Subject: FW: BIODIVERSITY ALERT #234

<<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><>><<>
              CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY

            <www.sw-center.org>      4-17-00      #234
<<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><>><<>

§ TWO UTAH CACTI PROPOSED FOR FEDERAL PROTECTION

§ 22 SCIENTISTS SUPPORT PROTECTION OF YELLOW-BILLED
   CUCKOO, ONRC FUND JOINS POTENTIAL LAWSUIT

§ REPORT: LIVESTOCK A MAJOR CAUSE OF WEED INVASIONS

§ INVITATION TO LECTURE ON THE CONNECTION BETWEEN
    LOSS OF BIOLOGICAL AND LINGUISTIC DIVERSITY


§ TWO UTAH CACTI PROPOSED FOR FEDERAL PROTECTION
In response to a 6-2-99 petition from the Center for Biological Diversity
and the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA), the U.S. Fish &
Wildlife Service (on 4-12-00) proposed to list Holmgren's milkvetch
(Astragulus holmgreniorum Barneby) and the Shivwit's milkvetch
(Astragulus ampullarioides Welsh) as federally endangered species.
Both species occur near St. George, UT and neighboring Mohave
County, AZ. They are threatened by the rapid development around St.
George, cattle grazing, and off-road vehicles.

Holmgren's milkvetch occurs in just three areas within a 7-10 mile
radius to the south, west and northeast of St. George. The majority
of its range is within Washington County, UT, but it also occurs in
Mohave County, AZ. Only 5,000 individual plants remain. Shivwits
milkvetch occurs in just 5 sites in Washington County, west and
northeast of St. George, and on and near the Shivwits Indian
Reservation. There are only about 2,000 individual plants left.

The Center's endangered species protection program has created a
web of protected species and ecosystems across the West: 119
species have been listed, and 4 have been proposed for threatened or
endangered status; over 2,000 miles of rivers and 730,000 acres of land
have been designated as critical habitat; and over 55 million acres of
land and 800 miles of river have been proposed as critical habitat.
Another 37 species and critical habitat designations are in litigation,
under court order, or awaiting petition findings.
      __________________________________

  22 SCIENTISTS SUPPORT PROTECTION OF YELLOW-BILLED
CUCKOO, ONRC FUND JOINS POTENTIAL LAWSUIT

In letter to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service dated 4-14-00, twenty-two
renowned ornithologists and conservation biologists supported the
listing of the Yellow-billed cuckoo as an endangered species
throughout North America. The cuckoo has declined to near extinction
west of the Continental Divide, now being extirpated or nearly so from
British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, California, Montana, Wyoming,
Utah, Idaho, and Colorado. In the West, it only occurs in significant
numbers in Arizona, New Mexico, and Sonora, Mexico. East of the
Continental Divide, the cuckoo is not as imperiled, but is declining
dramatically, in the past 18 years, its numbers have dropped by
45%.

The Yellow-billed cuckoo, or "rain crow" has plummeted toward
extinction as riparian forests and wetlands have disappeared across
North America. Dams, diversions, cattle grazing, roads and
excessive pumping have destroyed 90-95% of the riparian forests
which once blanket streams in California, Arizona, and New Mexico.
An international team of scientists recently concluded that the
cuckoo's last stronghold in the West, the San Pedro River, is
being pumped dry much faster than natural aquifer recharge can
make up for, dooming it to the same barren state that characterizes
rivers throughout the West.

Authors of the letter included renowned cuckoo researcher, Dr.
Stephen Laymon, Dr. Peter Raven of the Missouri Botanical
Gardens, Dr. John Terborgh of the Duke University Center for
Tropical Conservation, Dr. Reed Noss,  President of the Society
for Conservation Biology, Dr. David Dobkin of the High Desert
Ecological Research Institute, Janice Hughes of the Royal
Ontario Museum, Dr. Thomas Smith of the San Francisco State
University Center for Tropical Research, Dr. Peter Stacey of the
University of New Mexico, and Dr. Robert Ohmart of Arizona
State University.

The full letter can be viewed at
<http://www.sw-center.org/swcbd/activist/cuckoolet.html>.

ONRC Fund has decided to join a potential lawsuit to ensure the
cuckoo is listed as an endangered species throughout its range
in North America. The Oregon Natural Resources Council (ONRC)
was a co-petitioner with the Center and others to list the cuckoo
as endangered. Though the U.S. Fish & wildlife Service is
considering a listing in the western U.S. it has refused to consider
listing throughout the species' range.
      _____________________________

REPORT: LIVESTOCK A MAJOR CAUSE OF WEED INVASIONS
The Oregon Natural Desert Association has released a new report
demonstrating that cattle and sheep grazing is one of the major causes
of rapidly exploding populations of introduced weedy species throughout
grasslands, shrublands, and woodlands west of the Rocky Mountains.
The report, "Livestock Grazing and Weed Invasions in the Arid West",
was written by ONDA staff ecologist and grassland expert Joy Belsky,
Ph.D., and Jon Gelbard, a graduate student at the University of California
at Davis.

The spread of nonindigenous plant species, also referred to as alien,
introduced, and exotic weeds, throughout arid and semi-arid regions of the
West is one of the greatest threats facing the region's native species and
ecosystems. Weeds outcompete native species, reduce biodiversity,
increase fire frequency, increase soil erosion, and degrade wildlife habitat.
Long-term monitoring suggests that these weed-dominated plant
communities may never recover.

Important alien weed species in the West are cheatgrass, medusahead,
yellow starthistle, and leafy spurge. With continued grazing, these weeds
form monocultures that are biological deserts.

A copy of the report is available at www.onda.org or 503-228-9720.
      ______________________

INVITATION TO LECTURE ON THE CONNECTION BETWEEN
LOSS OF BIOLOGICAL AND LINGUISTIC DIVERSITY
Kieran Suckling of the Center for Biological Diversity will give a
lecture entitled "Apocalypse Now: On the Biological and Linguistic
Diversity Crisis" at North Texas University, Denton, TX on Monday,
May 1, 2000 at 4pm.

An abstract of the lecture is available at:
<http://www.phil.unt.edu/talks/suckling.htm >
_____________________________________________________________

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
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

</x-flowed>