Subject: FW: BIODIVERSITY ACTIVIST #249

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              CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY

            <www.biologicaldiversity.org>      9-6-00      #249
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§ SUIT SEEKS LOGGING BAN ON ELEVEN NATIONAL FORESTS TO
    PROTECT GOSHAWKS
§ SAN DIEGO SPRAWL PLAN STRUCK DOWN BY SINGING JUDGE
§ CRITICAL HABITAT TO BE DESIGNATED IN CA, ID, AND MT FOR
    ENDANGERED FISH, FLOWERS, AND BUTTERFLY
§ NINE TEXAS SPIDERS, BEETLES AND BUGS TO BE PROTECTED
§ CALLS, LETTERS, EMAILS NEEDED TODAY TO STOP PREDATOR
     HUNTING CONTESTS IN ARIZONA

SUIT FILED TO PROTECT SW GOSHAWKS- SEEKS LOGGING BAN
ON ELEVEN NATIONAL FORESTS
On 9-5-00, the Center for Biological Diversity and the Grand Canyon
Chapter of the Sierra Club filed suit against the U.S. Forest Service to
stop all logging on the eleven Arizona/New Mexico national forests until a
new goshawk management plan is devised that will adequately protect
mature and old growth forests. Over the objection of the U.S. Fish &
Wildlife Service, the Department of Interior, the Arizona Game and Fish
Department, the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, and
scientists from within the Forest Service and academia, the Forest
Service adopted a management plan in 1996 which allows extensive
logging within goshawk home ranges and encourages forest
fragmentation. The suit seeks to strike down the plan and halt logging
until a scientifically credible plan is devised.

On other fronts, the Center is currently litigating to protect the Queen
Charlotte goshawk as an endangered species in the Pacific Northwest
(Southeast Alaska, insular British Columbia, and western Oregon and
Washington) and the Northern Goshawk in every western state from
Washington to New Mexico. In the Sierra Nevada, it joined a coalition
appealing the Quincy Library timber project and is commenting on a
regional plan to conserve habitat for goshawks, spotted owls and
mammalian predators.

The Center's goshawk webpage has photographs, a copy of the current
lawsuit, excerpts from state and federal agencies and scientists opposed
to the Forest Service plan, a review of the impact of logging on
goshawks, and an early version of the Forest Service plan before it was
modified by timber industry pressure to allow more logging.
http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/swcbd/species/goshawk/goshawk.html

The suit is being argued by Mike Lozeau and Deborah Sivas of
Earthjustice (Palo Alto).
      ______________

SAN DIEGO SPRAWL PLAN STRUCK DOWN BY SINGING JUDGE
Quoting a Joni Mitchell lyric -- "You don't know what you've got 'til it's
gone" -- a California state judge has rejected a San Diego County zoning
plan for development of nearly 200,000 acres of backcountry oak,
grasslands and chaparral. Eight environmental groups led by the San Diego-
based Save our Forests and Ranchlands and including the Center
had teamed up in the suit, arguing that a recent San Diego County
zoning decision would 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 court
battle in support of the conservationists.

San Diego County must now go back to the drawing board in yet another
effort to consider the effects of its rezoning plan. An injunction against
rezoning for increased development density remains in place pending a
new analysis by San Diego County.
      ----------------------

HABITAT TO BE DESIGNATED IN CA, ID, MT FOR ENDANGERED
FISH, FLOWERS, AND BUTTERFLY
Tens of thousands of acres of California's central coast, and hundreds of
miles of the Kootenai River in Montana and Idaho will be soon protected
as official "critical habitat" for four endangered species. In response to a
lawsuit by the Center for Biological Diversity, a federal judge has ordered
the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to map out and protect critical habitat for
the Bay Checkerspot Butterfly, Monterey Spineflower, Robust
spineflower, and the Kootenai River White Sturgeon by the end of
December.

Rejecting a federal plea to allow another two years of delays, Judge
Samuel Conti pointed out that the species are extremely imperiled and
that the loss of biological diversity also affects humans who depend on
the natural world for medicines. The cure for cancer he wrote, may be
"locked up in the structures of plants which may yet be undiscovered.''
He also rejected budgetary arguments stating that ""the solution of being
over-obligated and under-funded rests with Congress, and not with the
court." The Clinton Administration routinely asked for inadequate funds
from Congress then uses its lack of funds as an excuse for not protecting
endangered species.

The Bay Checkerspot Butterfly was listed as an endangered species in
1987. It lives in grasslands on the San Francisco Peninsula and the outer
Coast Range. The Monterey Spineflower was listed as endangered in
1994. It and the Robust Spineflower are found in scattered locations
along the coast of southern Santa Cruz and northern Monterey counties.
The Kootenai River White Sturgeon was listed as endangered in 1994. It
has been declining since the construction of Libby Dam and now only
occurs along 168 miles of river in Idaho, Montana and British Columbia.
      ____________

NINE TEXAS SPIDERS, BEETLES AND BUGS TO BE PROTECTED
In response to a formal notice-of-intent-to-sue from the Center for
Biological Diversity, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has agreed to make
a decision on whether to list nine Texas invertebrates as endangered
species by October 18, 2000. The nine species:

   Rhadine exilis (no common name)
   Rhadine infernalis (no common name),
   Batrisodes venyivi (Helotes mold beetle),
   Texella cokendolpheri (Robber Baron Cave harvestman)
   Cicurina baronia (Robber Baron cave spider),
   Cicurina madla (Madla's cave spider),
   Cicurina venii (no common name),
   Cicurina vespera (vesper cave spider),
   Neoleptoneta microps (Government Canyon cave spider)

inhabit karst features (limestone formations containing caves, sinks, and
fissures) near San Antonio, Texas. They are threatened by suburban
sprawl including paving and filling of caves, loss of permeable cover, and
contamination from septic effluent, sewer leaks, runoff, and pesticides.
Exotic fire ants which follow close on the heals of development are also a
major threat.

The Fish and Wildlife Service was six years late on making the listing
decision before being threatened with a lawsuit. During those years many
populations were lost to development and contamination.
      _____________

CALLS, LETTERS, EMAILS NEEDED TODAY TO STOP PREDATOR
HUNTING CONTESTS IN ARIZONA
In 1998 Arizonans were subjected to the prospect of a predator killing
contest. Under the rules, contestants were awarded points for killing as
many coyotes, foxes, bobcats and lions as possible. Extra points were
given for killing females. The person with the most points was to be
awarded $10,000. Debate about the hunt raged for nearly two years
before the Arizona Game and Fish Commission voted to ban future
hunting contests. Over 90% of the 14,000 comment letters received by
the state supported the ban, including a large percentage of traditional
hunters.

The Commission's decision, however, was overturned by the Governor's
Regulatory Review Council because of its potential economic impact to
the local communities and concern that the decision was based on
"ethical" principles. A final decision regarding the ban will made by the
Review Council on 9-12-00. Please call, write and email the Council
today supporting a ban on barbaric hunting contests. All comments must
be received by 9-12-00.

    Tim Boncoskey, Chair
    Governor's Regulatory Review Council
    1400 W Washington, Suite 270    Phoenix, AZ 85007
    Fax 602-542-1486
    Email  jeanne.hann@ad.state.az.us
_____________________________________________________________

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@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

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