Subject: FW: SW BIODIVERSITY ALERT #104

Subject: SW BIODIVERSITY ALERT #104

      ******* SOUTHWEST BIODIVERSITY ALERT #104 ***********
       *                    12/2/97                      *
        *                                               *
         *  SOUTHWEST CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY  *
          *                                           *
           *******************************************

1. REINTRODUCTION OF GRIZZLY BEARS IN THE GILA HEADWATERS
   ECOSYSTEM?

2. PROTESTORS BLOCK DESTRUCTION OF PYGMY OWL HABITAT-
   COUNTY BANS NEW DEVELOPMENT PERMITS, AZ DAILY STAR DEMANDS
   OWL RECOVERY PLAN, ENDANGERED TOWN ADOPTS OWL AS MASCOT

3. SUIT THREATENED AGAINST SALE OF FEDERAL LAND IN CALIFORNIA
   TO GIGANTIC OIL COMPANY

4. FOREST SERVICE REVERSES APPEAL RIGHTS DENIAL-
   ALLOWS CHALLENGE TO GRAND CANYON TIMBER SALE

     *****     *****    *****     *****

REINTRODUCTION OF GRIZZLY BEARS IN THE GILA HEADWATERS
ECOSYSTEM?
In a letter commenting on the Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan, the
Southwest Center charges that limiting  reintroduction of the
Grizzly into the Bitterroot Ecosystem of Idaho and Montana
violates the E.S.A. since it would condemn the grizzly to be
forever absent from 97% of its former range. For a species to
be considered "recovered" it must no longer meet any of the
five listing criteria contained in Section 4 of the ESA. A
species reduced to 3% of its historic range, however, clearly
still merits listing as endangered.

Restoring grizzlies to the Gila Headwaters Ecosystem which
straddles the AZ/NM border and includes the Apache-Sitgreaves,
Gila and part of the Cibola National Forest, would place
grizzlies at the southern as well as the northern extent of
their U.S. range. Reintroduction is definitely biologically
viable: in 1974, the Forest Service commissioned a study which
demonstrated that reintroduction is viable in the Gila National
Forest. If the plan were expanded to include the Apache-
Sitgreaves as well, a 3 million acre, almost roadless, area
would be available with the potential to support up to 100 bears.
     _____     _____     _____     _____

PROTESTORS BLOCK DESTRUCTION OF PYGMY OWL HABITAT-
COUNTY BANS NEW DEVELOPMENT PERMITS, AZ DAILY STAR DEMANDS
OWL RECOVERY PLAN, ENDANGERED TOWN ADOPTS OWL AS MASCOT

The tiny but ferocious Cactus ferruginous pygmy owl is bringing
development battles to a head in the Tucson basin. On November 28,
1997, television cameras captured demonstrators from the Southwest
Center and northwest Tucson neighborhoods blocking the destruction
of centuries old saguaros and ironwood trees until a stop work
order could be delivered by Pima County Flood Control. Shortly
thereafter, Pima County Development Services declared a moratorium
on all new building permits within a 16 square mile area of
northwest Tucson. The area is known to support 7 of the remaining
9 ferruginous pygmy owls left in Arizona. The County has been warned
by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that authorizing new permits
may constitute "take" of an endangered species.

On December 2, 1997, the Arizona Daily Star blasted the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service for fostering confusion by not designating critical
habitat or completing a recovery plan for the pygmy owl. Tucson
environmentalists are opposing any HCP's for the owl prior to the
completion of a recovery plan. The Southwest Center is currently suing
the Service for refusing to designate critical habitat.

Finally, in a move to prevent uncontrolled development in at least
one corner of the Tucson basin, citizens recently incorporated as
the Town of Tortolita, taking the endangered pygmy owl as its
official mascot. The town's future, however, is in doubt since the
state supreme court struck down the regulations allowing incorporation
of outlying towns.
     _____     _____     _____     _____

SUIT THREATENED AGAINST SALE OF FEDERAL LAND IN CALIFORNIA
TO GIGANTIC OIL COMPANY
On November 26, 1997, the Southwest Center informed the
Department of Energy that it intends to file suit to force the
agency to consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over its
plans to sell Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 1 to Occidental Petroleum.
The Reserve is in the uplands of the San Joaquin Valley in Kern
County, CA and is home to numerous endangered species including
Hoover's wooly-stars, Kern mallows, San Joaquin wooly-threads, San
Joaquin kit foxes, Giant kangaroo rats, Tipton kangaroo rats, and
blunt-nosed leopard lizards.

The sale of this crucial wildlife area flies in the face of the
Fish and Wildlife Service's draft Recovery Plan for San Joaquin
Valley Upland Species which recommends protection of the Reserve
"in perpetuity" to avoid extinction and promote recovery of the
species. It also violates a 1995 Biological Opinion which expressly
requires the Department of Energy to consult on impacts to the
species if it ever attempts to privatize the Reserve.

The Southwest Center is represented by Daniel Rohlf of the Pacific
Environmental Advocacy Center (Portland) and Tara Mueller of the
Environmental Law Foundation (San Francisco).
     _____     _____     _____     _____

FOREST SERVICE REVERSES APPEAL RIGHTS DENIAL,
ALLOWS CHALLENGE TO GRAND CANYON TIMBER SALE
In September 1997, the Southwest Center appealed the Scott Timber
Sale on the south rim of the Grand Canyon National Park. The
"ecosystem project" would log over 5,000 acres, some of it containing
dense, doghair thickets of ponderosa pine. The Kaibab National Forest,
however, plans to cut trees as large as 18 inches in diameter for
"mistletoe control" despite acknowledging the paucity of such trees
in the area.

The Forest refused to accept the appeal on technical grounds,
arguing that we forfeited the right to appeal by not commenting on the
draft environmental assessment during the official 30-day comment
period. The Center challenged the refusal, citing Forest Service
regulations which only require that an appellant "express interest" at
any time during the project development prior to the closing of the
comment period. Upon threat of a lawsuit, the Forest has reversed its
decision, and will consider our appeal.


_____________________________________________________________________________

Kieran Suckling                               ksuckling@sw-center.org
Executive Director                            520.623.5252 phone
Southwest Center for Biological Diversity     520.623.9797 fax
http://www.sw-center.org                      pob 710, tucson, az 85702-710