Subject: SW BIODIVERSITY ALERT #19
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Southwest Biodiversity Alert #19
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southwest center for biological
diversity
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ksuckling@sw-center.org
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http://www.envirolink.org/orgs/sw-center
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LAWSUITS, PETITIONS & CHILDREN'S
OPERA:
PUSH ON TO PROTECT SOUTHWEST WETLANDS
1. LAWSUIT FILED TO DESIGNATE
650 MILES OF CRITICAL HABITAT FOR
SOUTHWESTERN WILLOW
FLYCATCHER
2. PETITION FILED TO LIST IMPERILED WETLANDS PLANT AS
ENDANGERED
3. NOTICE GIVEN OF SUIT TO LIST SALAMANDER, WETLANDS
PLANTS,
RIPARIAN OWL & JAGUAR AS ENDANGERED
4. 380
PEOPLE ATTEND ECO-OPERA TO SAVE THE SAN PEDRO RIVER
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1. LAWSUIT FILED TO DESIGNATE 650 MILES OF CRITICAL HABITAT
FOR
SOUTHWESTERN WILLOW FLYCATCHER
The Southwest Center has filed a
lawsuit challenging the Fish and
Wildlife Service's finding that critical
habitat for the
Southwestern willow flycatcher is "not determinable." Reduced
to
about 500 pairs spread across California, Arizona, New
Mexico,
Colorado, and northern Mexico, the Southwestern willow flycatcher
is
possibly the most endangered species in the U.S. It was listed
as
Endangered in 1995 due to loss of riparian habitat by overgrazing,
dam
construction, urban development, and water depletion. The
proposal to
designate 650 river miles of critical habitat, however,
was never
finalized.
The FWS claimed that the bird's habitat is "not
determinable," even
though the listing rule expressly stated that the habitat
needs of
the endangered songbird are well known. The FWS has a de facto
and
illegal policy of not designating critical habitat except under
court
order. On April 11, 1996, the agency when as far as
publishing an
"interim policy" stating that critical habitat is of
little value and will
not be designated even after the moratorium is
listed. The flycatcher
is a perfect example of the importance of
critical habitat. It is so
drastically reduced in number, that it
is absent from the vast majority of
riparian habitat within its
historic range. Protection of habitat near
existing birds only, will
allow huge amounts of riparian forests to be
destroyed, resulting in
the extinction of the flycatcher. It's only hope is
to reverse the
decline in Southwestern riparian forests regardless of whether
they
are currently occupied or not.
The Southwest Center filed a
petition to list the flycatcher as
endangered in 1992. The proposed critical
habitat includes portions of
the Gila, San Pedro, Rio Grande, Verde, Santa
Margarita, San Louis
Rey, and Colorado rivers.
2. PETITION
FILED TO LIST IMPERILED WETLANDS PLANT AS ENDANGERED
On behalf of the
Southwest Forest Alliance, the Southwest Center has
filed a petition to list
the Chiricahua Dock as an Endangered
Species. The dock is endemic to
the high elevation cienegas (i.e.
wetlands) on the National Forests of
eastern and southeast Arizona.
It has declined dramatically due to
overgrazing, water pumping, and
forest developments. The "interim
policy" discussed above, also
directs the FWS to not process new ESA
petitions. This is
completely illegal. The Southwest Center has
informed the FWS is it
will be sued if it attempts to implement the
policy.
3. NOTICE GIVEN OF SUIT TO LIST SALAMANDER, WETLANDS
PLANTS,
RIPARIAN BIRD, JAGUAR AS ENDANGERED
The Southwest Center has
given the Fish and Wildlife Service 60- day
notice that it will sue the
agency for its failure to list the
Huachuca tiger salamander, Huachuca water
umbel and the Canelo Hills
ladies' tresses as endangered species.
Endemic to southeastern
Arizona and northern Mexico, the three mid-elevation
cienega
obligates are also threatened by overgrazing, pumping,
and
development. The Fish and Wildlife Service claims that
critical
habitat is not determinable for the salamander and water umbel,
and
not prudent for the ladies' tresses.
The Southwest Center has
given the Fish and Wildlife Service 60- day
notice that it will sue the
agency for its failure to list the
Cactus ferruginous pygmy owl as endangered
in Arizona, northern
Mexico and Texas. A ferocious predator of birds
and mammals, the
tiny pygmy owl is threatened by loss of riparian forests in
Arizona,
thorn scrub in medico, and oak woodlands in Texas. The
Southwest
Center filed a petition to list the owl as endangered in
1993.
The Southwest Center has given the Fish and Wildlife Service 60-
day
notice that it will sue the agency for its failure to list the
Jaguar
as an endangered species from southern California to
Louisiana. The Jaguar
was "accidentally" deleted from the list of
U.S. endangered species in 1973
though it is listed under the Act in
Mexico. Failure to list the species
north of the border, resulted in
jaguars being shot by ranchers as late as
1986. A jaguar was seen in
southern Arizona in 1995. When the FWS
failed to act on an ESA
petition filed by LifeNet and students from the
Sierra Institute,
the Southwest Center obtained a court order resulting in
the cat
being proposed for listing in 1994.
4. 380 PEOPLE
ATTEND "WATERSHED", A CHILDREN'S ECO-OPERA TO SAVE
THE SAN PEDRO
RIVER
Second graders at the Elvira Elementary School in Tucson, AZ put
on
two performances of "Watershed", an eco-opera about the beauty,
plight
and salvation of the San Pedro River. Almost 400 people as
watched the
children sang and dance an original bi-lingual opera
written and produced by
Ken Silverman for the Southwest Center.
The San Pedro is the Southwest's
only undammed river. It is the last
and best hope for riparian and aquatic
species recovery. In 1987 it
was designated the nation's first National
Riparian Conservation
Area. Cattle were taken off 55,000 acres and
development was
prohibited. Unfortunately, no water rights were
established. Now,
development, especially by the military, promises to
desiccate the
river within the next 10
years.