Subject: FW: SW BIODIVERSITY ALERT #183

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 SOUTHWEST CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY
                            http//www.sw-center.org
       #183                                                            5-6-99
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§ FULL PAGE NEW YORK TIMES AD DENOUNCES
   CATTLEMEN'S WAR ON THE WOLF

§ SUIT FILED TO PROTECT 4.8 MILLION ACRES
   OF FOREST FOR MEXICAN SPOTTED OWL

§ SUIT RESULTS IN 1,000 MILES OF STREAM
   PROTECTION FOR COHO SALMON IN OR AND CA

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NEW YORK TIMES AD DENOUNCES WAR ON THE
WOLF- CALLS FOR WOLVES IN GILA WILDERNESS
On Monday, May 3rd, the Southwest Center ran a full page ad in the New York
Times denouncing the livestock industry's century long war on the wolf.
Blaming the industry for the "slaughter of thousands of wolves, bears,
mountain lions, jaguars, deer, antelope, and beaver," the ad reminded Bruce
Babbitt, Secretary of Interior, of his promise to "make sure the interest
of the public is  protected" against the "the livestock industry...which
has come to think of public range rights as exclusive rights akin to
ownership, for running cattle for their exclusive use."

The ad called on Babbitt to cancel public lands grazing permits of ranchers
who threaten to kill wolves, to aggressively pursue the killers of wolves
which were shot, and to release wolves directly into the remote Gila
Wilderness.

To obtain a full size copy of the ad, contact rslack@sw-center.org
     ____________________

SUIT FILED TO PROTECT 4.8 MILLION ACRES OF
FOREST FOR MEXICAN SPOTTED OWL
On 5.6.99, the Southwest Center filed suit in federal court in Albuquerque,
NM to compel the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to designate 4.8 million
acres of critical habitat for the threatened Mexican spotted owl on the
Southwest's eleven National Forests. The Forest Service would not be
permitted to "adversely modify" the critical habitat, and thus would
essentially be banned from  logging old growth or mature forests within the
protected area.

The Southwest Center petitioned to list the Mexican spotted owl as
threatened in 1989. In 1994, the Southwest Center, Forest Guardians, and
Maricopa Audubon Society won a court order which resulted in 4.8 million
acres of critical habitat being designated. The designation, however, was
rescinded on technical grounds because the Fish & Wildlife Service failed
to issue a "finding of no significant impact" on the designation. Rather
than complete the paperwork required by NEPA, however, the agency chose to
permanently revoke the protected habitat, allowing the Forest Service to
log within millions of acres of ponderosa pine forest with no restrictions.

The Center is represented by Neil Levine of Earthlaw.
     ___________________

SUIT RESULTS IN 1,000 MILES OF STREAM PROTECTION
FOR COHO SALMON IN OREGON AND CALIFORNIA
In response to a 1.13.98 lawsuit by the Southwest Center and the
Environmental Information Center, the National Marine Fisheries  Service
(NMFS) designated critical habitat for coho salmon in central California
and Southern Oregon on 5.5.99. Bowing to  political pressure, NMFS had
delayed the listing for over year until the suit was filed. The designation
includes all accessible  reaches of the hundreds of coastal streams in the
range of the coho from southern Oregon to Santa Cruz, California, including
two streams that enter the San Francisco Bay. In total, the designation
covers approximately 1,000 miles of streams.

Formerly abundant throughout the Columbia River Basin and along west coast
streams from Washington to central California, Coho  are today extinct in
the eastern half of their range. In California, they have declined by 94%.
Only 10,000 individuals return to streams in southern Oregon and northern
California. Central Oregon only supports 6,000 fish.

The Coho were listed as threatened in May 1997 because of over fishing at
sea and habitat destruction caused by logging, dam  building water
diversions and cattle grazing.

EPIC and the Southwest Center were represented by Brendan Cummings of
Berkely, CA.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Kierán 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