According to a confidential survey compiled by Public
Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), many law
enforcement agents at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service say their
program is corrupt, understaffed and underfunded. “Protection of
our resources is not as important as pleasing special groups,” said
one special agent in the survey. “Our biologists and refuge
managers are too scared to speak out. We have sold out.” About 230
agents, nicknamed “duck cops,” are employed by Fish and Wildlife
Service to make sure wildlife laws and regulations are followed
across the nation. This small staff must enforce such far-reaching
laws as the Endangered Species Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty
Act, and agency spokespeople concede it’s a tough job. “The U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service is aware that there is not enough funding
and resources available,” says the agency’s Sandra Cleva. “The
agent’s work is arduous and stressful. Our people are stretched
very thin.” Cleva says the agency had not previously heard
complaints of corruption from the agents but that it is currently
being “looked at very seriously.”
PEER’s survey
questions were provided by current and retired special agents. Of
the 187 agents who were contacted, 60 percent responded. The U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Law Enforcement Survey, including selected
responses, can be found on the Web at www.peer.org or by contacting
PEER at Suite 570, Washington, DC 20009
(202/265-7337).
* Juniper
Davis
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline ‘Duck cops’ ruffle feathers.
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