Save the Verde! Announcements & News

Greetings,

In the latest news from representatives of the Big Chino Water Ranch, the pipeline project is right on schedule.  However, project manager Jim Holt acknowledges that the schedule is aggressive and that obstacles could arise.  Might one of those obstacles be the need for an Environmental Impact Statement?  Prescott and Prescott Valley are playing this one very close to the vest.  The public still doesn't know if they'll be seeking permits from the Army Corps of Engineers.  But exactly how will they get that pipeline over, under or through more than a dozen washes over which the Army Corps has jurisdiction?  At this point, they're not saying.

The best advice, that given by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in a letter dated April 29, 2005, is for Prescott to prepare a Habitat Conservation Plan.  Despite extensive lead time, the city has stubbornly refused.  Such plans can take more than two years to prepare and finalize with public comments and would enable the cities to acquire permits to "take" endangered species.  Without a take permit or a formal mitigation plan as part of a federal Environmental Impact Statement, the city risks being taken to court over Endangered Species Act violations.

Please attend the next meeting of the Upper Verde River Watershed Protection Coalition on Wednesday, Feb. 28, at 2:00 p.m. and request that Prescott and Prescott Valley work with the Fish and Wildlife Service to prepare a formal mitigation plan or Habitat Conservation Plan.  The meeting is at the Prescott Town Hall, 201 S. Cortez Street.  Call Joanne at 928-772-8204 for more information and talking points.

Bald Eagle Gets Reprieve
The bald eagle won't be dropped from the Endangered Species Act list yet.  The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service requested an extension and now must make a determination whether or not to delist the eagle by June 29, 2007.  In 2004, the Center petitioned to list the population that nests in the Arizona desert as an endangered distinct population segment.  Only around 40 pairs of bald eagles nest in Arizona, primarily along the Verde and Salt rivers.  Possibly 8,000 pairs reside in the rest of the lower 48 states.  Without continued Endangered Species Act protections, habitat-destroying projects could move forward and Arizona could lose its remaining nesting bald eagles.  The Arizona Republic has written two recent editorials supporting the listing of Arizona's eagles.  The Verde Independent has also supported listing.  Please write to the Arizona Republic, the Verde Independent or your local paper to show your support for retaining Endangered Species Act protections for the desert nesting bald eagle.  Click here for more information about the Center's efforts to protect the desert nesting bald eagle.

A Little Drop of Earth Day
See the Center's ad in the February and March issues of Read It Here, a Prescott area free-on-the-street alternative newspaper.  The ad features a water droplet you can decorate and take to Prescott Coffee Roasters for 20 cents off a coffee drink!  You can also mail the droplets to the Center (see below) or drop them off at the Crossroads Café or Barnes and Noble.  We're pushing to get as many drops as possible before Earth Day for a special display, so get yours in today!

Juanita Hull-Carlson, an artist whose work is featured at Van Gogh's Ear on Whiskey Row in Prescott, is working with the Center on a fundraiser for the Save the Verde campaign featuring Little Drops decorated by local professional artists, with framing assistance by The Frame & I.  The framed droplets will be on display (location to be determined) and for sale in conjunction with other Earth Day events April 21.  More information will be available in the near future, or contact Ashley at 928-533-4309.

In the Schools
Save the Verde campaign volunteer Ashley Fine has created a Verde River hydrology lesson for elementary students and is presenting to several classrooms in the Prescott and Verde Valley areas.  If you're interested in having Ashley share information or present to a class, please contact her at 928-533-4309.

More House Parties!
Want to do something special for the Verde?  Host a letter-writing party like Marsha Foutz of Clarkdale and Juanita Hull-Carlson and Royce Carlson of Prescott.  (Special thanks Marsha, Juanita and Royce!)  All you have to do is let us know you want to host a party, invite a few friends, provide some food and beverages, and we'll show up with some entertainment, ideas and materials.  If you're short on friends who can help, we'll find some for you—our phone list is growing!  Please contact Ashley at 928-533-4309 if you're interested in hosting a House Party.

PLEASE Write a Letter to the Editor TODAY!
Take a few minutes and write a letter to the editor of your local paper.  Tell them that Prescott's and Prescott Valley's pursuit of Big Chino water is short-sighted and will lead to the destruction of the upper Verde River and its habitat.  Emphasize that the Coalition's isolationism hurts the river and that the members should join the Verde River Basin Partnership and cooperate with other communities in the watershed.  Click here for more talking points and links to some area newspapers.

Calendar
Check out the latest calendar of events!  If you have an item for the calendar or want more information, please contact Joanne at 928-772-8204 or Michelle at 602-628-9909.

Little Drop of Water
The Center has collected hundreds of beautifully decorated "Little Drops" as part of the Little Drop of Water project!  Our goal is to gather at least 2,000 droplets.  That's where you come in.  Download your own droplet today from the savetheverde.org Web site.  Write your notes for the Verde, promise to conserve water or request protection of the river's flows, and mail them to us at: Little Drop of Water, Center for Biological Diversity, P.O. Box 39629, Phoenix, AZ 85069.

Some of the "Little Drops" are currently on display at the Prescott Gateway Mall Barnes and Noble, at the Crossroads Center at Prescott College, and at Coffee Roasters, Show Business Video, and the Hair Spray Salon in downtown Prescott.  Stop in to see some of the great art and messages people have been writing.  You can also pick up and drop off your droplets at most of these locations.  Special thanks to everyone who has already submitted their droplet!

The Little Drop of Water project was featured in Shaun McKinnon's Arizona Republic online blog "Waterblogged" in November: http://www.azcentral.com/blogs/index.php?blog=169&m=2006&w=47

Heard Around the World
The threats to the Verde River ecosystem posed by the Big Chino groundwater pumping and pipeline project were featured in a BBC radio broadcast that was heard on local Arizona National Public Radio affiliates on Monday, Jan. 8.  The broadcast also was heard around the world beginning the previous Saturday.  If you missed it, you can listen to the audio file from a link on the Center's website: http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/swcbd/PRESS/audio-video.html

Make a Contribution!
The Center for Biological Diversity appreciates your interest and involvement in the Save the Verde campaign.  Please visit savetheverde.org for other news and updates.  You can also make a donation to this campaign from the secure Web site.  Please contribute today if you haven't done so already.

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