From: Kieran Suckling [ksuckling@sw-center.org]
Sent: Thursday, January 27, 2000 5:26 AM
To: Recipient list suppressed
Subject: BIODIVERSITY ALERT #222
<<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><>><<>
             CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY

           <www.sw-center.org>      1-26-00      #222
<<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><>><<>

§ ANOTHER HAWAIIAN SPECIES LISTED AS ENDANGERED

§ SUIT FILED TO PROTECT ENDANGERED HAWAIIAN MONK SEAL

§ FEDS PROPOSE TO PUT WOLVES IN GILA WILDERNESS-
   SUPPORTING LETTERS NEEDED!

§ GOOD READING: PULP POLITICS, WOLVES AND GOSHAWKS
   ON THE  TONGASS NATIONAL FOREST

ANOTHER HAWAIIAN SPECIES LISTED AS ENDANGERED
As a result of an 8-31-99 lawsuit and settlement by the Center for
Biological Diversity, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service listed Newcomb's
snail as an endangered species on 1-26-00. Under the same settlement,
it listed the Kaua`i cave wolf spider and the Kaua`i cave amphipod earlier
this month. A final listing decision on Blackburn's sphinx month is due
by the end of the month. As a result of formal notice-of-intent-to-sue by
the Center, the Fish & Wildlife listed four other Hawaiian species in 1996:
two species of Akoko (Chamaesyce rockii and Chamaesyce herbstii),
the Haha (Cyanea acuminata), Euphorbia haeleeleana and Lobelia
gaudichaudii (ssp. Koolaunsis).

The Newcomb’s snail is restricted to six streams on the Hawaiian
island of Kaua`i. Each stream supports but a single snail population.
As a whole, Newcomb's snail has declined by 60% since 1925.

The Center was represented by Kapua Sproat and David Henkin of the
Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund (Honolulu).
     __________________

SUIT FILED TO PROTECT ENDANGERED HAWAIIAN MONK SEAL
The Center for Biological Diversity, the Greenpeace Foundation, and
Turtle Island Restoration Network filed suit against the National Marine
Fisheries Service and the Department of Commerce on 1-26-00 to
prevent the extinction of the highly endangered Hawaiian monk seal.
The agencies have violated the Endangered Species Act and the
National Environmental Policy Act by allowing the Hawaiian lobster
fishery, a critical monk seal food source, to be overfished. The suit
seeks to closure the fishery.

The Hawaiian monk seal is one of the world's most endangered marine
mammals. Its total population is about 1,350 individuals, and is
steadily declining because monk seal pups are starving to death. At the
same time, however, lobster boats (which set up to 1,000 traps each
night) are allowed to remove hundreds of thousands of spiny and slipper
lobsters from the monk seal’s formally designated critical habitat each
year.

The plaintiffs are represented in the action by Paul Achitoff of the
Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund (Honolulu).
     __________________

FEDS PROPOSE TO PUT WOLVES IN GILA WILDERNESS-
SUPPORTING LETTERS NEEDED!
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has finally published a proposal to
reintroduce endangered Mexican gray wolves directly into the Gila
Wilderness. The Center developed a Wolf Safe Haven plan to get
wolves into the Gila  in 1999 and has been organizing support, including
a full-page ad in the New York Times, every since. Wolves will be much
safer in the Gila - far from roads, guns and ranchers - than the current
release site in the Blue Range Primitive Area.

Please write today to support this much needed re-direction of the
Mexican wolf recovery effort. The deadline for written comments is
2-4-00:
 
             Mexican Wolf Recovery Coordinator
             U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
             P.O. Box 1306
             Albuquerque, NM 87103

Suggested points for your comments:

(1) Because impacts of wolf recovery in the Gila have already been
covered thoroughly in the November 1996 final environmental impact
statement on the Mexican wolf reintroduction, another EIS is not
necessary and would merely serve to delay the time-sensitive release.

(2) The Gila Wilderness, the Aldo Leopold Wilderness and other
adjoining lands in the Gila National Forest include over 700,000 acres
(over a thousand square miles) with no authorized cattle grazing. This
provides a unique opportunity for wolves to thrive with a minimum of
conflict with the livestock industry.
       
(3) Both the Pipestem Pack (already recaptured due to conflict with
the livestock industry) and the Gavilan Pack (currently free but
condemned to recapture from the wild) should be given another chance
at freedom in the Gila Wilderness.

In addition, public hearings will take place from 7 to 9 pm in Reserve,
New Mexico (Community Center), on March 1st, and Silver City, New
Mexico (WNMU Light Hall, on College Ave.) on March 2nd.
        ___________________________

GOOD READING: PULP POLITICS, WOLVES AND GOSHAWKS ON
THE TONGASS NATIONAL FOREST
Kathie Durbin, former reporter for the Oregonian and author of Tree
Huggers, has published a new book on the historic battle to save the
old growth rain forests of the Tongass National Forest in Southeast
Alaska. Durbin exposes the insane politicking which led to the
awarding of 50-year old growth logging contracts and massive clearcuts
throughout the Tongass. She also chronicles the battle to take the
Tongass back from corporate greed including Forest Service whistle
blowers, environmental litigation, and a series of stunning legislative
victories over Alaska's comico-tragic congressional delegation. Her
discussion of recent efforts to protect the imperiled Queen Charlotte
goshawk and Alexander Archipelago wolf, including complete
re-writes of the Tongass National Forest plan, highlight successful
research and litigation by the Center and the Biodiversity Legal
Foundation.

For more information contact Tom Booth of Oregon State University
Press (503-282-9801 or mailto:tbooth@teleport.com) or visit OSU
Press Online: http://osu.orst.edu/dept/press
_____________________________________________________________

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