Subject: SW Biodiversity Alert #14
*** *** Southwest
Biodiversity Alert #14 *** ***
southwest center for
biological
diversity
swcbd@sw-center.org
***
***
****
*** ***
Salavge Rider in the
Southwest
Salvage Timber Sale Decision goes to 9th Circuit Court of
Appeals
The Southwest Center
appealed a Tucson, Federal Judge's decision to
allow logging in the
Chiricahua Mountains, in SE Arizona. The first
logging to take place since
the 1960s. The logging site surrounds a
Threatened Mexican spotted owl
territory - the site was
convieniently deleted by the Forest Service to allow
for the sale.
The US Fish and Wildlife Service is opposed to the sale, and
has not
been allowed to consult on the sale or the deletion of
the
territory.
Investigation by USDA Inspector General
Requested
The Southwest Center
for Biological Diversity has requested a
formal investigation, by the Office
of the Inspector General, USDA,
into the actions of the US Forest Service and
US Fish and Wildlife
Service regarding 1) illegal alterations of the Mexican
spotted owl
Recovery Plan, 2) interfering with fire fighting efforts to
protect
old growth forests, in order to create salvage logging
opportunities,
and 3) failing to conduct and adequate investigation of the HB
fire
on the Gila National
Forest.
The US Forest Service
and Fish and Wildlife Service secretly
altered the Final Mexican spotted owl
Recovery Plan after it was
signed by the FWS Regional Director. Internal
agency memos reveal
that these alterations were specifically made to permit
the
Southwest's largest salvage timber sale, the HB Salvage Timber Sale
on
the Gila National Forest.
The
Gila National Forest allowed the HB Fire to burn unimpeded
through
commercially valuable old growth forests, interfering with
fire fighter
efforts to control the blaze. The Forest Service's own
records show that they
allowed the most commercially valuable areas
to burn, even though they
contained many Mexican spotted owl
territories. The Forest Service prepared
plans to log the old growth
forest while the fire was still burning. In fact,
the Forest Service
prevented fire fighting air drops during the same time
they were
doing flyover to scout for
timber.
The Gila National
Forest's fire investigation is contradictory and
highly suspect. It appears
to be designed to cover-up the fact that
the fire was human caused, possibly
by an arsonist. On July 27, 1995
President Clinton signed the Rescission Act,
that same day the HB
fire was started. Investigations by newspaper reporters
showed that
the Forest Service revealed to the FWS that the fire was started
by
an arsonist. Coincidentally the Forest Service investigator
was
"hampered" by the fact that the fire fighting efforts covered up
the
point of origin of the fire. The origin of the fire was the same
place
the fire fighters were ordered to stage their fire
fighting
equipment.
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