Subject: FW: BIODIVERSITY ALERT #226

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             CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY

           <www.sw-center.org>      2-18-00      #226
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§ GEORGE BUSH'S ENVIRONMENTAL ADVISOR: "AUCTION OFF
   ALL FEDERAL LANDS INCLUDING NATIONAL PARKS"

§ CUCKOO MOVES TOWARD ENDANGERED SPECIES LIST-
   RIPARIAN FORESTS ACROSS WEST COULD BE PROTECTED

§ SCIENTIFIC ASSESSMENT OF ROAD IMPACTS AVAILABLE

§  INTERNATIONAL DAY OF ACTION AGAINST DAMS-
    CELEBRATE IN FLAGSTAFF, PROTEST AT GLEN CANYON
    DAM

GEORGE BUSH'S ENVIRONMENTAL ADVISOR: "AUCTION OFF ALL
FEDERAL LANDS INCLUDING NATIONAL PARKS"
Terry L. Anderson, environmental advisor to George W. Bush Jr., has
proposed to auction off all 600 million acres of federal public lands in the
U.S. over the next 20-40 years. This not only incudes every National
Forest, National Wildlife Refuge, and BLM District, it also includes every
National Park and Monument. Under his proposal, non-profit
environmental groups could bid on the free market against the likes of
Exxon to obtain the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, or against
Weyerhouser to obtain Yellowstone National Park, or against Phelps
Dodge to obtain Grand Canyon National Park. Any bets on how the
bidding will go?

Anderson is closely associated with several conservative think tanks
pushing for the privatization and/or commercialization of public lands.
He is the director of the Political Economy Research Center, a
senior fellow at the Hoover Institution. PERC's website links to the
Thoreau Institute which has proposed, among other nonsense, to
privatize ownership of endangered species. Anderson's proposal was
published by the CATO institute and can be viewed at
<http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa-363es.html>

Anderson freely admits that his corporate take-over agenda would
be wildly unpopular with the American public. In an interview with the
National Journal (10-23-99) he said that Bush is watching the polls
and will not likely announce any radical public land agendas during
the campaign. But after????
      ____________________

CUCKOO MOVES TOWARD ENDANGERED SPECIES LIST-
RIPARIAN FORESTS ACROSS WEST COULD BE PROTECTED
On 2-17-00, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service published an initial
positive finding (i.e. 90-day) on the Center's petition to list the
Yellow-billed as an endangered species west of the Continental
Divide. The Yellow-billed cuckoo is an indicator species for healthy,
mature cottonwood/willow forests. According to the finding, 90-95%
of the West's riparian forests have been decimated in the last
century. Not surprisingly, the vast majority of threatened and
endangered species in the West are obligates of riparian forests,
wetlands and aquatic ecosystems. The cuckoo has been extirpated
from British Columbia, Washington, Oregon and northern California.
It exists at extremely low numbers in the rest of the West, and
continues to decline in its one stronghold, the San Pedro River in
southeast Arizona. The San Pedro, meanwhile, is being sucked
dry by the U.S. military and unchecked suburban sprawl.

The listing petition was consigned by: Maricopa Audubon Society,
Tucson Audubon Society, Huachuca  Audubon Society, White
Mountain Audubon Society, White Mountain Conservation League,
Wildlife Damage Review, Sky Island Alliance, San Pedro 100, Zane
Grey Chapter of Trout Unlimited, T and E Inc., Biodiversity Legal
Foundation, Environmental Protection Information Center, Sierra
Nevada Alliance, Wetlands Action Network, Rangewatch, Oregon
Natural Desert Association, Oregon Natural Resources Center,
Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center, Southern Utah Wilderness
Alliance, Wild Utah Forest Campaign, Friends of Nevada
Wilderness, and the Toiyabe Chapter of the Sierra Club.

Even as the cuckoo has spiraled toward extinction, activists have
had to battle the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service for 12 years to
reach yesterday's finding. The battle will surely continue: in its
finding, the agency asserts that the complete extinction of the
cuckoo in every western state is "not significant" because it is
only declining, not endangered, east of the continental divide. The
Center was represented by the Pacific Environmental Advocacy
Center (Portland) in its suit to make the Fish & Wildlife Service
issue yesterday's finding.
     ___________________________

SCIENTIFIC ASSESSMENT OF ROAD IMPACTS AVAILABLE
The February 2000 issue of Conservation Biology contains eight
articles devoted to the adverse ecological effects of roads. Included
is an article by Stephen Trombulak and Christopher Frissel,
"Review of Ecological Effects of Roads on Terrestrial and Aquatic
Communities" and Richard Forman "Estimate of the Area Affected
Ecologically by the Road System in the United States." Marion
Hourdequin, former Co-Director of Wildlands CPR, is the guest
editor. Wildlands CPR maintains a searchable database of 6,000
scientific articles on the impacts of roads on watersheds and
wildlife: (WildlandsCPR@wildlandsCPR.org).

Copies of the February issue of Conservation Biology can be
obtained through:

    Blackwell Science, Inc.
   Commerce Place, 350 Main St., Malden, MA 02148-5018
   1-888-661-5800
     ______________________________

INTERNATIONAL DAY OF ACTION AGAINST DAMS-
CELEBRATE IN FLAGSTAFF, PROTEST AT GLEN CANYON
The 3rd Annual International Day of Action Against Dams and for
Rivers, Water and Life is happening March 13-14. It is being
sponsored by Glen Canyon Action Network, the Center for Biological
Diversity, International Rivers Network and many other groups.
Dams have destroyed wild rivers, wildlife, and native cultures
throughout the world. But a movement is afoot to dismantle outdated,
environmentally destructive dams throughout the U.S. The Snake
River dams, Glen Canyon Dam, Elwa Dam, and Matilaja Dam all
need to come down to restore endangered steelhead trout, salmon,
disappearing beaches, and Native American cultural sites.

Take part as we launch the "Century of River Restoration." Join us
March 13th and 14 in Flagstaff and at the notorious Glen Canyon
Dam along with former U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Hass and David
Brower, president of Earth Island Institute.

  A Teach-in On The Restoration of Glen Canyon
  12:00 - 5:00 pm, Monday, March 13, 2000
  Kaibab Room, University Union Field House
  Northern Arizona University Campus, Flagstaff

  Colorado River Revival Concert and Rally
  7:00 - 9:00 pm, Monday, March 13, 2000
  Cline Library Auditorium
  Northern Arizona University Campus, Flagstaff

  Caravan with us to Glen Canyon the following morning for:
  A Restoration Rally and Rendezvous
  Carl Hayden Visitor Center, Glen Canyon Dam
  12:00 Noon, Tuesday, March 14, 2000

For more information, see www.drainit.com or contact Lisa Force
at lforce@sw-center.org
_____________________________________________________________

ENDANGERED TOTEMS. Ten of the eleven western states have imperiled species
for their state fish: New Mexico (Rio Grande cutthroat trout), Arizona
(Apache trout), Colorado (Greenback cutthroat trout), Utah (Bonneville
cutthroat trout), Nevada (Lahontan cutthroat trout), California (Golden
trout), Oregon (Chinook salmon), Washington (Steelhead trout), Idaho
(Cutthroat trout), and Montana (Cutthroat trout).

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