UNDER REVIEW The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says it is re-evaluating Endangered Species Act decisions regarding seven species nationwide because of improper political influence. The species: nHawaiian picture-wing flies n Preble's meadow jumping mouse n White-tailed prairie dog n California red-legged frog n Canada lynx n Southwestern willow flycatcher n Arroyo toad Maine timberland owners and conservationists are regrouping for another round of debate about protecting the Canada lynx after an unsual decision to reopen the case.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Friday it would re- evaluate questionable decisions regarding lynx and six other species nationwide. Those cases were improperly influenced by a high-ranking political appointee who resigned this year amid criticism that she had manipulated scientific conclusions, the agency said.

"It is a blemish, I believe, on the scientific integrity of the Fish and Wildlife Service and Department of Interior," H. Dale Hall, director of the wildlife service, said Friday.

The agency had proposed including more than 10,000 square miles of Maine woods in a critical habitat zone for the federally endangered cats. After Maine timberland owners met with the Interior Department official to argue against it, however, all the Maine land was excluded in the final rule published last fall.

Conservationists now are considering whether to move forward with legal challenges or wait to see whether the decision is changed.

Representatives of timberland owners, meanwhile, said they made a strong case last year that the lynx was doing fine without added federal protection, and they will do so again, if necessary.

Julie MacDonald, a former Interior Department deputy assistant secretary who resigned May 1, reviewed decisions to place species on the endangered list or take them off as well as to create so-called critical habitat areas. MacDonald challenged the conclusions of staff scientists, sometimes overruling their decisions at the last minute and scaling back wildlife protections, according to the agency.

"We recognize there can be policy discussions on various issues, but we want to make sure the science is true," Hall said. He said he did not want to predetermine outcomes of the reviews, but "we wouldn't be doing them if we didn't at least expect the outcome would be different."

Maine is home to the only breeding population of Canada lynx in the eastern United States. In November 2005, the wildlife service proposed a critical habitat area covering about 10,000 square miles in Maine and about 8,000 square miles in several Western states.

Land within critical habitat zones gets an extra layer of federal regulation. A landowner who seeks a federal permit, such as permission to disturb wetlands, would face a separate review for effects on critical lynx habitat.

Last summer, MacDonald met in Washington with landowners from Maine, including a representative of Plum Creek Timber Co., the largest landowner affected by the proposal. The Maine contingent made a presentation saying the regulation was unnecessary.

"We then were told verbally from the Washington office" that Plum Creek land should be left out of the habitat area, said Lori Nordstrom, a Fish and Wildlife Service biologist who was based in Montana at the time. Nordstrom is now in charge of the agency's field office in Orono, where she was reached Monday.

The order presented a problem because Plum Creek was one of many private timber companies affected, Nordstrom said. "I didn't want to take out Plum Creek and then not the rest of the timber companies that were doing the same thing Plum Creek was doing," she said.

To be fair and consistent, all private timber company land, and all other land in Maine, ultimately was removed. The agency announced the decision last November, saying it had excluded the land "based on extensive peer review, public comment and biological information."

Nordstrom defended the decision at the time, saying the cooperation of landowners would provide more protection for the lynx than the habitat designation. She said Monday she stands by that statement, as long as the landowners and the wildlife service agree to management plans for the habitat.

"Unfortunately, we didn't have that piece done before the final designation and we still don't have that done," she said.

Patrick Strauch, executive director of the Maine Forest Products Council, attended the meeting last summer with MacDonald. He said Maine landowners explained to MacDonald and other federal officials how lynx habitat had expanded in Maine and was expected to continue to flourish because of the management of private timberlands. "We built our case only on the science," he said.

Paul Davis, manager of Plum Creek's land in the Northeast, wasn't at the meeting but said the landowners made a sound argument and always have cooperated with state and federal agencies. "I guess I'm not terribly concerned about it," he said.

Conservationists said politics were to blame when the Maine land was excluded, and they have been preparing to fight the decision in court.

Now, "everyone has to step back and try to figure out what this means," said Jym St. Pierre, director of RESTORE: The North Woods, one of the critics. "It seems like this really shakes up the whole game and probably will result in, I hope, a serious review of Canada lynx critical habitat issues, as well as a number of other endangered species decisions."

Staff Writer John Richardson can be contacted at 791-6324 or at: jrichardson@pressherald.com