive conflict of interest.
FACE BOOK: Please investigate! I am concerned about the conflict of interest apparent in the process of removing Yellowstone area grizzly bears from the Endangered Species list. The Deputy Director charged with working with the tribes, Matt Hogan, is a trophy hunter, a former chief lobbyist for the Safari Club and appears to have ties to a large multinational energy company, which just so happens to be one of Wyoming's largest landowners. Even more concerning, the "independent third party" hired to undertake the peer review is an oil & gas services company, whose CEO is a former Halliburton executive. If grizzlies are delisted, millions of acres will open for energy development, logging, mining and more. Is this why the fossil fuel industry is so heavily involved in the delisting process? #DontDelistGrizzlies
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(5) USFWS
(6) USFWS Mountain-Prairie Division (where Mr. Hogan is deputy director).
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LETTER/EMAIL WRITING: I am extremely concerned by the conflict of interest in the process to remove grizzly bears from the Endangered Species list. First, the USFWS has hired an oil & gas services company, Amec Foster and Wheeler, whose CEO is a former Halliburton executive, to oversee the peer review. I cannot understand how such a company is qualified to do peer review or how they are independent, when delisting grizzlies opens up millions of acres of habitat to fossil fuel development, logging and mining. Second, deputy director Matt Hogan, who is charged with collaborating with the tribes, appears to have ties to multinational energy company, Anadarko Petroleum and Gas, coincidentally one of the largest landowner in the state of Wyoming. Please investigate these obvious conflicts of interest.
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(1) your Senators*
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(3) President Obama
