ET,

There are several "Administrative Assistants" in the employ of NMFS who were appointed by the Bush Administration. They are not answerable to Regional Administrator Bob Lohn - also a Bush appointee -, or anyone else in the NMFS / NOAA Fisheries chain of command. Their job appears to be to support administration goals, not NMFS' legislatively mandated mission to conserve public trust living marine resources.

You can be pretty sure that NMFS staff biologists did not recommend an appeal of Judge Redden's order.

Sincerely,

Salmo g.