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Yes, even bureaucrats can have humor

Back in my Interior days, a small Indian tribe wrote requesting to be listed under the Endangered Species Act, as a publicity move.

I wrote up a really hilarious opinion for the Associate Solicitor's signature, and she signed it. Later others became terrified, wrote another opinion that took it very seriously.

When the Associate, Gale Norton, was nominated for Interior Secretary, there was a frantic effort to find and deep six the first opinion. I thought my copy was the only survivor.

A friend just pointed out that he'd found it in a December 2001 issue of Harper's.

Update: if by original document, you mean the Samish petition, I didn't keep that. I kept my own files when I left Interior back in 1992. Understand, every document was produced with seven copies for various filing systems. But you always made an eighth copy for yourself.

Because you'd never find it in the other seven filing systems.

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