------ SOUTHWEST
BIODIVERSITY ALERT #125 ---------
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4-6-98
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\ SOUTHWEST CENTER FOR
BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY
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1.
SOUTHWEST WETLAND PLANT PROPOSED AS THREATENED SPECIES-
AFTER
TWO PETITIONS, ONE LAWSUIT AND 23 YEAR DELAY
2. SOUTHWEST CENTER SPONSORS
"ARIZONA EXPEDITION TEAM" HIKE ALONG THE
ARIZONA TRAIL FOR
ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION
3. REDROCK CANYON COUNTRY IN COLORADO ENDANGERED-
LETTERS NEEDED
TODAY!
*** *** *** *** ***
***
SOUTHWEST WETLAND PLANT PROPOSED AS THREATENED SPECIES...
AFTER
TWO PETITIONS, ONE LAWSUIT AND 23 YEAR DELAY
On 4-1-98, the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service proposed to list the
Chiricahua dock as a threatened species
under the E.S.A. The imperiled,
high elevation, wetland plant is limited to a
handful of sites in northern
Sonora, the Sky Island and Gila Headwaters
ecosystems in southern AZ/NM,
the Lincoln National Forest and the Santa Fe
National Forest. It is
threatened by logging, overgrazing, road construction,
and overgrazing.
It was petitioned for listing by the Smithsonian
Institute in 1975, but
ignored by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The
Southwest Center
re-petitioned to list it in 1996, but was also ignored. We
filed suit in
1997 (represented by Kenna & Hickcox (Durango)). The agency
finally proposed
listing in April to avoid an imminent court decision. The
agency's own
biologist called the delays
"appalling".
______________________
SOUTHWEST
CENTER SPONSORS "ARIZONA EXPEDITION TEAM" HIKE ALONG THE ARIZONA
TRAIL FOR
ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION
On Saturday April 4th, the Arizona Expedition
Team began a continuous 750
mile trek across some of the most rugged and
untraveled land in Arizona.
Beginning at the Coronado National Monument on
the Mexico border, the hike
follows the central corridor of the Arizona
Trail. The team will reach the
Utah border east of Fredonia four months
later.
Sponsored by the Southwest Center for Biological Diversity, the
hike will
focus attention on environmental education and responsibility.
Events are
scheduled around basecamps where the team has an opportunity to
speak with
schools and the public about habitat preservation, the Arizona
Trail, and
long distance hiking. It will also provide the public with
traveling
information and a vision of Arizona's diverse wildlands. The team
leader,
Greg Jones, will post weekly updates through our website at
http://www.sw-center.org. Special events for
both the general public and
Southwest Center members are also
scheduled.
All hikers and backpackers are encouraged to share in this
experience with
the Arizona Expedition Team. For more information contact
Megan Southern at
520.623.5252 x.303 or
tortuga@sw-center.org.
______________________
REDROCK CANYON COUNTRY IN COLORADO ENDANGERED-
LETTERS NEEDED TODAY!
<From the folks at the Land and Water Fund of
the Rockies>
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has just released a
review of the
roadless status of six western Colorado public land areas--some
188,000
acres--proposed for wilderness. THE DEADLINE FOR COMMENT IS
THURSDAY,
APRIL 9! A sample letter is attached. Please email your
own version to
her today at amorgan@co.blm.gov.
BLM's findings that
these areas are largely roadless comes after years of
effort by Colorado
conservationists to get BLM to recognize the wild
qualities of these special
places. Now, the BLM must decide whether these
lands are adequately
protected under existing management plans - plans which
currently allow oil
and gas leasing, mining, and ORVs. We need your help,
since the
off-road vehicle and oil/gas/mining interests are fighting hard
against any
protection for these areas.
These areas contain some of the finest
landscapes and wildlife habitat
western Colorado has to offer: river
canyons rich with wildlife; vast
rolling hills of pinyon, juniper, and sage;
stunning badlands; and high
country aspen hillsides. The following are
descriptions for the six areas
reviewed by the BLM:
Vermillion Basin
(92,809 acres): This expansive basin northeast of Dinosaur
National
Monument hosts numerous rare plant species, some of Colorado's
most
spectacular petroglyph panels, and the dramatic Vermillion Bluffs --
a
1,700-foot escarpment of brilliant red and white shale
badlands.
Yampa River (15,879 acres ): This flatwater stretch of
the river, west of
Craig near Duffy Mountain, is popular with canoeists and
rafters. Bald
eagles winter in proliferation among the river's
cottonwoods.
South Shale Ridge (33,400 acres): This ridge near
Grand Junction is a
steep, multicolored escarpment of vivid purples, oranges,
and reds,
including a ghostly collection of gray, eroded
hoodoos.
Bangs Canyon (21,477 acres): The several wild canyons that
make up this
area provide remarkable backcountry recreation near Grand
Junction. Eons of
water cutting down through the flanks of the
Uncompahgre Plateau formed
these wild, quiet hideaways.
Pinyon Ridge
(20,936 acres): The area's rolling hills overlook a broad
basin of high
mesas and deep arroyos north of the White River near Rangely.
A wide variety
of wildlife use the area, including eagles and other birds of
prey that nest
along the ridge outcrops.
Castle Peak (3,996-acre addition):
Volcanic buttresses give rise to Castle
Peak's name as it towers amidst
expansive beaver ponds and a spruce forest
near Eagle. Some, but not
all, of Castle Peak already a Wilderness Study
Area; this addition will
provide more complete protection for its wild values.
The State Director
of the BLM needs to hear from you that wilderness is
important to Colorado,
the BLM review process should proceed, and the areas
determined to be
roadless should be given protection. Without your help, we
may lose
these wild areas forever.
+++++++ SAMPLE LETTER
++++++++
April 3, 1998
Ms. Ann
Morgan
Colorado State Director
Bureau of Land Management
2850
Youngfield Street
Lakewood, CO 80215
email:
amorgan@co.blm.gov
Re: BLM Must Protect Roadless Wildlands in Western
Colorado
Dear State Director
Morgan,
I am writing in strong
support of the Bureau of Land Management's decision
to review the wilderness
character of some 188,000 acres in
Colorado.
All of the roadless
lands in northwest Colorado recently reviewed by BLM,
including Bangs Canyon,
Castle Peak, Pinyon Ridge, South Shale Ridge, Yampa
River, and Vermillion
Basin, are roadless, have outstanding wilderness
qualities and deserve
interim protection as Wilderness Study Areas. BLM's
current management
does not adequately protect the roadless character and
wilderness values of
these areas.
The lands at
stake are among the last unprotected roadless lands in
Colorado. They
make up less than 2% of the 8 million acres managed by BLM
in this state,
where now 93% of BLM lands are open to oil and gas
leasing.
I strongly urge BLM
to continue the current process and to begin resource
management plan
amendments to protect the wilderness values of these six
areas until Congress
can act to provide permanent
protection.
Sincerely,
_____________________________________________________________________________
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