____________________________________________________
\ SOUTHWEST BIODIVERSITY ALERT
#153
/
\
9-22-98
/
\
/
\ SOUTHWEST CENTER FOR
BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY
/
\ http://www.sw-center.org
/
\________________________________________/
1. ANTIs CONTAMINATE STREAM,
TRY TO DERAIL GILA TROUT RECOVERY EFFORT
2. FOREST SERVICE REFUSES TO
TURN OVER NAMES OF ENVIRONMENTALISTS TO
DON YOUNG
3. Mt.
GRAHAM GOSHAWKS GET REPRIEVE, CAMPGROUND PROPOSAL BEATEN
DOWN
FOR THIRD TIME
4. ART EXHIBIT EXPOSES IMPACT OF URBAN SPRAWL, BENEFITS
SOUTHWEST CENTER
*****
***** *****
***** *****
ANTIs CONTAMINATE STREAM, TRY TO DERAIL
GILA TROUT RECOVERY EFFORT
According to the Albuquerque Journal, opponents to
Gila trout recovery
efforts purposefully placed non-native brown and rainbow
trout in a
wilderness stream to sabotage a plan to reintroduce Gila trout
there
in October. Non-native trout which compete with, prey upon and
hybridize
with Gila trout are a major threat to the species. New Mexico Game
and
Fish and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had planned to
reintroduce
Gila trout to Black Canyon in the Aldo Leopold Wilderness after
building
a barrier to keep the non-native trout separate from the Gila
trout.
They recently discovered, however, that someone had purposely
placed
brown and rainbow trout above the barrier, jeopardizing the
entire
reintroduction effort.
The Gila trout was first recognized as
imperiled in the 1920's. In 1967,
it and the Apache trout were listed as
endangered in the precursor to
the Endangered Species Act. The species has
continued to disappear
due to overgrazing and non-native trout introductions-
of five relict
natural populations which existed in 1967, only three remain.
Several
Gila trout populations have been contaminated in recent years.
The
Southwest Center filed suit against the U.S. Fish & Wildlife in
August
seeking a new, stronger recovery plan.
___________________________________________
FOREST SERVICE REFUSES TO
TURN OVER NAMES OF ENVIRONMENTALISTS
TO DON YOUNG
On 9-21-98, the
Southwest region of the U.S. Forest Service sent a
letter to Representative
Don Young (R-AK) explaining that Privacy Act
prohibits the agency from
tracking whether Forest Service employees
are members of environmental
groups. Following two court settlements
which barred cattle from 350 miles of
streams in the Gila River Basin,
Don Young demanded to know if the Regional
Forester was aware of any of
its employees being members of the Southwest
Center, Forest Guardians,
the Sierra Club, The Wilderness Society or other
environmental groups.
Young's letter resulted in editorials across the nation
denouncing his
McCarthyistic tactics.
___________________________________________
Mt. GRAHAM GOSHAWKS GET
REPRIEVE, CAMPGROUND PROPOSAL BEATEN
DOWN FOR THIRD TIME
For the 3rd time
in as many years, the Coronado National Forest has
withdrawn plans to log a
goshawk nest stand to "improve" a primitive
campground on Mt. Graham. The
Twilight Campground harbors a diverse
stand of large old trees and is home to
one of only four nesting
Apache goshawk pairs in the Pinaleno Mountains. The
Apache goshawk, a
subspecies of northern goshawk whose U.S. range is limited
to southern
Arizona, is believed to be even more rare than the extremely
imperiled
Cactus Ferruginous pygmy owl. The Coronado has stubbornly fought
to
expand and "improve" the campground for years, despite the presence
of
several alternative sites in less sensitive areas. This has lead to
numerous
appeals, protests and a lawsuit.
The Forest was forced to rescind its
latest decision because it "lost"
85 letters sent in opposition to the
project, making it impossible to
fulfill its duties under NEPA to analyze
those comments. Sky Island
Watch, the Southwest Forest Alliance, and the
Southwest Center are
determined to protect all Apache goshawks remaining in
Arizona.
_____________________________________________
ART EXHIBIT EXPOSES IMPACT
OF URBAN SPRAWL, BENEFITS SOUTHWEST CENTER
The national juried art
exhibition, "Encroachment: Nowhere to Hide," is
on display in Tucson at the
Central Arts Collective, 188 E. Broadway Blvd.
Inspired by the cancerous
growth devouring our world-renowned Sonoran
desert, the show features art
that stands up to all forces that are
bulldozing and paving wild places in
every bioregion, and art that
documents the natural habitats we are striving
to protect.
Gallery hours are from 12 to 4 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday
until
September 26th. Proceeds from the show will benefit the Southwest
Center.
For more information, call the Central Arts Collective
623.5883.
_____________________________________________________________________________
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