Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service officials often decide whether to add creatures to the Endangered Species Act lists for government protection based on the guidance of experts with financial and professional conflicts of interest, according to a congressional report made public Monday.

“The FWS routinely bases its listing decisions on science that has been developed by the same people who have been recruited by the FWS to serve as peer reviewers,” said the report, which was prepared by the majority staff of the House Natural Resources Committee.