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BIODIVERSITY ALERT #123 ---------
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3-25-98
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\ SOUTHWEST CENTER FOR
BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY
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1.
JUDGE RULES IN FAVOR OF MEXICAN SPOTTED OWL- WISE USE BID TO REMOVE
OWL
FROM E.S.A. GOES DOWN IN FLAME
2. SUIT FILED TO LIST
ARKANSAS RIVER SHINER AS ENDANGERED-
ILLEGAL 'MEMORANDUM OF
UNDERSTANDING' USED TO DELAY PROTECTION
3. FOREST SERVICE INUNDATED BY
INTERNET ALERT, COMPLAINS TO MEDIA-
KEEP THOSE CALLS AND LETTER
COMING!
4. FUR, FEATHERS AND FLIGHT- SOUTHWEST CENTER ART
EXHIBIT
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***** ***** *****
JUDGE
RULES IN FAVOR OF MEXICAN SPOTTED OWL- WISE USE BID TO REMOVE OWL
FROM E.S.A.
GOES DOWN IN FLAME
On 3-20-98, Judge E.L. Mechem rule against a wise use
group seeking to
remove the Mexican spotted owl from the Endangered Species
Act. He found
that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service used the best available
science
when it listed the spotted owl in response to a 1989 petition by
Southwest
Center Conservation Chair, Robin Silver. It also used the best
available
science in rejecting a petition to delist the owl by the
so-called
"Coalition of Arizona/New Mexico Counties for Stable Economic
Growth."
The Southwest Center was represented by Mark Hughes of EarthLaw
(Denver)
in its intervention against the
counties.
_______________________
SUIT FILED
TO LIST ARKANSAS RIVER SHINER AS ENDANGERED-
ILLEGAL 'MEMORANDUM OF
UNDERSTANDING' USED TO DELAY PROTECTION
On 3-17-98, the Southwest Center and
the Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra
Club filed suit against the U.S. Fish
& Wildlife Service for refusing to
list the Arkansas River shiner as an
endangered species. Formerly common
along 3,000 miles of the Arkansas and
Canadian River basins in New Mexico,
Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Kansas,
the two inch minnow is now
absent from about 80% of its range.
Rather
than take action to protect the shiner as required by the ESA,
the U.S. Fish
& Wildlife Service has concocted an agreement with Texas
and Oklahoma to
insure that water pumping continues unabated from the
High Plains Ogallala
Aquifer.
We are represented by Matt Kenna of Kenna & Hickcox
(Durango).
________________________
FOREST
SERVICE INUNDATED BY INTERNET ALERT, COMPLAINS TO MEDIA-
KEEP THOSE CALLS AND
LETTER COMING!
After being deluged by letters and calls to halt its plan to
launch an
unheard of 90 million board foot timber project, the Gila
National
Forest is crying foul. The Forest sent out a press release
claiming
that "misinformation spread over the internet" is responsible for
the
outpouring of protest. The Silver City Daily Press ran the story on
the
front page, alerting even more people to the Forest Service's
insane
proposal.
Keep those letter, calls, and faxes
coming!
The Gila National Forest has released a plan to log 90 million
board feet
of timber on 65,000 acres over the next eight years. This is by
far the
largest timber project ever proposed on a Southwest National Forest
where
timber sales typically range from 1-5 million board feet. The so
called
"Negrito Ecosystem Project" initially involved environmentalists
concerned
with landscape level planning. They abandoned the project years
ago, and
now the Forest Service is using their involvement (though it can't
even
remember the group's name)to justify a massive logging
increase.
The Southwest Center has vowed to occupy the site and wage a
campaign
comparable to the 1996 Eagle Peak Roadless Area battle. The Gila
National
Forest became a national disgrace in its failed effort to road and
log
Eagle Peak, which is sacred to the Zuni Pueblo. The campaign exposed
Forest
Service employee arson, illegally alterations to the Mexican Spotted
Owl
Recovery Plan, and resulted in a USDA Inspector General's
investigation
of the Gila National Forest. Eagle Peak was never logged, but
is within
the Negrito Ecosystem Project.
Write, call and fax the Gila
National Forest today! Tell them logging on
the this scale is unheard of in
the Southwest. The project should be
permanently
abandoned:
Able Camerina, Gila National Forest
Supervisor
Phone
505.388.8201 Fax
505.388.8204
3005 E. Camino del
Bosque
Silver City, NM 88061
_________________
FUR,
FEATHERS AND FLIGHT- SOUTHWEST CENTER ART EXHIBIT
The Unitarian Universalist
Congregation of Phoenix is hosting an art
exhibit of the photographs of Dr.
Robin Silver, the Conservation Chair of
the Southwest Center for Biological
Diversity. The photos will be at the
Congregation (4027 E. Lincoln Dr,
Phoenix, AZ 602-840-8400) from April
3 through April 30. Meet Robin on
April 5th, noon to 1pm.
All photos are for sale. All proceeds go to the
Southwest Center and
the
Congregation.
_____________________________________________________________________________
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