************* CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY
*************
http://www.sw-center.org
ALERT #198 8-12-99
§ ILLEGAL CINDER MINE IN MOJAVE NATIONAL PRESERVE SHUT
DOWN
§ CENTER LAWSUIT HALTS BULLDOZERS IN SILVER CREEK HILLS
§
SCIENTISTS SLAM SALT FACTORY IN WHALE BIRTHING LAGOON
§ POLL SHOWS MOST
AMERICANS SAY LAND PROTECTION AS
IMPORTANT AS
EDUCATION
___________________
ILLEGAL CINDER MINE IN MOJAVE NATIONAL
PRESERVE SHUT DOWN
The largest mine in the National Park system was
shut
down today. The mine has been operating without a
permit within the
Park since 1995. Although the mining
operation was within the Park and being
conducted on a
National Natural Landmark, and within critical habitat
for
the desert tortoise the acting superintendent for
the Preserve did nothing.
In her letter to the mining
company she was more than consolatory stating, "I
want
to assure you we will continue to work with you to
complete the
environmental review and approval process
as quickly as possible."
The
Center for Biological Diversity, Friends of Mojave
National Park, National
Park Conservation Association
filed a notice of intent to sue under the ESA
and NEPA
if the mine was not shut down or brought into
compliance with
environmental laws.
The case was represented by Roger Flynn and
Jeff
Parsons of Western Mining Action Project, and Deb Sivas
of
Earthlaw.
___________________
CENTER LAWSUIT HALTS BULLDOZERS IN
SILVER CREEK HILLS
Two conservation groups, the Center for
Biological
Diversity and the Guadalupe-Coyote Resource
Conservation
District and the filed suit in Federal
Court in late July to stop a 575-acre
golf course and
housing development in San Jose's Silver Creek hills
that
scientists say would ruin some of the best
remaining habitat for the
federally protected bay
checkerspot butterfly, the California Red-Legged
Frog
and several endangered plant species including the
Metcalf Canyon
jewelflower and Santa Clara Valley
dudleya.
Newport Beach-based
Presley Homes began grading its
538-home ``Ranch on Silver Creek''
development earlier
this month but agreed this week not to disturb any
more
land pending a federal court hearing in late August.
U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service officials said they also
are considering filing a legal
challenge after having
asked Presley not to grade the site and
repeatedly
raising concerns that the development would result in
an
illegal ``taking'' of protected species. The
property at issue -- just north
of Silver Creek Valley
Country Club between Highway 101 and Silver
Creek
Valley Road -- has been a source of controversy in San
Jose for more
than a decade.
The suit is another in a series of initiatives
which
are part of the Center for Biological Diversity's
Golden State
Biodiversity Initiative. Mark Wolfe, an
attorney with the Natural Heritage
Institute filed the
suit on behalf of the Guadalupe-Coyote
Resource
Conservation District and the Center for
Biological
Diversity.
___________________
SCIENTISTS SLAM SALT
FACTORY IN WHALE BIRTHING LAGOON
Thirty-four scientists, including nine
Nobel laureates,
this month signed a full page ad that ran in
major
newspapers including the Los Angeles Times, the New
York Times and
Mexico's La Reforma. The ad protested
Mitsubishi's plans to build a salt
factory in Laguna
San Ignacio, in Baja California the last
pristine
breeding ground for Pacific gray whales, which migrate
down the
Pacific coast every year to give birth to
their babies in the
lagoon.
The scientists called Mitsubishi's plans to pump 6,000
gallons
out of the lagoon per second, and to flood over
116 square miles to create
evaporation pools "an
unacceptable risk" to the environment. Their
statement
refutes Mitsubishi's claims that the project will
be
environmentally friendly.
"Mitsubishi needs to recognize the weight
of scientific
opinion against their plans to turn the California
gray
whale's last pristine birthing place into a salt
factory," says Dr.
Roger Payne, a whale biologist who
helped discover that humpback whales sing.
"It makes no
sense to threaten such a unique Mexican and global
treasure
by converting 116 square miles of critical
habitat into an industrial
zone."
___________________
POLL SHOWS MOST AMERICANS SAY LAND
PROTECTION AS
IMPORTANT AS EDUCATION
A new poll of 800 registered
voters, conducted for the
Trust for Public Land by the Mellman Group
and
American Viewpoint, finds clear majorities in both
major parties say
that government at all levels is
doing an inadequate job of creating parks
and open
spaces. Voters polled identified protecting natural
lands as a
key priority for government action, on par
with such issues as education and
a higher priority
than reducing taxes. By a 2-to-1 margin Americans
across
the political spectrum support a federal plan to
use public funds to purchase
and protect land, and a
majority are willing to pay more taxes to support
these
purchases. Also, Americans strongly support full
funding of existing
federal programs, specifically the
Land and Water Conservation Fund, for
which Congress is
considering funding levels now.
Voters polled
offered a negative evaluation of the job
all levels of government are doing
to protect open
space. Those negative views also cut across party
lines
with a majority of Democrats, independents and
Republicans offering
negative evaluations of the job
the federal government in particular is doing
to
protect open space. The full text of the Trust for
Public Land poll is
available online at
http://www.tpl.org/poll
___________________________________________________________
Shane
Jimerfield
Assistant Director
Center for Biological Diversity
Tel:
520.623.5252, ext
302
Fax: 520.623.9797
PO Box 710, Tucson AZ
85702-0710 http://www.sw-center.org