Subject: FW: BIODIVERSITY ACTIVIST #241

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

            <www.sw-center.org>      6-28-00      #241
<<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><>><<>

§ THREATENED SUIT OVER ENDANGERED SPECIES CAUSES
    CANCELATION OF MASSIVE L.A. DEVELOPMENT PERMIT

§ VENTANA WILDERNESS DEFENDED AGAINST UNNECESSARY
    ROAD

§ SUIT FILED TO PROTECT HABITAT FOR  TOPEKA SHINER
    AND PREBLE'S MEADOW JUMPING MOUSE

§ CENTER, STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL JOIN BATTLE TO
    SAVE SAN DIEGO WILDLANDS FROM DEVELOPERS

§ SANTA CRUZ COUNTY SUPPORTS LAWSUIT CHALLENGING
    PRIVATE LAND LOGGING IN CALIFORNIA.

§ LETTERS NEEDED TO OPPOSE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
    TOLL ROAD

THREATENED SUIT OVER ENDANGERED SPECIES CAUSES
CANCELATION OF MASSIVE L.A. DEVELOPMENT PERMIT
In response to a formal notice of intent to sue by the Center for Biological
Diversity and SCOPE (Santa Clarita Organization for Planning the
Environment), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has withdrawn a permit
approving the construction of 3,000 homes and a golf course on 1,795
acres in the Santa Clarita Valley of Los Angeles County. The
development is planned along San Francisquito Creek, a tributary of the
Santa Clara River 30 miles north of Los Angeles, adjacent to the Angeles
National Forest. The Army Corps issued the permit for the Tesoro Del
Valle development without review by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service even
though it would harm numerous endangered species including the Slender
horned-spineflower, Arroyo southwestern toad, Least Bell's vireo,
Southwestern willow flycatcher, and the California red legged frog. Most
imperiled by the development is the unarmored threespine stickleback
(a fish) which could be driven to extinction.

The Santa Clara River system is the last remaining semi-intact river
system in the concrete-and-shopping-mall dominated greater Los
Angeles area. Developers plan to wipe out this last vestige of open
space with nearly 100,000 development units approved in the last
10 years. Tens of thousands more are in the planning process. The
Army Corps will reissue a permit for Tesoro Del Valle, but only after
review by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. That review will hopefully
drastically reduce the scale and impact of the development.

The Center and SCOPE have launched a aggressive campaign to
save the Santa Clara River valley from greed and needless destruction.
We are represented in this round by attorney Babak Naficy (Los
Angeles).
      ____________________

VENTANA WILDERNESS DEFENDED AGAINST UNNECESSARY ROAD
The Center for Biological Diversity and the Ventana Wilderness Alliance
filed suit on 6-9-00 to prevent the U.S. Forest Service from re-opening
the Indians-Arroyo Seco Road. The controversial 18-mile stretch of dirt
roadway, located in southern Monterey County, has been closed since
two massive landslides hit it in 1995. The unnecessary road bisects the
Ventana Wilderness and runs immediately east of the Arroyo Seco River,
the only undammed major tributary of the Salinas River watershed. The
river is a candidate for protection under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act and
may support the only remnant of the historic Salinas River Steelhead trout.
It is also home to the federally protected California red-legged frog.

The ill situated Indians-Arroyo Seco Road has been hit by numerous
costly landslides and washouts in the past few decades. An economic
drain and an environmental and human health hazard, it should be
permanently closed and revegetated, not re-opened. The Forest Service,
however, planned to reopen it with just a cursory environmental review,
indeed they "categorically excluded" it from a full analysis.
      ___________________

SUIT FILED TO PROTECT HABITAT FOR  TOPEKA SHINER AND
PREBLE'S MEADOW JUMPING MOUSE
A coalition of groups including the Center for Biological Diversity, the
Biodiversity Legal Foundation, Biodiversity Associates and the South
Dakota Resources Coalition filed suit on 6-9-00 against the U.S. Fish
& Wildlife Service for refusing to map out and protect "critical habitat"
for the endangered Topeka shiner and the Preble's meadow jumping
mouse.

The Topeka shiner, a small fish currently found in small tributary streams
in Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, and South Dakota, was listed as
an endangered species on 1-14-99. Once abundant throughout the
Central Great Plains and western tallgrass prairies, the Topeka shiner is
now found in less than ten percent of its original range. It requires low
volume water flow creeks and rivers. Dewatering, impoundments, and
channelization continue to destroy its habitat.

Historically, the Preble's meadow jumping mouse lived along the front
range of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado and Wyoming in heavily
vegetated riparian areas. Today it is found in only seven Colorado and
two Wyoming counties. Much of its former habitat has been fragmented,
degraded, and destroyed by commercial, agricultural, and residential
development. Habitat loss is accelerating as front range cities and towns
expand. Preble's meadow mouse was listed as an endangered species
on 5-3-98.

The case is being argued by Neil Levine and Jay Tutchton of the
Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund (Denver).
      _____________________

CENTER, STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL JOIN BATTLE TO SAVE
SAN DIEGO WILDLANDS FROM DEVELOPERS
The Center has teamed up with Save our Forests and Ranchlands
to protect nearly 200,000 acres of oak and pine forests, grasslands and
chaparral from the bulldozer's blade. Along with eight environmental
groups, submitted a "friend of the court brief" arguing that a recent San
Diego County zoning decision will allow massive clearing of native
habitats without adequately consider the environmental impacts as
required by state law.

In a surprise move, the California Attorney General also joined the battle
with a brief of its own in support of the conservationists. According to the
AG, "The [environmental review documents] fail to provide even the most
minimal information about the specific impacts of [the County's decision]
on sensitive wildlife species." The AG emphasized the statewide
importance of the case, noting that "the potential clearing and grading of
vast amounts of natural habitat in San Diego County . . . will impair or
destroy the state's biological resources, damaging habitats utilized by
numerous sensitive plant and animal species." The adverse "precedents
set by the inadequate environmental review conducted for the proposed
project," the AG added, "could have enormous impact on the protection of
natural habitats."
      ________________________

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY SUPPORTS LAWSUIT CHALLENGING
PRIVATE LAND LOGGING IN CALIFORNIA.
On 5-27-00, Santa Cruz County filed a "friend of the court" brief supporting
a lawsuit brought by the Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC),
the Center for Biological Diversity, Native American, fishing, and
environmental groups to stop the killing of endangered coho salmon on private
timber lands in northern and central California. The suit, originally filed on
3-1-00, is the largest legal challenge ever filed in the U.S. against logging
on private timberlands. It seeks to enjoin all logging on private lands in
watersheds where coho salmon currently exists in northern and central
California until the California Department of Forestry changes it regulatory
policies to protect endangered species.

Coho salmon have declined in northern California by 96% and by 99% in
central California. Over the past several years, Santa Cruz County has
attempted to enact local rules which would protect salmon and streamside
habitats, but has been consistently overruled by the California Department
of Forestry which is dominated by the massive state timber industry.

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

LETTERS NEEDED TO OPPOSE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
TOLL ROAD
Governor Gray Davis is considering a budget line item to fund the
125-Tollroad proposed for southern San Diego County. Your letters
could convince the Governor to veto funding for unneeded habitat-
destroying tollroad. Davis will sign the budget soon, so please send a
letter today!

   Governor Gray Davis, State Capital Building
   Sacramento, CA 95814
   Ph. (916) 445-2841 Fax (916) 445-4633

Sample letter:

   RE: SB 406 (AB 2928) Traffic Plan - Line Item Veto Chula Vista
         Tollway  -$8.9 m (Item 155)

   Dear Governor Davis:
        I am writing to urge you to veto the $8.9 million Chula Vista 10-mile toll
   road line item. This request for funding was tacked on to the budget very
   recently. The approval of this last minute request in Sacramento would show
   a disturbing disregard for the residents and organizations who have
   dedicated years working on this issue in the affected region.
        The Chula Vista tollway is a sprawl inducing blue-print for poor planning
   in San Diego. The Environmental Protection Agency, independent scientists,
   and environmental organizations have been raising serious concerns about
   this project for years. Like other tollways in southern California, it is
   hugely controversial.
        The tollway has generated a large amount of attention in San Diego, and
   many living in the region oppose it. A coalition of leading environmental
   groups including the Sierra Club, San Diego Audubon Society, the Center for
   Biological Diversity, Preserve South Bay and Preserve Wild Santee, have
   united in an effort to challenge the tollway in federal court.
        Please veto the tollway funding (Item 155) and use these funds in favor of
   publicly supported transportation projects that will reduce congestion
   rather than create it.
_____________________________________________________________

PLEASE NOTE NEW EMAIL ADDRESS: ksuckling@biologicaldiversity.org

Kierán Suckling                           ksuckling@biologicaldiversity.org
Science and Policy Director          520.623.5252 phone
Center for Biological Diversity        520.623.9797 fax
<www.biologicaldiversity.org>        POB 710, Tucson, AZ 85702-0710

</x-flowed>