A day after a Oregon congressman called for an investigation into the Bureau of Land Management's decision to cut off funding to Oregan State University researchers who dared publish a study that contradicted the Bush administration's forest policy...the BLM changed its mind and restored the funding.
Gee, I wonder why.
In the Oregon State Daily Barometer, spokesperson Luanne Lawrence fielded several media calls on the subject Wednesday. She said an OSU news release on the subject went as far as Washington D.C.
“I’ve done interviews with the L.A. Times, with NPR ... The Associated Press ...” she said. “It’s been pretty much all over the country.”
Lawrence said that isn’t a bad thing for OSU and does not put the university in a negative spotlight.
"It’s not as if they were calling into question the integrity of the research. Now the BLM is answering some questions as to why this all occurred.”
"The key to effective censorship is to make sure no one's looking, and this time everyone was watching," said Andy Stahl, director of the Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics, an environmental group in Eugene.
(HT: New West)
