A report says the Fish and Wildlife Service director failed for more than a year to act against two supervisors who retaliated against whistle-blowers at an Oklahoma field office.
Mary Kendall is deputy inspector general for the Interior Department. Kendall says in a harshly worded letter that lack of action by Fish and Wildlife Director Dan Ashe has damaged the agency's credibility and integrity.
The letter says the biologists who reported scientific misconduct had their pay cut and duties transferred. The supervisors were not punished.
One complaint involves a recovery plan for the American burying beetle; another involves a freshwater mussel. Both are endangered species.
An agency spokesman calls the allegations "troubling" and says officials are pursuing disciplinary action against the two supervisors.
