____________________________________________________
\ SOUTHWEST BIODIVERSITY ALERT
#155
/
\
10-9-98
/
\
/
\ SOUTHWEST CENTER FOR
BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY
/
\ http://www.sw-center.org
/
\________________________________________/
1. SUIT FILED TO EVICT
LIVESTOCK INDUSTRY FROM 50,000 ACRES OF
SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA
PARKS
2. LAWSUIT PROMPTS LISTING OF FIVE DESERT PLANTS UNDER
ENDANGERED
SPECIES ACT
3. JOIN US FOR CAMPOUT, WILDLIFE
HIKE, MUSIC AND GARBAGE CLEANUP
ON THE SAN PEDRO RIVER, OCTOBER
17-18.
4. ECO-PLAY BENEFITS FIGHT AGAINST 10 LANE
HIGHWAY
*****
***** *****
***** *****
SUIT FILED TO EVICT LIVESTOCK
INDUSTRY FROM 50,000 ACRES OF
SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA PARKS
The Southwest
Center and the Alameda Creek Alliance filed suit
against the East Bay
Regional Park District on 10-3-98, challenging
the agency's decision to allow
cattle grazing on 50,000 acres
covering 10 parks and open space preserves.
The Park District
has leased the supposedly "protected" public lands to 11
livestock
corporations without reviewing the environmental impacts
as
required by the California Environmental Quality Act.
Livestock
grazing in urban watersheds is especially pernicious as
cattle can
contaminate driking water with giardia and
cryptosporidium. The suit is being
argued by Brendan Cummings of
Oakland, CA.
_____________________________
LAWSUIT PROMPTS LISTING OF FIVE DESERT
PLANTS UNDER
ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT
In response to a lawsuit by the
Southwest Center and the California
Native Plant Society, the U.S. Fish &
Wildlife Service listed five
desert plants under the Endangered Species Act
on 10-6-98. The Lane
Mountain milk-vetch (Astragalus jaegerianus), Coachella
Valley milk-
vetch (Astragalus lentiginosus var. coachellae), and
triple-ribbed
milk-vetch (Astragalus tricarinatus) were declared endangered.
The Fish
Slough milk-vetch (Astragalus lentiginosus var. piscinensis) and
the
Peirson's milk-vetch (Astragalus magdalenae var. peirsonii)
were
declared threatened.
The imperiled plants are endemic to specific
areas within the Sonoran,
Mojave, and Great Basin Deserts. They are
threatened by mining, urban
sprawl, off road vehicles, wetland draining,
military training, and
livestock grazing.
____________________________
JOIN US FOR A CAMPOUT, WILDLIFE HIKE, MUSIC
AND GARBAGE CLEANUP ON
THE SAN PEDRO RIVER, OCTOBER 17-18.
In May,
Southwest Center volunteers spent a weekend cleaning up a
portion of the San
Pedro River. We found truckloads of trash - more
than we could possibly
carry! Please join us October 17th & 18th to
finish the job, by helping
to remove some of the larger items we
missed and trash that has accumulated
since our last visit.
Saturday night there will be a campfire, music, and
a delicious
cookout by the riverside. Sunday morning there will be a
guided
biodiversity hike. Carpooling is available from Phoenix and
Tucson.
Please call the Southwest Center at 520.623.5252 x.303 or
email
tortuga@sw-center.org for more details.
______________________________
ECO-PLAY BENEFITS FIGHT AGAINST 10 LANE
HIGHWAY
Playwright Max Branscomb and a cast of 60 performed the "The
Return
of the Proctor Valley Monster," on September 23-26 and October
2-3
to benefit a lawsuit to stop the proposed 10 lane State Route
125
tollway through wildlife habitat in San Diego County. The
production
was taped and broadcast on KPBS and a number of San Diego
County cable
stations.
The play has two endings. In the first, the highway is
built and
nefarious foreign investors make a fortune at the expense of
the
local ecology and quality of life. In the second, the audience
is
urged to oppose the 10 lane albatros as citizens confront
the
villains. One young girl yells, "don't worry, we've got the
Southwest
Center for Biological Diversity on our side!!" Another gives
an
entertaining and educational monologue about the importance of
vernal
pools.
_____________________________________________________________________________
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