Park Police Chief Fired After Dispute, Suspension

"We expect to ask the judge for an emergency stay because the agency is attempting to finalize the chief's termination," Harrison said.

The Office of the Special Counsel, which looks into whistle-blower cases, also had been reviewing the Interior Department's actions against Chambers to determine whether she deserved protection from firing.

But Harrison said he received a fax yesterday from the special counsel's office saying it was, as a matter of policy, stopping its investigation because her attorneys had filed the appeal with the Merit Systems Protection Board.

"There is no law that requires them to stop," Harrison said. "They should have made an exception. Why spend several months looking at something as important as this and then drop it? That's not in the public interest."

Chambers has been getting legal help from Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, an advocacy group. The group said that filing the complaint with the Merit Systems Protection Board will provide an opportunity to question top Interior officials under oath and to obtain internal documents.

House Minority Whip Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) called Interior's action yesterday "a preemptive strike" timed to beat Monday's scheduled hearing. He said Chambers was removed for being honest about problems facing her agency.

"The bottom line is that . . . Chief Chambers told the truth," Hoyer said. "When asked whether she had the personnel and resources to protect the parks and all the monuments, she responded accurately that she did not. . . . These are life-or-death questions and certainly the public ought to expect candid, honest responses from those we give such responsibilities."

The Park Police force includes about 400 officers in the Washington area, with the rest split between parks in New York and San Francisco.