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CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL
DIVERSITY
<www.sw-center.org>
2-24-00
#227
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§
SUIT PUTS NEAR EXTINCT CALIFORNIA PLANTS PUT ON
ENDANGERED
SPECIES LIST
§ ENVIRO/CHRISTIAN ALLIANCE PROTECTS
IMPERILED
MAMMALS
§ FEDS AGREE TO RECONSIDER HABITAT
PROTECTION FOR
RARE FISH, BUTTERFLY, AND SHRIMP
§
SW WOLVES NEED HELP: PLEASE ATTEND PUBLIC
HEARINGS, SEND EMAILS,
LETTERS TODAY
SUIT PUTS NEAR EXTINCT CALIFORNIA PLANTS PUT
ON
ENDANGERED SPECIES LIST
Fulfilling a federal court order obtained by
the Center for Biological
Diversity
and the California Native Plant
Society, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
this month listed two plants --
Baker's larkspur (Delphinium bakeri) and
yellow larkspur (Delphinium luteum)
-- as endangered species. The plants
live in coastal prairie, coastal scrub,
and chaparral in Sonoma and Marin
counties, northern California. Urban
development, agricultural land
conversion, livestock grazing and road
construction have destroyed much
of their habitat and wiped out many
populations. Baker's larkspur has
been reduced to just 35 individual plants
in one population. The yellow
larkspur has only 100 individuals spread across
two populations.
Though the plight of these extremely imperiled plants
has been known
for decades (the Smithsonian Institute petitioned the
government to list
both in 1975) the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service let
them languish as
"candidates" for listing with no protective status for 25
years until they
were sued and ordered to take action by a federal judge. The
larkspurs
are just two of ten California plants involved in the suit: on
2-9-00, the
agency listed the Kneeland Prairie penny-cress as endangered. It
has
until 3-15-00 to make a listing decision for the Santa Cruz tarplant,
La
Graciosa thistle, Lompoc yerba santa, Gaviota tarplant, and two
species
of Purple amole.
The Center's "Golden State Biodiversity
Program" has successfully
petitioned and litigated to place 84 California
species under the
Endangered Species Act since 1993. The Center and CNPS
were
represented in this case by Brendan Cummings (Berkeley) and
Jay
Tutchton of Earthlaw (Denver, Palo Alto).
____________________
ENVIRO/CHRISTIAN ALLIANCE PROTECTS TWO
IMPERILED
CALIFORNIA MAMMALS
In response to a formal notice of intent to
sue under the Endangered
Species Act by the Center and Christians Caring for
Creation, the U.S.
Fish & Wildlife Service listed two San Joaquin Valley
mammals as
"endangered" on 2-23-00. The Riparian brush rabbit (Sylvilagus
bachmani
riparius) and the Riparian (or San Joaquin Valley) woodrat
(Neotoma
fuscipes riparia) have both declined to just a single remaining
population
in Caswell Memorial State Park in San Joaquin County.
The
Riparian brush rabbit and Riparian woodrat once ranged throughout
the
extensive riparian forests of the northern San Joaquin Valley. In the
last
150 years, however, California has lost 90% of its streamside
forests to
logging, overgrazing, mining, dams, agricultural clearing, and
urban sprawl.
The remnant population of each subspecies is confined
to a 258 acre forest
fragment on the Stanislaus River.
The Center and Christians Caring for
Creation were represented by
Brendan Cummings
(Berkeley).
________________________
FEDS
AGREE TO RECONSIDER HABITAT PROTECTION FOR RARE
FISH, BUTTERFLY,
SHRIMP
U.S. Federal District Court Judge Samuel Conti has approved a
legally
binding settlement between the Center for Biological Diversity and
the U.S.
Fish & Wildlife Service to protect three imperiled species.
Under the
terms of the settlement, the federal agency must withdraw its
earlier
decision not to designate and protect specific "critical habitat"
areas for
the Quino checkerspot butterfly, Arkansas River shiner, and
Riverside
fairy shrimp; and issue a new decision by March, 2001.
The
Center filed suit to overturn the agency decisions in July, 1999. The
suit
charged that the Fish & Wildlife Service has systematically engaged in
an
illegal pattern of refusing to designate Critical Habitat for hundreds
of
species listed under the ESA. From 1-1-96 to the present day, over
200
species have been listed under the Endangered Species Act, yet not
a
single one was granted "critical habitat" except under court
order.
The Quino checkerspot butterfly was listed under the ESA on
1-16-97.
Formerly one of the most abundant butterflies in southern
California, only
seven or eight populations remain today. Of these, all but
three contain
fewer than 5 individual butterflies. The Riverside fairy shrimp
was listed
under the ESA on 8-3-93. Its wetland habitat (southern California
vernal pools)
have been decimated by urban sprawl and agricultural clearing.
It has been
reduced to a scattering of pools near Temecula (Riverside
County), Mirimar
Naval Air Station, and Otay Mesa (San Diego County). The
Arkansas River
shiner is a small fish found in the Canadian River in New
Mexico, Texas and
Oklahoma, and the Cimarron River in Oklahoma and Kansas. It
was listed
under the ESA on 11-23-98. It is threatened by excessive
groundwater
pumping, water diversions, and pollution.
The Center was
represented by Brendan Cummings (Berkeley) and Geoff
Hickcox of Kenna &
Hickcox (Durango).
__________________________
SW WOLVES NEED HELP: PLEASE ATTEND PUBLIC
HEARINGS,
SEND EMAILS, LETTERS TODAY
Following a plan developed by the
Center over a year ago, the U.S. Fish &
Wildlife Service is poised to
reintroduce endangered Mexican gray wolves
into the Gila Wilderness on the
Gila National Forest in southwest New
Mexico. The Gila's vast network of
remote, roadless country -- much of it
without livestock -- will provide a
safe haven for wolves which have been
shot,
threatened, and sued since
being reintroduced to the wild last year. The
livestock industry is pulling
out all the stops to pressure the feds into
abandoning the reintroduction
program. We need your help today to save
the Mexican gray
wolf:
CARPOOL TO THE HEARINGS
Public
hearings are being held in Reserve, NM (March 1st) and Silver
City, NM (March 2nd). Car pool rides are available from Phoenix,
Tucson, Flagstaff, Albuquerque, Socorro, and Las Cruces: Please
call
520.623.5252 x 303 to catch a ride or find out
more.
SEND EMAILS SUPPORTING WOLVES TODAY
This link will take you to our web page where you can easily
send
an email message to the Fish & Wildlife Service
supporting the
release of wolves into the Gila
Wilderness.
<http://www.sw-center.org/swcbd/activist/wolfaction2.htm>
SEND A LETTER: The deadline for written comments is
3-15-00
Mexican Wolf Recovery
Coordinator
U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service
P.O. Box
1306
Albuquerque, NM
87103
fax: 505.248.6922
Correction to earlier wolf post: the U.S. Fish &
Wildlife Service is
NOT trying to capture the Gavilan pack yearling which
escaped to
the Gila National Forest on his
own.
_____________________________________________________________
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