Polluters’
Friend Poised To Take The Reins Of Fish And Wildlife Service
By Sarah Okeson
Aurelia Skipwith, Trump’s nominee to head our nation’s Fish and
Wildlife Service, is a Kentucky attorney and former Monsanto employee with ties to a one-time Montana state
lawmaker with connections to former Interior Secretary Ryan
Zinke.
Skipwith has a biology degree from Howard University and a
master’s degree in molecular genetics from Purdue University.
Her predecessor, Greg Sheehan, didn’t have the science degree required by federal law to be the acting director for the service. She also has a law degree from the University of Kentucky.
Her predecessor, Greg Sheehan, didn’t have the science degree required by federal law to be the acting director for the service. She also has a law degree from the University of Kentucky.
Skipwith is currently the deputy assistant secretary for fish
and wildlife and parks, a job that pays $162,000 a year. Interior calendars show
she was involved in discussions about endangered red wolves and cutting protections for the
imperiled greater sage grouse, a bird that makes its nests on
the ground and is known for its distinctive mating dance.
“Skipwith will always put the interests of her old boss Monsanto
and other polluters ahead of America’s wildlife and help the most
anti-environmental administration in history do even more damage,” said Brett Hartl,government affairs director for
the Center for Biological Diversity.
Red wolves, once found across the eastern United States, are now perhaps the most endangered mammal on the planet with as few as 40 in the wild. In November, a federal judge ruled that the Fish and Wildlife Service violated the Endangered Species Act and the National Environmental Policy Act by failing to protect red wolves.
Skipwith’s fiance, Leo Giacometto, is
a former Montana state lawmaker. She and Giacometto founded AVC
Global Inc., an agricultural company, in 2014.
Giacometto was tried and acquitted in a
misdemeanor fraud case in Montana in 2003 after accusations
about a state travel reimbursement.
In 2002, Giacometto was named in an investigator’s report about a drunk-driving crash that killed Paul Sliter, the Montana House majority leader.
Witnesses said they saw Giacometto, who was first on the scene, trying to hide beer cans and bottles that spilled from a wrecked pickup truck.
In 2002, Giacometto was named in an investigator’s report about a drunk-driving crash that killed Paul Sliter, the Montana House majority leader.
Witnesses said they saw Giacometto, who was first on the scene, trying to hide beer cans and bottles that spilled from a wrecked pickup truck.
The Center for Biological Diversity has
filed a Freedom of Information Act request seeking
public records documenting meetings between Skipwith and Giacometto.
Eight days after that request was filed, the Interior Department proposed a rule that would let it reject FOIA requests that the Trump administration decides are “unreasonably burdensome.”
Eight days after that request was filed, the Interior Department proposed a rule that would let it reject FOIA requests that the Trump administration decides are “unreasonably burdensome.”
Skipwith said in her federal financial disclosure that she owned single-family and
multi-family homes in St. Louis valued at $500,001 to $1
million and received rent or royalties of $50,001 to $100,000 a year.
In 2011, a service request for a lead inspection was initiated on one of those homes, owned by Specialized Home Solutions LCC, but the request was closed after the inspector was unable to gain access to the house.
In 2011, a service request for a lead inspection was initiated on one of those homes, owned by Specialized Home Solutions LCC, but the request was closed after the inspector was unable to gain access to the house.
ACTION BOX/What You Can Do About It
The Center for Biological Diversity can
be reached at 520-623-5252 or center@biologicaldiversity.org