Subject: SW BIODIVERSITY ALERT
#119
------ SOUTHWEST BIODIVERSITY
ALERT #119 ---------
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2/21/98
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\ SOUTHWEST CENTER FOR
BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY
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1.
FOREST SERVICE ADMITS 80 GRAZING ALLOTMENTS VIOLATE
E.S.A-
MOTION FILED FOR IMMEDIATE
JUDGMENT
2. SUIT IN WORKS TO SAVE ENDANGERED FLY- USFWS ALLOWED DEVELOPERS
TO
DESTROY CORE RESERVE WITHOUT A TAKE PERMIT
OR BIOLOGICAL REVIEW
3. FOREST SERVICE PLANS TO CLEARCUT SACRED MOUNTAIN TO
EXPAND SKI RESORT-
PLEASE WRITE, CALL, OR
FAX!
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FOREST
SERVICE ADMITS 80 GRAZING ALLOTMENTS VIOLATE E.S.A-
MOTION FILED FOR
IMMEDIATE JUDGMENT
In its response to a Southwest Center lawsuit challenging
92 grazing
allotments in the Gila River Basin, the Forest Service has
admitted that
80 of the allotments have not undergone Endangered Species Act
consultation
and could harm 15 endangered species: loach minnow, spikedace,
Gila
topminnow, Gila trout, Apache trout, Sonora chub, razorback sucker,
Little
Colorado River spinedace,Southwestern willow flycatcher, cactus
ferruginous
pygmy owl, Mexican spotted owl, bald eagle, Canelo Hills ladies'
tresses,
Huachuca water umbel, and Peregrine falcon.
Because of the
unusual admission of guilt, the Southwest Center filed a
motion for "partial
judgment on the pleadings" on 2/19/98. This will
expedite the final ruling,
speeding up the timeline for injunctive relief.
The Southwest Center,
Southwest Trout, and Sky Island Watch are
represented by Earthlaw (Denver)
and Martin Bergoffen (Williams, OR).
______________________________
SUIT IN WORKS TO SAVE ENDANGERED FLY
On
1/22/98, the Southwest Center and the Endangered Habitats League
notified the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and a dozen developers and
local governments
that it would file suit to stop the destruction of the
last refuge of the
critically endangered Delhi Sands flower-loving fly.
The fly is being driven
to extinction by a deal so corrupt, even the
developers admit it is illegal.
This is a classic example of how the U.S.
Fish and Wildife Service, in its
obsessive quest to strike deals with
industry, is wiping out endangered
species, their habitats, and the ESA.
The Agua Mansa Enterprise Zone is a
10,000 acre area stradling portions of
two counties and three cities. It is
scheduled for intensive industrial
development, including a $120 million
fibreboard plant already under
construction and a paper recycling plant to be
built by an Australian
corporation. It is also essential habitat for the
Delhi Sands flower-
loving fly, a beautiful native California
insect.
In 1996, Michael Spear, head of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service on the
West Coast, struck a deal with the Agua Mansa Industrial
Growth Association,
allowing them to take (i.e. destroy) the habitat of the
endangered fly in
exchange for protecting a "core reserve" within the city
limits of Colton,
CA. In blatant violation of the ESA, Spear exempted the
Association from
the requirement to develop an Habitat Conservation Plan
(HCP) because he
knew the plan would never pass the scrutiny of his own
biologists, the ESA,
or the National Environmental Policy Act. It gets worse:
in 1997, Spear
struck another deal, this time with the City of Colton,
allowing it develop
within the "core reserve" that was supposedly protected
in the first deal.
Colton was also exempted from the HCP requirement. This
was called a "win-win
solution that will benefit the environment and the
economy" by Representative
George E. Brown (D, CA).
Doug Hinchliffe,
executive vice president of Lowe Enterprises, which
manages the Agua Mansa
Industrial Park, admitted that the deal is legally
flawed. Un-named
developers told the Business Press that the SW Center and
the Endangered
Habitats League are well-funded, have a high success rate in
court, and are
serious about filing suit. They are right on two of three
counts at
least.
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FOREST SERVICE PLANS TO CLEARCUT SACRED
MOUNTAIN TO EXPAND SKI
RESORT-
PLEASE WRITE, CALL, OR FAX!
The Coconino National Forest plans to allow
Arizona Snowbowl to clearcut 66
acres on doko'osliid (San Francisco Peaks) to
expand ski trails, and chair
lifts. Doko'osliid is sacred to the Navajo and
Hopi people. Klee Benally, a
Navajo activist compared it to building a
skateboard park in the Sistine
Chapel. Navajo and Hopi religious
In
1979, the Forest Service completed an E.I.S. authorizing the
expansion.
Navajo and Hopi freedom of religion suits failed to stop it. Now,
19 years
later, the Forest Service plans to implement the plan without
conducting a
new E.I.S. It instead plans to conduct a less rigorous
environmental
assesment. A new E.I.S. is needed, however, because the project
will harm
the threatened Mexican spotted owl, and public sentiment has
changed.
Call the Coconino National Forest, tell them cancel the
clearcuts, and that
a full E.I.S. is necessary:
Forest
Supervisor, Coconino National Forest
2323 E. Greenlaw Lane
Phone 520.527.3600
Flagstaff, AZ 86004
Fax
520.527.3620
_____________________________________________________________________________
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