Subject: Southwest Biodiversity Alert #11
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Southwest Biodiversity Alert #11 *** ***
southwest center
for biological
diversity
swcbd@sw-center.org
JUDGE OKs FIRST SALVAGE RIDER TIMBER SALE IN
SOUTHWEST
A Tucson Federal Judge gave the go ahead on a proposed fire
salvage
sale in the Chiricahua Mountains (Coronado NF). The judge
ruled
that under the salvage rider, the Forest Service was able
to
categorically exclude the sale from environmental analysis even
though
it violated the Mexican spotted owl Recovery Plan, USFWS
consultation
procedures, and Forest Service conservation
guidelines.
The sale is entirely
within a spotted owl core area which was
deleted after the sale was
planned. It is also within the home
range of nesting Northern
goshawks. The Southwest Center is likely
to appeal the
decision
TONTO NATIONAL FOREST WITHDRAWS APPEALED ALLOTMENT
MANAGEMENT PLANS
The Tonto National Forest has withdrawn 5 proposed
Allotment
Management Plans following independent appeals by the
Southwest
Center and Forest Guardians/Jeff Burgess. The
AMP's would have allowed
degradation of riparian areas within the
Eastern Roosevelt Lake Ecosystem
Analysis Area, destroying habitat
for the Endangered Southwest willow
flycatcher and Razorback sucker.
The Environmental Assessment failed to analyze the cumulative
impact of
raising Roosevelt Dam which will kill 40% of
all known willow flycatchers in
Arizona. The Bureau of Reclamation
has spent $3 million to raise
Roosevelt dam, in part, because
overgrazing has caused it to silt in
prematurely. The Forest Service
had proposed to another $250,000 of
taxpayers money on range
"improvements" in order to keep cattle on the
allotments.
The Southwest Center
is also currently suing BuRec for failing
to prepare a supplemental NEPA
analysis on the impacts of the dam
expansion on the
flycatcher.
FORT HUACHUCA AGREES TO STUDY IMPACT OF FURTHER GROWTH
ON
SAN PEDRO RIVER
Following a Federal court order finding that the
Army had not
sufficiently studied the impact of expanding Fort Huachuca on
the
nearby San Pedro River, the base has agreed to a Southwest
Center
demand that an Environmental Assessment be conducted on a
proposal
to add 150 new
personel.
Unbridled base expansion
hase been directly
tied to the drying up of the Southwest's only undammed
river, and
the destruction of the nation's first National Riparian
Conservation
Area. That icon of law & order, Representative Jim
Kolbe, is "very
disappointed that the Army gave in to this extremist
special
interest" by doing the Environmental Analysis.
GILA TROUT
RECOVERY PLAN CHALLENGED
The Southwest Center has filed a 60 day notice
of intent to sue the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service due to a wholly
inadequate Gila Trout
Recovery Plan. The plan completely ignores the
effects of
grazing on trout habitat. It only provides for downlisting,
not delisting of the species. And finally, the plan focuses on
reintroducing Gila Trout to individual headwater streams, whereas
the great
weight of evidence indicates that only protection of entire
watersheds will
guarantee continued existance of the Gila Trout.
Southwest Center for
Biological Diversity
PO Box 17839, Tucson, AZ 85731-7839
TEL:
520.733.1391 FAX: 520.733.1404
Kieran Suckling -
ksuckling@sw-center.org, Robin Silver - silver@indirect.com
Stephanie Buffum
- sbuffum@sw-center.org, Dave Hogan - dhogan@sw-center.org
Shane Jimerfield -
sjimerfield@sw-center.org, Landi Fernley - lfernley@sw-center.org
Dave Hodges
- hodges@indirect.com, Todd Schulke - tschulke@sw-center.org
Gwen, and Amanda
Meher -
canvass@sw-center.org
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