From: Kieran Suckling [ksuckling@sw-center.org]
Sent:
Tuesday, October 26, 1999 7:05 PM
To: Recipient list
suppressed
Subject: BIODIVERSITY ALERT
#209
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CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY
www.sw-center.org
10-26-99
#209
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§
SUIT SHUTS DOWN DREDGING, OIL SPILLS IN HUMBOLDT BAY
§ SUIT TO CHALLENGE
PYGMY KILL PERMIT
§ COALITION CHALLENGES AGENCY REFUSAL TO PROTECT
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA STEELHEAD TROUT
§ EDITORIAL: OWL
RULING AGAINST ARIZONA DEVELOPMENT
WISE
SUIT STOPS
DREDGING, OIL SPILLS IN HUMBOLDT BAY
On 10-26-99, Federal Judge Claudia
Wilken issued a temporary
restraining order halting a U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers dredging
project in Humboldt Bay, CA. The Center for Biological
Diversity and
the Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC) sued to
stop
the dredging after contractors spilled over 2,000 gallons of oil
into
the bay on two separate occasions in September and October,
killing
thousands of birds and marine animals.
Over 40 miles of
pristine North Coast beaches have been polluted,
including Clam Beach, a
popular recreation area. Marbled murrelets,
California brown pelicans, and
Western snow plovers- all endangered
species- have been killed. Though the
National Marine Fisheries
Service and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
warned the Corps that its
dredging project could kill endangered species and
violate the
Endangered Species Act, the Corps refused to halt the dredging
or
consult with the wildlife agencies, leading to the current
crisis.
The restraining order will remain in effect until at least
11-5-99 when
the case is further reviewed. The case is being argued by Baback
Naficy (Los Angeles) and Brian Gaffney
(Oakland).
_______________________
SUIT TO
CHALLENGE PYGMY KILL PERMIT
The Center for Biological Diversity, the Sierra
Club and the Center for
Environmental Connections have officially notified
the U.S. Fish &
Wildlife Service they will file suit unless the agency
revokes a recently
issued permit allowing the killing of a pygmy owl by
developers. With
fewer than 20 breeding pairs known to remain in Arizona,
the killing of
even a single bird could significantly jeopardize the
species's continued
existence. Nonetheless, the Fish & Wildlife Service
has approved the
Lazy K Ranch "habitat conservation plan" including the death
of one
pygmy owl and the harassment of others.
Habitat conservation
plans, or HCPs are applications by developers or
others seeking "take" of
listed species in exchange for mitigation.
HCPs must present mitigation
specifics and by definition must provide
for the conservation of endangered
species. The Lazy K HCP falls far
short of these mandates on all counts.
Most glaring is the Service’s
willingness to grant owl killing permit prior
to even determining, through
preparation of a recovery plan, where and how
many owls will need
protection to recover the
species.
_________________
COALITION
CHALLENGES AGENCY REFUSAL TO PROTECT
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA STEELHEAD
TROUT
The Center for Biological Diversity and a coalition of ten conservation
and
fishing groups has officially notified the National Marine Fisheries
Service
of their intent to sue the agency for refusing to include most of
southern
California from the protected range of the endangered
Steelhead
trout. Bowing to political pressure, the Fisheries Service
unlawfully
excluded all streams south of Malibu Creek (just north of
Los Angeles),
and all stream reaches above impassable dams.
The
ruling was designed to avoid conflicts with the military, developers,
and
dam builders, rather than protect the steelhead. The agency's own
internal
documents show that steelhead formerly occupied coastal
streams south to
Mexico and that important habitat exists above
many southern California dams.
These dams must be remove to
restore the coastal rivers, beaches, and
wildlife of southern
California.
Over 100,000 steelhead trout once
inhabited the streams south of San
Luis Obispo County. Fewer than 400
remain. The importance of protecting
steelhead streams upstream of dams and
south of Malibu Creek has been
dramaticized by the discovery of steelhead
this year in San Mateo Creek
in San Diego County. These were well within the
agency's identified "zone
of extinction." Public pressure is mounting,
meanwhile, to remove
Matilija Dam in order to restore beaches and trout
habitat.
________________________
EDITORIAL:
RULING AGAINST REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT IS WISE
The Arizona Daily Star published
the following editorial on 10-21-99.
It supports to a sweeping court order
issued last week prohibiting the
Army Corps of Engineers from issuing
development permits on millions
of acres in southern Arizona, and requiring
the agency to comprehensively
review the impacts of all its development
permits on the pygmy owl
and other imperiled species. The Star sees in the
ruling a reminder that
southern Arizona should protect its open spaces while
developing
a regional habitat/open space protection plan.
RULING ACCENTS OWL WISDOM
U.S. District Judge Alfredo Marquez'
latest ruling on the endangered pygmy
owl sounds scary. Road-builders
contend road projects may be stalled.
Developers are crying the blues
about a decision that could well delay some
home construction.
And yet, for all the consternation, Marquez' opinion warrants
confidence. It
underscores the wisdom of the county's ongoing drive to
craft a global
solution to its owl habitat and open space crunch...the
ruling makes clear
that until the county completes its comprehensive
Sonoran Desert
Conservation Plan, developers should simply avoid
disturbing local washes
if they want to avoid delays...
Likewise, any headaches Marquez' ruling does provoke should remind
this
community why it embarked on its laborious habitat conservation
planning
process in the first place...That plan will through science
and community
discussion apportion where development can and cannot
occur. When it has
been completed, the uncertainties of the present
will give way to the
predictability of a known system of habitat
reserves and construction zones.
In light of that, those
complaining about Judge Marquez' owl ruling should
complain only that
creating the county's grand solution takes so long. When
it is done,
Pima County's habitat plan will release Tucson at last from new
lurches from Judge Marquez' bench.
_____________________________________________________________
Kierán
Suckling
ksuckling@sw-center.org
Executive
Director
520.623.5252 phone
Center for Biological
Diversity 520.623.9797 fax
http://www.sw-center.org
pob 710, tucson, az 85702-0710