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\ SOUTHWEST BIODIVERSITY ALERT
#145
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\
8-10-98
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\ SOUTHWEST CENTER FOR
BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY
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1. COURT OF APPEALS GIVES
FLYCATCHER SECOND CHANCE-
RULES SW CENTER LAWSUIT AGAINST
ROOSEVELT DAM MAY PROCEED
2. LAWSUIT FILED AGAINST 47 MORE GRAZING
ALLOTMENTS
3. 40 PROTEST WOLF KILLING IN TUCSON-
WOLF AND
GRIZZLY KILLERS ADDRESS WISE-USE GROUP-
2ND MEXICAN GREY WOLF
FOUND DEAD
4. LETTERS NEEDED TO STOP ARIZONA PREDATOR KILLING
CONTESTS
*****
***** *****
***** ******
COURT OF APPEALS GIVES FLYCATCHER
SECOND CHANCE-
RULES SW CENTER LAWSUIT AGAINST ROOSEVELT DAM MAY
PROCEED
On 8-6-98, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a
lower
court decision barring the Southwest Center from suing the
Bureau of
Reclamation and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service over
the management of
Roosevelt Dam. The lower court found that
since the Center did not also sue
several Native American tribes
which have sovereign immunity from litigation,
the suit must be
dismissed. The Appeals Court found it is not necessary to
sue the
tribes, because the Department of Interior and the cities
of
Phoenix, Scottsdale, Tempe, Chandler, and Mesa are making
upholding the
tribe's position.
Roosevelt Dam, built at the confluence of the Salt and
Tonto
Rivers, contains the largest population of Southwestern
willow
flycatchers in Arizona. Bureau of Reclamation plans to raise
water
levels behind the dam, destroying the flycatcher's habitat,
were approved by
the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service although the
agency admits that the
flycatcher is currently going extinct.
The Center is currently litigating a
similar situation at
Isabella Dam on the Kern River in California.
The
suit is being argued by Geoff Hickcox of Kenna & Hickcox
(Durango,
CO).
_____________________________
LAWSUIT
FILED AGAINST 47 MORE GRAZING ALLOTMENTS
On 8-7-98, the Southwest Center
filed suit against the Coronado
National Forest for harming endangered
species on 47 livestock
grazing allotments covering 10,000 cattle on over
430,000 acres.
The Forest continues to allow the livestock industry to run
cattle
on these allotments to the detriment of the Lesser long-nosed
bat,
Cactus ferruginous pygmy owl, Sonoran tiger salamander,
Gila
topminnow, Yaqui chub, Huachuca water umbel and other
species, even
though it has never studied the effects of grazing on
these species, or
consulted with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
over grazing
impacts.
Previously, the Southwest Center filed suit against 92
grazing
allotments on the Gila, Apache-Sitgreaves, Coronado,
Coconino,
Prescott, and Tonto National Forests. Combined with a suit
by
Forest Guardians, approximately 190 grazing allotments have
been
brought to court in the Southwest. The Southwest Center
is
reprensented by EarthLaw in both suits.
_______________________
40 PROTEST WOLF KILLING IN TUCSON-
WOLF AND
GRIZZLY KILLERS ADDRESS WISE-USE GROUP-
2ND MEXICAN GREY WOLF FOUND
DEAD
40 people protested outside the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
in
Tucson on 8-7-98 because the agency has refused to prosecute
Richard
Humphry, the killer of Mexican grey wolf. Bizarrely, the
agency reasons that
Humphry "believed in good faith" the wolf
was attacking his family, even
though agency investigators
determined that the wolf was standing still when
shot and was not
a threat to Humphry. The Southwest Center and other groups
have
asked the head of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to reopen
the
investigation.
150 public lands ranchers, county supremacists, and
other "wise- use"
proponents, attended a meeting in Glenwood New Mexico
on
8-8-98 to cheer on Humphrey and the killer of two grizzly bears
in
Montana. John Shuler, a Montana rancher, described shooting of
two
grizzly bears (as well as the deaths of others at government
hands on his
ranch). Although his recitation, made clear that he
shot the bears to
protect his sheep, he successfully claimed
self-defense to escape conviction
under the ESA. Following Shuler,
Richard Humphry described recently killing a
Mexican
grey wolf. Humphry also claimed self-defense, but the Fish
&
Wildlife Service's investigative report reveals that he
initially
claimed to have killed the wolf for attacking his dog- changing
his
story to self-defense after learning that the killing was illegal.
In
the report, Humphry admits that he sought out the wolf after sense
that
"something was wrong," killing it 200 yards from his camp.
Over the
weekend, a second wolf was found dead in Arizona- the
father of the only wolf
pup born in the wild in the Gila
Headwaters Ecosystem in 50 years. The cause
of death has not yet
been determined
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LETTERS NEEDED TO STOP ARIZONA PREDATOR KILLING
CONTESTS
The Arizona Game and Fish Commission recently published
a
proposed rule to regulate contest killing events involving
coyotes,
foxes, and other animals. This rule, in its present form,
would
prohibit large contests offering substantial prize money awards,
but
would not prohibit the continued killing of animals in smaller
events with
less valuable prizes.
The majority of animals slaughtered in Arizona
contest kills are
coyotes and foxes, although jackrabbits, prairie dogs,
bobcats, and
mountain lions, and other species can also be targets. Of
these
species, only the killing of bobcats and mountain lions is
limited
by regulation. The other species can be taken year-round in
any
number without restriction. Though completely unregulated by
the
Arizona Game and Fish Department (GFD), the number of
coyotes killed in
Arizona contests each year is estimated to be at
least 500-600 animals. The
actual body count is
probably much higher.
In Arizona, though large
killing contests have received
considerable negative media attention, a
number of smaller
contests are conducted each year throughout the state.
These
contests are generally sponsored by hunting and ranching
proponents
who see predators as a threat to their livestock and
hunting prey. There is
no evidence to suggest the predators are, or
have been, responsible for
declines in these populations. In
addition, lethal predator control through
contest kills is ineffective
in reducing predator populations, and may even
increase the
number of predators in an area through increased productivity
and
survival of surviving animals.
*** Please help us stop
wildlife contest kills in Arizona ***
*** Express your SUPPORT FOR A
COMPLETE BAN ON ALL CONTEST KILLS.
Send your comments
to:
Arizona Game and Fish
Department
2221 West Greenway
Road
Phoenix, AZ
85023-4399
Fax: (602)
789-3299
THE DEADLINE FOR WRITTEN COMMENTS IS SEPTEMBER 3rd.
To
receive a copy of the proposed rule, call (602) 789-3289 or
check http://www.gf.state.az.us/frames/whatsnew/index.htm.
When
preparing your comments, you may want to include the
following
points:
* There is no evidence that predators are adversely affecting
prey
populations in Arizona.
* Lethal predator control, including
contest killing, is entirely
ineffective in reducing predator populations.
Humane technology
and public education are more effective ways to
reduce
predator/human conflicts.
* Predators play a critically
important role in the wild and should
be protected, not persecuted.
*
If hunters and the GFD want to increase protection and
productivity of game
species, they should focus on stopping
excessive development and overgrazing
instead of killing
predators.
* Contest kills promote disrespect of
wildlife by permitting the
killing of animals for prizes.
* Contest
kills are an especially egregious and unethical form of
hunting, thus giving
the general public a negative attitude towards
all hunting and all
hunters.
* According to a survey of Arizona residents, 69 percent
agreed
that predator hunting contests should be prohibited. Even
37
percent of hunters polled agreed with banning contest kills.
Thank
you for your help on this important issue! If you would like
more
information, please contact The Fund for Animals at
fund4animals@fund.org or
(301)
585-2591.
_____________________________________________________________________________
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