Subject: FW: BIODIVERSITY ALERT #229

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             CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY

           <www.sw-center.org>      3-11-00      #229
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§  TWO MEN CHARGED IN KILLING OF MEXICAN GRAY WOLF,
    MAY BE PART OF LOCAL RANCHING FAMILY

§  400,000 ACRES OF "CRITICAL HABITAT" PROPOSED TO
    PROTECT THE ENDANGERED ALAMEDA WHIPSNAKE

§  LANDMARK AGREEMENT TO PROTECT OVER 50
    ENDANGERED SPECIES ON CALIFORNIA NATIONAL FORESTS

§  CALIFORNIA FORESTRY DEPARTMENT SUED FOR ALLOWING
    ENDANGERED SALMON TO BE KILLED BY LOGGING

TWO MEN CHARGED IN KILLING OF MEXICAN GRAY WOLF, MAY
BE PART OF LOCAL RANCHING FAMILY
On 3-10-00, special agents with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service charged
two men from Eager, AZ with last year's shooting of an endangered Mexican
gray wolf on the Apache National Forest. James Michael Rogers, 21, and
an unnamed juvenile were charged with killing a female member of the
Hawk's Nest Pack near Nutrioso, AZ. Her body was driven across state
lines and dumped in Catron County, NM to conceal the location of the
shooting. Rogers appears to be a member of a ranching family with private
ranches and National Forest allotments in the Alpine-Nutrioso area on the
Arizona-New Mexico border.

If convicted of violations of the Endangered Species and Lacey acts,
Rogers and his accomplice could be fined up to $125,000 and sentenced
to a year in prison.
     _________________

400,000 ACRES OF "CRITICAL HABITAT" PROPOSED TO PROTECT
THE ENDANGERED ALAMEDA WHIPSNAKE
On 3-8-00, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service officially proposed to designate
and protect over 400,000 acres of "critical habitat" for the endangered
Alameda whipsnake. The whipsnake has declined dramatically due to
habitat loss and fragmentation in the East Bay Hills surrounding
San Francisco, CA. The designation includes areas within Contra Costa,
Alameda, San Joaquin, and Santa Clara Counties. It was proposed in
accordance with a legal settlement agreement between the Fish &
Wildlife Service, the Center for Biological Diversity, and Christians
Caring for Creation.

The Center's "Golden State Biodiversity Initiative" has produced over
100 species listings, critical habitat proposals, endangered species
status reviews, and habitat protection lawsuits since 1993.
     ____________________

LANDMARK AGREEMENT TO PROTECT OVER 50 ENDANGERED
SPECIES ON CALIFORNIA NATIONAL FORESTS
In a landmark settlement between the Center for Biological Diversity and
the U.S. Forest Service, over 50 endangered species will be protected by
sweeping changes to southern California's four national forests. Combined,
the Los Padres, Angeles, San Bernadino and Cleveland National Forests
contain 6.1 million acres stretching from just north of the Mexican border
to near Monterey, CA.

The Center sued the Forest Service on 6-18-98, charging that the agency
had systematically failed to protect a host of endangered species
including the California condor, bald eagle, California red-legged frog,
Steelhead trout, Arroyo toad, Southwestern willow flycatcher, California
gnatcatcher, Least Bell's vireo, San Bernadino Mountains bladderpod, Laguna
Mountains skipper, Smith's blue butterfly, Unarmored three-spined stickleback
and the California jewel-flower. According to the terms of the settlement, the
Forest Service mustamend all four forest plans to ensure the protection and
recovery of imperiled species by 2002. In the meantime, the agency must
immediate enact a long list of protective actions including:

  - Closing off nearly five square miles of forest, including a poorly planned
    campground and 17 miles of off-road vehicle trails upstream of Littlerock
    Reservoir on the Angels National Forest;

  - Removing livestock from all Peninsular bighorn sheep habitat on
    the Wellman grazing allotment on the San Bernadino National Forest;

  -  Removing livestock from Los Padres National Forest's Cone Peak
     Botanical Research Natural Area;

  - Removing cattle from dozens of miles of streams and riparian areas
    throughout the forests;

  - Closing and obliterating roads throughout the forests;

  - Banning Forest Service use of ethylocol-based antifreeze-this type of
    antifreeze is deadly to California condors, pets, and wildlife. The
    Forest Service must also conduct an education campaign urging the public
    to stop using lethal antifreeze and instead use one of the readily
available
    alternative brands;

  - Installation of anti-perching devices on all electronic communication sites
    within the current range of the California condor on the Angeles and Los
    Padres National Forests- this is to prevent sterilization of condors
and other
    birds;

  -  All new and re-permitted power transmission lines must be made bird-safe
     within five years. This requires adding grounding devices to stop bird
     electrocutions, a major cause of mortality to the California condor.

  -  The Los Padres National Forest must close approximately 10% of the
     campgrounds on the Forest to protect Arroyo toad and California
red-legged
     frog habitat.

  - The Los Padres National Forest must close access sites near the Sespe
    Wilderness and stop placer mining on Piru Creek to protect Arroyo toad
    and Steelhead trout.

  - Creation of an education campaign to inform hunters about the deadly
    impact of lead poisoning to California condors which feed on carcasses
    shot with lead bullets. The Forest Service must also promote alternatives
    to lead bullets.

The Center was represented by Jay Tutchton of Earthlaw (Denver) and
Brendan Cummings (Berkeley).
     _______________________

CALIFORNIA FORESTRY DEPARTMENT SUED FOR ALLOWING
ENDANGERED SALMON TO BE KILLED BY LOGGING
On 3-1-00, a coalition of nineteen fisheries, Native American and conservation
organizations led by the Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC)
and including the Center for Biological Diversity, filed a lawsuit in federal
district court charging the California Department of Forestry and the
California
Board of Forestry with illegally approving logging operations that kill
threatened
Coho salmon throughout the north and central coasts of California. Though
the Coho has been listed as a federally "threatened" species for several years,
the State of California has continued to implement the same logging practices
rules which led to its decline. The National Marine Fisheries Service, the
federal agency charged with restoring endangered salmon runs, has
determined that the current state rules, as well as proposed changes to them,
are inadequate to prevent the continued decline of Coho from Santa Cruz
to the Oregon border.

State officials have permitted logging operations on approximately 200,000
acres in dozens of coastal watersheds since California coho were first listed
under the ESA in 1996 and 1997.  Some watersheds have been almost
completely liquidated of forests - with full agency approval - in the space
of just a few years.

Joining EPIC in the suit are the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's
Associations, Northern California Association of River Guides, the Center
for Biological Diversity, Redwood Coast Watersheds Alliance, Native
American Coalition for Headwaters, Santa Cruz Biodiversity Project, Albion
River Watershed Protection Association, Friends of the Garcia River, Piercy
Watershed Association, Friends of Gilham Butte, Richard Gienger, Coast
Action Group, Coastside Habitat Coalition, Greenwood Watershed Association,
Guardians of Elk Creek Old Growth, Friends of Big River & Daugherty Creek,
Mendocino Environmental Center, Friends of the Garcia River and the Friends
of Enchanted Meadow. 

The coalition is represented by Dan Rohlf  of the Pacific Environmental
Advocacy Center (Portland), Brendan Cummings (Berkeley) and Sharon
Duggan (San Francisco).


_____________________________________________________________

ENDANGERED TOTEMS. All 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), Montana (Cutthroat trout), and Wyoming (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