Land Developer Purchases the Silence of California Condor Biologists on Development.

[NNadir]

LOS ANGELES - Biologist Noel Snyder got an intriguing call from a development-company representative a day after it announced it was moving forward with plans to build nearly 3,500 luxury homes, condos and hotels on land used by the endangered California condor.

Would he like to make $3,000 for just one day's work reviewing the company's plan to safeguard the condor from the development?

There was just one catch: Snyder would have to sign a promise not to publicly criticize the Tejon Ranch Co. project.

"My jaw dropped to the floor," said Snyder, one of the foremost experts on North America's largest flying bird. "It was very clear to me I could've asked for $10,000. I could've asked for $50,000..."

...Companies often hire environmental experts as consultants with the expectation they will give an honest assessment but not publicly bash a plan. In the past decade, however, developers have increasingly required consultants to actually sign contracts with clauses preventing them from speaking out, said Tom Scott, a former biological consultant who is now a natural resources specialist at the University of California, Berkeley...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080525/ap_on_re_us/silencing_condor_experts;_ylt=AiVNV0KR9uuOwiTyi1rItBlH2ocA

Amory Lovins should open a bird division at Rocky Mountain Institute so he can greenwash developments in endangered species habitat.

(He may already have a bear and caribou division, given his work for cyanide laced gold mines in the artic for Rio Tinto.)