Florida Senator to Investigate Official for Removing Everglades from Endangered List

WASHINGTON — Sen. Bill Nelson has called for the firing of a high-ranking Bush administration official who recommended deleting Everglades National Park from an international list of endangered sites.

Nelson, D-Fla., announced Friday that he will hold a hearing when Congress returns from its August recess next month into the actions of Todd Willens, a deputy assistant secretary of the Interior Department. Nelson chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on International Operations and Organizations, Democracy and Human Rights.

Willens deleted the Everglades from a list of endangered sites recommended by a National Park Service panel of experts. Acting on that recommendation, the United Nations World Heritage Committee agreed in June to drop the Everglades from its list of the world's endangered sites.

Nelson wrote a letter this week to Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne arguing that the U.N. "should have been presented with the position of our agency experts."

"This action is absolutely unacceptable and, I believe, warrants Willens' removal," Nelson added.

But Kempthorne has praised the U.N. action. In a news release issued June 25, Kempthorne said he was "gratified that the World Heritage Committee recognized the major commitment the United States has made to restoring one of our nation's and the world's greatest natural treasures. The committee has highlighted our work to restore the Everglades as a model for the rest of the world to follow."