Don Amador, Blue Ribbon Coalition

Several recreation organizations contacted Gov. Gray Davis? office last year when we learned that CA State Park officials were working with greens and some FS, BLM, and other federal agency staff to promote Earth First!?s Wildlands Project.

See http://www.calwild.org/pubs/reports/linkages/index.htm for more info.

In addition, an access and property rights advocate in the Sierra contacted the USGS about the CWC and The Nature Conservancy misusing USGS logos to promote The Wildlands Project. In the letter below, the USGS Director takes the CWC and TNC to task for misusing agency logo to promote an agenda.

I think this could cast a shadow on the Boxer Wilderness push as much of what she is proposing is based on CWC?s proposals and tactics. Please take time to review this letter.

____________________________________________________________

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
Office of the Director
Reston, Virginia 20192

In Reply Refer To:
Mail Stop 300
#20020167

Feb. 21, 2002

Mr. Larry Thompson
2319 MeGalliard
Bishop, California 93514

Thank you for your letter dated January 25, 2002, bringing to my attention the matter of a letter to Governor Gray Davis signed by employees of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). There were two persons identified in the signatures as USGS employees, Lisa Lyren and Chis Haas. Upon investigation, we find that the employees did not consent to the use of their names in association with the USGS, nor was there authorization for use of the USGS logo.

Following the symposium hosted by the California Wilderness Coalition (CWC) in November 2000, some of the participants decided to submit a letter to Governor Davis summarizing the results of the conference. This was done independently of the symposium and was not advocated by the USGS employees involved. After the letter was drafted, Lisa Lyren and Chris Haas, both junior, noncareer employees of the USGS, were asked to sign it by a representative of CWC. They both replied that they would only sign the draft letter as private citizens, not as USGS employees. In fact, the request for signatures from the CWC was sent to their personal e-mail accounts. Both Ms. Lyren and Mr. Haas signed a blank piece of paper that was mailed to CWC using private stationery, postage, and on their own time. The representative of the CWC then scanned the signatures and inserted them into the draft letter. The draft was apparently sent to the San Francisco office of The Nature Conservancy where the USGS affiliations and logo were added to the final letter. Neither the use of the affiliation nor the logo was authorized by the employees involved or anyone else in USGS.

We were unaware that we had been misrepresented until we received your letter. Both Ms. Lyren and Mr. Haas were acting as private citizen. Immediately upon being informed of this misrepresentation, both employees submitted letters to the CWC asking that their names and affiliations be removed from the letter.

We appreciate your bringing this matter to our attention. Our credibility as scientists is diminished if we are not known for providing objective, impartial, peer-reviewed science to our clients and the public at all times. If you need additional information please let me know.

Sincerely,

/s/ CHARLES GROAT
Charles G. Groat
Director

cc:
Amber Bell - Hatch Act Unit, United States Office of Special Counsel
The Honorable James Hansen
The Honorable Scott McInnis
Vice President Dick Cheney
Tom Knudson - Sacramento Bee