From: Kieran Suckling [ksuckling@sw-center.org]
Sent: Wednesday, February 09, 2000 9:59 PM
To: Recipient list suppressed
Subject: BIODIVERSITY ALERT #224

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             CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY

           <www.sw-center.org>      2-8-00      #224
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§ 47 MILLION ACRES OF COASTAL ALASKA PROPOSED AS
   "CRITICAL HABITAT" FOR THE SPECTACLED EIDER

§ PETITION FILED TO LIST SIERRA NEVADA POPULATION OF
   THE MOUNTAIN YELLOW-LEGGED FROG AS ENDANGERED

§ SUIT LEADS TO LISTING OF IMPERILED CALIFORNIA PLANT
   UNDER ENDANGERED SPECIES  ACT

§ GOVERNOR'S PANEL OVERTURNS POPULAR BAN ON
   PREDATOR HUNTING CONTESTS IN ARIZONA-
   CALLS, LETTERS NEEDED TODAY!


47 MILLION ACRES OF COASTAL ALASKA PROPOSED AS
"CRITICAL HABITAT" FOR THE SPECTACLED EIDER
Keeping to a settlement agreement with the Center for Biological
Diversity and Christians Caring for Creation, the U.S. Fish &
Wildlife Service submitted a proposed rule to designate and
protect critical habitat for the Spectacled eider on 2-1-00. The
proposal identifies nearly 74,539 square miles of coastline in the
Yukon Delta, the North Slope, Norton Sound, and Ledyard Bay
as "critical habitat" for the rapidly declining sea duck.

In the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, the eider has declined from
96,000 birds in the 1970's to fewer than 5,000 in 1992. Another
10,000 may inhabit Alaska's North Slope. It is threatened with
poisoning from led shot, predation, and habitat loss associated
with oil and gas operations. Complex changes in fish and
invertebrate populations in the Bering Sea may also be having
an effect. The Spectacled eider was listed as a threatened species
in 1993. A fact sheet with more information is available at:
<http://www.r7.fws.gov/ea/0002.html>.

Additional critical habitat is expected to proposed for Stellar's
eider on 3-1-00.
     ________________________

PETITION FILED TO LIST SIERRA NEVADA POPULATION OF THE
MOUNTAIN YELLOW-LEGGED FROG AS ENDANGERED
On 2-8-00 the Center for Biological Diversity and the Pacific Rivers
Council filed a formal petition to list the Sierra Nevada mountain yellow-
legged frog (Rana muscosa) as endangered under the Endangered
Species Act. Formerly one of the most common amphibians in the
high Sierra lakes and streams, the yellow-legged frog has declined
precipitously due to stocking of non-native fish, pesticide drift from
Central Valley agribusiness, over grazing and habitat loss. It has
declined by up to 90%, with only a few dozen large populations
remaining. Two of the largest known populations crashed dramatically
in the past few years, going from over 2,000 adults in 1996 to only 2
in 1999.

An Adobe Acrobat version of the petition is available at:
<http://www.sw-center.org/swcbd/news.html>
     _________________________

SUIT LEADS TO LISTING OF IMPERILED CALIFORNIA PLANT
UNDER ENDANGERED SPECIES  ACT
On on 2-9-00, in response to a lawsuit by the Center for Biological
Diversity and the California Native Plant Society, the U.S. Fish &
Wildlife Service listed the Kneeland Prairie penny-cress (Thlaspi
californicum) as "endangered" under the U.S. Endangered Species
Act. Endemic to Kneeland Prairie on the Humboldt County coast,
the rare penny-cress had declined due to habitat destruction. It is
currently threatened by road realignment projects and a proposed
airport expansion.

The penny-cress is one of ten imperiled California plants the Center
and CNPS sued to protect on 6-22-99. Eight of the plants have
been in line for Endangered Species Act listing since 1975 when
the Smithsonian Institute formally petitioned the U.S. Fish &
Wildlife Service to list them. Under pressure not to protect imperiled
species, the Service allowed the plants to linger in bureaucratic
limbo even as they continued to decline toward extinction. Ruling on
our suit, however, Judge Charles Breyer ordered the agency to
make a final decision on all ten species by 3-15-00.

Other plants involved in the suit include:

  Santa Cruz tarplant (Santa Cruz, Monterey, Contra Costa)
  Keck's checker-mallow (Tulare)
  Baker's larspur (Marin, Sonoma)
  Yellow larkspur (Marin, Sonoma)
  La Graciosa thistle (Santa Barbara San Luis Obispo)
  Lompoc yerba santa (Santa Barbara)
  Gaviota tarplant (Santa Barbara)
  Two subspecies of Purple Amole (Monterey, San Luis Obispo)

The case was argued by Brendan Cummings (Berkeley) and Jay
Tutchton of Earthlaw (Denver, Palo Alto).
     _________________________________

GOVERNOR'S PANEL OVERTURNS POPULAR BAN ON
PREDATOR HUNTING CONTESTS IN ARIZONA-
CALLS, LETTERS NEEDED TODAY!
On 2-1-00, Arizona Governor Jane Dee Hull's Regulatory Review
Council, a six-member body which gives final reviews to all new
rules, voted unanimously to overturn a decision by the Arizona
Game and Fish Commission to ban predator hunting contests.
The Commission passed the original ban with a 3-2 vote, under
intense and vocal public pressure- 93% of over 13,000 letters r
eceived by the agency urged the ban. 

Call or write Governor Hull today! Tell her not allow these
barbaric slaughter contests, not to subvert the overwhelming
desire of Arizona's citizens.

Arizona Governor Jane Dee Hull
  Voice: (800) 253-0883 or (800) 542-4900
  Fax: (602) 542-1575
  Email: azgov@azgov.state.az.us
  U.S. Mail: State Capitol, Phoenix, AZ  85007
_____________________________________________________________

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