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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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