Subject: FW: BIODIVERSITY ALERT #235


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              CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY

            <www.sw-center.org>      4-27-00      #235
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§ 900 MILES OF RIVER PROTECTED FOR ENDANGERED FISH

§ NAVAJO COMMUNITIES, ENVIRONMENTALISTS OPPOSE LOGGING
    INCREASE ON NAVAJO NATION- EMAILS NEEDED TODAY

§ EMAILS NEEDED TO STOP HUGE ARIZONA TIMBER SALE-
   CLICK ON LINK TO SEND A MESSAGE TO THE FOREST SERVICE

§ SUIT TO PROTECT SEA OTTERS FROM CALIFORNIA GILLNETTING

§ ENVIROS, SCIENTISTS CALL FOR RESTORATION OF DESTROYED
    WETLANDS, JAIL TIME FOR SPECIES KILLING DEVELOPER

§ JOB AVAILABLE: FULL-TIME SOUTHWEST GRAZING ACTIVIST


900 RIVER MILES PROTECTED FOR ENDANGERED FISH
In response to a lawsuit by the Center for Biological Diversity, the U.S.
Fish & Wildlife Service has designated 900 river miles of critical habitat
for two threatened fish: the Loach minnow and Spikedace. The agency's
decision caps seven years of court battles for these species, starting with
the Center's very first lawsuit in 1993.

Both fish are endemic to the Gila River Basin and have declined by 85%
due to dams, overgrazing, logging, water diversions and introduction of
exotic game fish. They have continued to decline since being listed as
threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. In response to a
petition from the Center, both fish are scheduled to be upgraded to
"endangered" status.

The designation includes large portions of the Verde and Black River
complexes, the middle and upper Gila Rivers, the San Pedro River,
Aravaipa Creek, Eagle Creek, the Blue River, and the San Francisco
River.
      _________________________

NAVAJO COMMUNITIES, ENVIRONMENTALISTS OPPOSE LOGGING
INCREASE ON NAVAJO NATION- EMAILS NEEDED TODAY
The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and the Navajo Nation Forestry
Department have released the Final Environmental Impact Statement
on the proposed 10-year Forest Management Plan for the Navajo
Nation in northern Arizona and New Mexico. The plan calls for the
logging of 31% of the Nation's quarter million acre commercial timber
harvest base over the next 10 years. At this rate, all of the Navajo
Nation's timber base will be liquidated in 30 years. An additional
74,735 acres of wildlife areas will be protected from logging during the
next ten years.

Despite the fact that very little logging has occurred on the Navajo
Nation in the past seven years, the "no action" alternative has been
construed by the BIA and Forestry Department to mean the logging
of 80,000 acres per decade. Logging within the Navajo Nation has
declined because of the organizing, education, and litigation efforts of
Dine' Citizens Against Ruining Our Environment (Dine' CARE). In their
comments on the Draft EIS, the group stated

     "This is not a Navajo DEIS and the preferred alternative is not a truly
     Navajo FMP. This is a DEIS based upon industrial logging from start
     to finish...The BIA and the Forestry Department did not enter into a
     dialogue with the affected communities, the people who live on the
     mountain...The 'virtual' forest created by the consultants is not the
     forest on the Chuska Mountains and Defiance Plateau.  There is no
     mention anywhere in the DEIS or FMP of the fact that the entire
     80,000 to 90,000 acres that are proposed to be cut under the
     preferred alternative are on the Navajo male deity. There is no
     mention of the impacts the years of overcutting have had on this
     sacred cultural landscape. Instead, the DEIS and FMP continue in the
     tradition of NFPI and previous forest 'managers' by looking at the
forests
     on the Chuska mountains and Defiance Plateau as so many "crops"
     to be harvested, as so many board feet to be maximized."

The Center has also opposed the logging ramp up, demonstrating that
it will harm goshawks, spotted owls, and the endemic Chuska
Mountains tassel-eared squirrel. Please email the Bureau of Indian Affairs
and respectfully ask them to honor the Chuska Mountains, its wildlife,
the people that live there, and the wishes of Dine' CARE.  Ask them to
rescind the FEIS and develop an alternative which truly restores the
Navajo Forest and allows no commercial logging. The Forestry
Department can be reached at HaroldRussell@bia.gov.
      __________________

EMAILS NEEDED TO STOP HUGE ARIZONA TIMBER SALE-
CLICK ON LINK TO SEND A MESSAGE TO THE FOREST SERVICE
Arizona's Tonto National Forest is currently accepting comments on the
Chamberlain timber sale. Offered to "improve forest health" and reduce fire
danger, Chamberlain would log over 6 million board feet of trees on
approximately 6,000 acres. The sale would include extensive logging of mature
and old-growth trees, despite the fact that between 85-98% of the Southwest's
ancient forests have already been destroyed and the logging of large trees
does nothing to improve forest conditions or lower the risk of fire. The
sale would
negatively impact the 16 Mexican spotted owl territories within the sale
area in
addition to several perennial streams containing rare native fish species such
as the Sonora and desert suckers, and the longfin dace.

Comments are due May 1.  Click on the link below, it will take you to a
website were you can easily send an automated letter, or one of you own
making.

http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/swcbd/activist/Chamberlain.html
      ______________________

SUIT TO PROTECT SEA OTTERS FROM CALIFORNIA GILLNETTING
The Center for Biological Diversity and The Turtle Island Restoration
Network have filed a formal notice of intent to sue the California
Fish and Game Department for allowing the killing of California sea
otters in Monterey Bay. The Department regulates the commercial
halibut fishery, but has not demanded an end to the bycatch killing
of sea otters. The California sea otter, listed as a federally "threatened "
species, has dramatically declined over the past four years. Drowning in
gillnets is one of the likely causes of the decline. The halibut fishery,
which is located within the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary,
also kills numerous harbor porpoises, elephant seals, California sea lions
and common Murres.
      _____________________

ENVIROS, SCIENTISTS CALL FOR RESTORATION OF DESTROYED
WETLANDS, JAIL TIME FOR SPECIES KILLING DEVELOPER
Fourteen conservation groups led by the Center have sent a letter to
state and federal resource agencies calling for restoration and mitigation
from a San Diego development company which knowingly bulldozed
wetlands occupied by endangered species. The company had mistakenly
been granted a grading permit by the City of San Diego, but had failed to
secure other wetland destruction and species kill permits. The
groups called for jail time for the company's owner who is also the
mayor of a City just north of San Diego. The conservationist's letter was
echoed by a letter from 54 scientists calling for similar measures.

Two of the agencies, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and California
Department of Fish and Game, have sent a letter to the City of San Diego
threatening to revoke the City-wide endangered species kill permit (a.k.a.
Multiple Species Conservation Plan) due to the City's negligence in
granting the grading permit.
      _______________________

JOB AVAILABLE: FULL-TIME SOUTHWEST GRAZING ACTIVIST
The Center for Biological Diversity seeks full-time grazing activist.
Must be energetic, self-motivated, experienced with legal and biological
aspects of livestock grazing on public lands- preferably Southwestern
forests, deserts, and riparian areas. Excellent analytic, communication,
written and computer skills a must. Ideal candidate has proven track record,
biological and/or legal background, is comfortable with controversy, wants to
spearhead aggressive reform of public lands management. Position is based
in Tucson, AZ and will focus on livestock grazing in Arizona and New Mexico.
Pay competitive, commensurate with experience.

Send resume, two writing samples, and three letters of reference to
Scott Black, Center for Biological Diversity, P.O. Box 710, Tucson,
AZ 85702.
_____________________________________________________________

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
<www.biologicaldiversity.org>        POB 710, Tucson, AZ 85702-0710

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