http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096413822&na=1296 In a letter dated Aug. 8, Mark Rey, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Undersecretary for Natural Resources and the Environment, offered Oklahoma state conservationist Darrel Dominick a ''directed reassignment'' - official jargon for a demotion and forced transfer out of state - or termination of his federal employment.
Dominick, a member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, decided to take an early retirement rather than be transferred to Texas or fired from the Natural Resources Conservation Service job he loved and in which he had served with numerous honors and awards for six years.
Dominick's early retirement reduced his annuity and ended his 28-year career with the USDA, including a stint in 1999 as acting director for all USDA American Indian programs. He was the third generation of his family who had worked for the federal department for a combined 91 years of service.
''It's extremely disappointing to have to go in this direction, but despite the financial hardship, our family has found that if you have friends like we have, friends from the tribes and support from our Choctaw Nation family, we're the richest people in the world and I believe the truth will be known,'' Dominick said.
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Dominick and his supporters assert he was targeted for political retaliation because they had probed the federal agency regarding $500 million in conservation technical assistance funding that had not been distributed to the states.
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read on, see how they ran this scam
Rep. Frank Lucas had his hand in this and so did Paul Feeney of the USDA