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CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL
DIVERSITY
http//www.sw-center.org
6-29-99
#191
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§
SCIENTISTS: BIG CHANGES NEEDED TO SAVE SAN
PEDRO RIVER-
INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENT SIGNED
§ ENVIROS & FISHERMEN SUE TO
PROTECT
CALIFORNIA'S THREATENED STEELHEAD TROUT
§ SUIT TO
SAVE WESTERN FROGS, SALAMANDERS,
TURTLES AND SNAILS FROM
EXTINCTION
§ SCIENTISTS: COWS DAMAGE WESTERN
RIVERS
*****
***** ***** ******
SCIENTISTS:
BIG CHANGES NEEDED TO SAVE SAN
PEDRO RIVER- INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENT
SIGNED
In response to a petition filed under Article 13 of the North
American
Free Trade Agreement, the Commission on Environmental
Cooperation
published on 6-15-99, its final draft report on the status
of the San Pedro
River in southeast Arizona and northern Mexico.
The Center filed the petition
in order to obtain an objective, international
assessment of the river's
impending demise and the steps necessary
to save it. The San Pedro study
represents the first time the NAFTA
panel has agreed to study a U.S.
environmental problem.
The the international team of hydrologists and
biologists determined
that the San Pedro River supports the largest remaining
Southwest
broadleaf riparian forest in existence and is critical to millions
of
migratory songbirds and endangered species such as the
Southwestern
willow flycatcher, Cactus ferruginous pygmy owl, jaguar,
and
Huachuca water umbel. The river supports two-thirds of all
North
American bird species (400), has the world's second
highest
diversity of mammals (82 species) and is home to 43 species
of
reptiles.
According to the team, the San Pedro Basin is being
overdrafted by
7,000 acres feet per year and the river will eventually dry up
unless
major water policy changes are made soon. Though the
military's
Fort Huachuca is the largest single water user in the basin,
the
NAFTA panel bowed to politics and refused to recommend closing
or
scaling back the base. It instead proposed retiring
agriculture, buying out
development rights, dewatering the lower
river to save the upper portion, and
possibly importing water from
other river basins to mitigate impacts of
moving wells from the
upper to the lower basin.
On 6-22-99, the U.S.
and Mexico signed a vague agreement to
protect the river from its headwaters
in Mexico through the
U.S. to its confluence with the Gila River. The
Department of
Interior pledged to help buy out agriculture and
development
rights.
To learn more about the San Pedro River see our
website:
http://www.sw-center.org/swcbd/activist/sanpedro.html
To
read the full NAFTA report:
http://www.cec.org/english/new/experte.cfm?format=1
_____________________
ENVIROS & FISHERMEN SUE TO
PROTECT
CALIFORNIA'S THREATENED STEELHEAD TROUT
On 6-22-99, the Center For
Biological Diversity and a coalition
of fishing and conservation groups,
filed suit in federal court in
San Francisco against the National Marine
Fisheries Service
(NMFS) for failing to protect California's threatened
steelhead
trout. While NMFS listed the steelhead as a threatened
species
under the Endangered Species Act, it has not yet outlawed
the
killing, harming or harassing of the fish. Without such an order,
the
listing of the steelhead under the ESA is essentially
meaningless. Unlike
NMFS, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
has outlawed the taking of all
threatened and endangered
species under a blanket policy. NMFS issues a
separate ruling
for each species, but has failed to do so for the steelhead
trout.
The coalition filing suit included the Alameda Creek Alliance,
the
Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations, the
Northern
California Council of the Federation of Fly Fishers, the
California
Sportfishing Protection Alliance, the Turtle Island
Restoration Network, the
South Yuba River Citizen's League,
and the Coastside Habitat
Coalition.
While NMFS has illegally delayed in applying ESA
protection,
steelhead statewide continue to be killed by diversion of water
from
streams, and habitat critical to their recovery continues to
be
destroyed. The lawsuit documents abuses and fish kills which
have
occurred in over 30 streams. From Arroyo Grande Creek in
San Luis Obispo
County to the Russian River in Sonoma County,
water flows necessary for
steelhead migration, spawning, and
rearing are being diverted. From the
Carmel River in Monterey
County to the Yuba River in Yuba County,
interruption of stream
flows resulting in large fish kills have been
documented. From
Gazos Creek in San Mateo County to Lagunitas Creek in
Marin
County, steelhead habitat has been bulldozed or degraded.
The
suit is being argued by Brendan Cummings (Berkeley) and
Larry Sanders (Nevada
City).
_______________
SUIT TO SAVE WESTERN
FROGS, SALAMANDERS,
TURTLES AND SNAILS FROM EXTINCTION
On 6-15-99, the
Center for Biological Diversity, filed a formal
notice of intent to sue the
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service for
failing to list and protect ten
imperiled aquatic species under the
Endangered Species Act. The agency
determined that all of the
species warranted listing under the ESA, but did
not list them
because of alleged higher priorities. Many of the species
have
languished in this state of geo-political purgatory for over a
decade
as their habitat and numbers continue to dwindle.
The suit will
include:
-- Southwest Species
-- --
Northwest Species --
Pecos assiminea snail
(NM) Columbia spotted frog (WA, OR,
Gila
springsnail
(NM)
ID, CA, NV)
Roswell springsnail
(NM) Oregon spotted
frog (WA, OR)
Chupadera springsnail (NM)
Koster's Tryonia
(NM)
-- California Species --
Cagle's Map Turtle
(TX) California
tiger salamander (CA)
New Mexico hot-spring snail
(NM)
_________________
SCIENTISTS: LIVESTOCK DAMAGE WESTERN RIVERS
The
Journal of Soil and Water Conservation has published an
article by Dr. Joy
Belsky, staff ecologist for the Oregon Natural
Desert Association, and
A. Matzke and S. Uselman summarizing
over 140 peer-reviewed scientific papers
on the effects of
livestock grazing on western rivers and riparian areas, and
the
species dependent upon them.
The more than 100 research papers
cited in the review found that
livestock grazing reduced water quality,
increased sedimentation,
altered stream hydrology, compacted and disturbed
riparian soils,
denuded streambanks, reduced spawning rates and survival
of
salmon and other cold-water fish, and led to the local extinction
of
riparian wildlife. Although some grazing techniques were found to
be
less detrimental than others, all were damaging compared
to
non-grazing.
Nearly 100% of the research papers reported that
livestock
damaged western streams and rivers. The few papers
not
reporting adverse effects suggested that the studies had been
too
short or that other factors such as floods or rodents had
interfered
with the results. No positive effects of grazing were
found.
To see the full study, check out ONDA's website:
http://www.onda.org/rippaper.html
_________________________________________________________________
Kierán
Suckling
ksuckling@sw-center.org
Executive
Director
520.623.5252 phone
SW Center for Biological Diversity
520.623.9797 fax
http://www.sw-center.org
pob 710, tucson, az 85702-0710