Subject: FW: BIODIVERSITY ALERT #233


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              CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY

            <www.sw-center.org>      4-10-00      #233
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§  URBAN HAWKS ARE BEING NEEDLESSLY ELECTROCUTED-
     COME TO A PANEL DISCUSSION ON APRIL 11TH TO LEARN
     MORE AND HELP US MAKE A DIFFERENCE

§  PETITION FILED TO LIST CALIFORNIA SPOTTED OWL AS
     AN ENDANGERED SPECIES

§  SUIT FILED TO PROTECT HABITAT FOR SEVEN PACIFIC
     ISLANDS BIRDS AND MAMMALS

§  CALIFORNIA PRISON PLAN COULD JEOPARDIZE IMPERILED
     SPECIES

§  DISMANTLING OF NEW MEXICO DEPARTMENT OF GAME &
     FISH NON-GAME PROGRAM CONTINUES


URBAN HAWKS ARE BEING NEEDLESSLY ELECTROCUTED-
COME TO A PANEL DISCUSSION ON APRIL 11TH TO LEARN
MORE AND HELP US MAKE A DIFFERENCE
On Tuesday, April 11th, the Center for Biological Diversity will present
a panel discussion and short video about the needless and brutal
electrocution of Harris' hawks in and around Tucson. Entitled
"Shocked to Death: The Plight of the Urban Harris' Hawk", the
presentation will take place in the Lower Level Meeting Room of
Tucson's Downtown Public Library (101 N. Stone Ave.) from 7 to 9
pm. We are hoping to have a live Harris' hawk on hand.

Tucson and Phoenix are blessed with some the densest urban raptor
populations in North America. These graceful birds help to define our
community and remind us of all the Sonoran Desert's wildlife.
Unfortunately, large raptors such as Harris' hawk and Great horned
owls are frequently electrocuted as they perch on poorly designed and
inadequately protected utility poles. Since Harris' hawks roost
communally, an entire family can be electrocuted in one shot. Young
birds are most frequently killed because older, larger birds occupy
higher roosting positions, forcing the smaller birds to perch down
among the cable connections.

Under pressure from environmentalists, Tucson Electric Power has
taken some steps to insulate up to 4% of its poles, but has chosen
to use the cheapest system available, even though it is less than
effective. Between 1992 and 1995, 25% of all recorded bird
electrocutions took place on insulated poles. The electric utility has
refused to provide data from 1996-1999.

For more information, contact Turtle at 623.5252 x.303.
      ______________________

PETITION FILED TO LIST CALIFORNIA SPOTTED OWL AS
AN ENDANGERED SPECIES
On 4-4-00, the Center for Biological Diversity and the Sierra Nevada
Forest Protection Campaign led a large coalition of groups in the
filing of a formal petition to list the California spotted owl under the
U.S. Endangered Species Act. The California spotted owl is close
relative of the Northern and Mexican spotted owls. Though the latter
two are already listed as "threatened" species, the California spotted
owl is lacking federal protection. As a result, its old growth habitat
continues to be destroyed by logging and other activities on public
and private lands in the Sierra Nevada and the coastal mountains of
Southern California.

Demographic studies indicate the California spotted owl is declining
by 7-10% annually- a level that no species can sustain for very long
without becoming extinct. In 1989, the Center filed a successful
petition to list the Mexican spotted owl as a threatened species in
Arizona, New Mexico, northern Mexico, and southern Utah and
Colorado. The listing and hard work by activists across the region
have led to dramatic declines in public lands logging. Listing of the
California spotted owl should result in similarly increased protection
of old growth and mature forests in California.

Also joining in the petition are the Center for Sierra Nevada
Conservation, Natural Resources Defense Council, Defenders of
Wildlife, Wilderness Society, Sierra Club, Friends of the River, Forest
Issues Group, Plumas  Forest Project, Yahi Group of the Sierra Club,
Lassen Forest Preservation Group, John Muir Project, Yosemite Area
Audubon, American Lands Alliance and the Sequoia Forest Alliance
      _____________________

SUIT FILED TO PROTECT HABITAT FOR SEVEN PACIFIC ISLANDS
BIRDS AND MAMMALS
On 4-3-00, The Center for Biological Diversity and the Marianas Audubon
Society filed suit against the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service for failing to
protect the habitat of seven endangered species on Guam. The Mariana
crow, Guam rail, Guam Micronesian kingfisher, Guam broadbill, Guam
bridled white-eye, Mariana fruit bat, and little Mariana fruit bat were
listed as federally endangered species in1984. The Fish & Wildlife
Service, however, has refused to designate and protect "critical habitat"
for any of them.

While all seven species were once common throughout Guam, only two
(Mariana crow ("ĺga" in Chamoru) and Mariana fruit bat (fanihi)) still occur
naturally in the wild, but are restricted to a few distinct forested areas.
The Guam rail (ko'ko') and the Guam Micronesian kingfisher (sihek)
have only avoided extinction due to a captive breeding program. The rail
was recently been reintroduced to the northern part of Guam. All of the
species are threatened by habitat fragmentation and introduction of exotic
species, especially the brown tree snake.

The Pacific Islands are both a biodiversity and an extinction hot spot.
Scientists estimate that over 2,000 bird species -- 20% of all avian
species on Earth -- have been driven to extinction on the islands. About
800 species of flightless rails have perished. Eleven of Guam's twelve
native birds are extinct or federally endangered.

The suit is being argued by David Henkin of the Earthjustice
Legal Defense Fund (Honolulu).
      ____________________

CALIFORNIA PRISON PLAN ENDANGERS NATIVE MAMMALS
The California Department of Corrections (CDC) is planning to build a
new prison capable of holding 5,160 inmates on 480 acres near
Delano, CA.  Though its own figures show that the prison is not needed,
CDC is pushing to build the prison on the home of one of the few
remaining populations of the endangered Tipton kangaroo-rat. The
kangaroo rat has already be extirpated from 96% of its historic range.
The site is also foraging habitat for the endangered San Joaquin kit fox.
The Center has advised CDC to cancel the pork-barrel project rather
than jeopardize California's natural heritage. The agency must respond
to our objections and review the project's impact on endangered species
before proceeding. It wants to break ground by February 2001.
      ________________________

DISMANTLING OF NEW MEXICO DEPARTMENT OF GAME & FISH
NON-GAME PROGRAM CONTINUES
The New Mexico Game & Fish canceled its popular publication:
"PARTNERS, Conserving Endangered Species". The magazine
began in 1996 under direction of Dr. James Bailey, then Head of
State's Endangered Species Program. In 1997 it received national
recognition for quality when it won a Maggie Award. Ironically, Dr.
Bailey recently retired from the agency, and wrote an editorial for
Defenders of Wildlife lamenting that New Mexico's endangered
species laws are too weak, underfunded, and politically subverted
to provide adequate protection. One of the few virtues of the state
program, he wrote, is that it publicizes the plight of imperiled
species. Now even that effort is being gutted.

In November of last year, the Assistant Chief of the Conservation
Services Division also resigned. In a final memo to her colleagues,
Amy Fischer wrote:

   "I have had many rewarding experiences in my 15 years here and
    was gratified when my work benefited the State's wildlife.  I found,
    however, that I could no longer stand by as my agency consistently
    made political expedient or biologically unsound decisions to the
    detriment of wildlife conservation.  I hope you will continue fighting
    for natural resources, despite the difficulties inherent in this work
    and the barriers to effective management in many agencies."

25 of New Mexico's vertebrate species are extinct or extirpated from
the state. 117 are listed as threatened or endangered by New Mexico
Game and Fish.
_____________________________________________________________

ENDANGERED TOTEMS. Eleven of the twelve western states have adopted
imperiled species as 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, Montana and Wyoming (Cutthroat trout).

Kierán Suckling                           ksuckling@sw-center.org
                                                   520.623.5252 phone
Center for Biological Diversity        520.623.9797 fax
<http://www.sw-center.org>          POB 710, Tucson, AZ 85702-0710