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SOUTHWEST
CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL
DIVERSITY
http//www.sw-center.org
#184
5-9-99
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>>> SAN PEDRO RIVER UPDATE <<<
§ SAN PEDRO RIVER
DECLARED "ENDANGERED"
§ SUIT: ARMY MUST DISCLOSE IMPACT TO RIVER
§ CATTLE
REMOVED TO PROTECT WILDLIFE AND
NATIVE AMERICAN SITES
§ FOR
MORE INFORMATION ON THE SAN PEDRO:
http://www.sw-center.org/swcbd/activist/sanpedro.html
http://www.sw-center.org/swcbd/news/bioalerts.html
***** *****
***** *****
SAN PEDRO RIVER DECLARED
"ENDANGERED"
On 4-12-99, American Rivers named the San Pedro River the 4th
most endangered
river in the United States. The San Pedro is the Southwest's
last undammed
river, but is being sucked dry by the U.S. Army's Fort Huachuca
and
uncontrolled urban sprawl. An international team of scientists convened
by
NAFTA's environmental commission in response to a petition filed by
the
Southwest Center, concluded last year that river will run dry if
current
pumping levels continue.
Following its designation as the
nation's first Riparian National Conservation
Area and the removal of all
cattle from 45 miles of river, the San Pedro has
developed the Southwest's
largest riparian forest. It supports two-thirds of
all North American bird
species (400), the world's second highest diversity of
mammals (82 species)
and 43 species of reptiles.
_________________________
SUIT FILED TO STOP ARMY FROM DESTROYING
SAN
PEDRO RIVER
On 4-21-99, the Southwest Center filed its third lawsuit against
Fort Huachuca
to keep the military base from killing the San Pedro River. The
suit charges
that the base has not completed an environmental impact
statement as it
promised a Federal judge in 1996. On the basis of that
promise, the judge
dismissed an earlier lawsuit by the Southwest Center
calling for an
environmental review. The base has repeatedly violated its
legal binding
promise because it knows the study will show that the base is
the primary
factor killing Arizona's most important wildlife area. This would
fuel
opposition to the base and could lead a soon-to-be-convened presidential
base
closure commission to recommend that Fort Huachuca be eliminated or
downsized.
The suit is being argued by Mark Hughes of Earthlaw
(Denver).
___________________________
COMPLAINT SPURS CATTLE REMOVAL TO
PROTECT
WILDLIFE AND NATIVE AMERICAN SITES
Almost exactly one year ago,
the Southwest Center formally requested the U.S.
Attorney to investigate the
Bureau of Land Management for violating the
Archeological Resources
Protection Act, the Antiquities Act, and the American
Indian Religious
Freedom Act for allowing cattle to trespass in the San Pedro
Riparian
National Conservation Area and destroy ancient archeological sites.
The
San Pedro River has been continuously inhabited for 12,000 years. It
contains
hundreds, possibly over a thousand, archeological sites. Cattle were
banned
from 45 miles of the river in 1989, but have continually been permitted
to
trespass. After the Center documented a new round of cattle in April, the
BLM
finally issued a formal public notice that it will impound all cattle
within
the conservation area on
5-17-99.
_____________________________________________________________________________
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