On May 21st the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) filed a data quality petition with the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), challenging an internal report used to support the agency's finding that trumpeter swans do not constitute a Distinct Population Segment (DPS). The finding responsed to a lawsuit by the Biodiversity Legal Fund and the Fund for Animals that sought DPS designation for the rocky mountain trumpeter swan in order to qualify the swans for protection under the Endangered Species Act. In their finding, the FWS concluded that there was not "substantial information" for the designation. PEER claims that the information upon which the 90-Day Finding relies does not meet data quality standards. The petition focuses on an October 2002 report by FWS Region 6 officials entitled "An Assessment Pertaining to the Status of Trumpeter Swans." PEER asserts that FWS relied primarily on this one report, which PEER believes "fails every major test under the Data Quality Act." The petition notes that FWS used this flawed report despite the availability of a large body of rigorously reviewed reports on trumpeter swans. The petition first charges that the report was never subject to peer review, having been circulated only within FWS. PEER points out that the Data Quality Guidelines encourage the use of peer-reviewed studies where available. Next, the challenge asserts that the study relies on unsupported statements, noting several specific examples that contradict standard scientific practice. The petition also claims that the study fails to utilize accepted methods of information collection and, that by ignoring historic protocols and terminology, the study makes misleading conclusions that are at odds with body of information available on trumpeter swans. Finally, the report is accused of making misleadingly selective use of data rather than utilizing best available science. The petition provides several examples of data that contradicts the study's thesis that PEER claims have been intentionally omitted from the study. The 90-Day Finding also cites a 1987 study co-funded by the FWS and the state of Wyoming, Idaho and Montana. The petition acknowledges that the1987 study meets the data quality standards but accuses the FWS of misusing the study and in the process, violating the data quality standards for objectivity and integrity. Specifically, the petition claims that the FWS improperly re-interpreted the data and selectively used only data that supported a pre-determined outcome. The petition presents a March 7, 2003 letter from the study's lead author to the FWS Director Steve William as evidence of this misuse. The letter argues that the finding simply ignores the study when the data does not agree with FWS's thesis and omits any mention of study's real conclusion. PEER indicates that since the 90-Day finding has substantial impact on both the potential protection of trumpeter swans under the Endangered Species Act and hunting laws throughout the Rocky Mountain States, the information should be considered "influential" and be required to meet a higher level of scrutiny. The petition concludes with PEER's demand that the Department of Interior must immediately withdraw the 90-Day Finding in order to correct the multiple data quality failures cataloged in the petition.