CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL
DIVERSITY
<www.biologicaldiversity.org>
10-02-00
#254
<<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><>><<>
§
IMPACT OF GRAZING ALONG MORE SW RIVERS TO BE REVIEWED-
MILLIONS OF ACRES MAY FOLLOW
§ BORDER PATROL HOLDS PUBLIC HEARINGS IN
AZ
§ NO BUD FOR YOU! LETTERS NEEDED TO STOP
BUDWEISER
CATTLE FROM POLLUTING WATER AND TRASHING
TROUT
STREAMS ON PUBLIC LANDS
IMPACT OF GRAZING
ALONG MORE SW RIVERS TO BE REVIEWED,
MILLIONS OF ACRES MAY FOLLOW
In
response to a lawsuit by the Center for Biological Diversity and
Forest
Guardians, and a critical habitat designation won by the Center, the
U.S.
Forest Service has agreed to re-assess the impact of livestock
grazing
on 17 allotments covering hundreds of thousands acres in the Gila
River
Basin eastern Arizona and western New Mexico. These
grazing
allotments had been exempted from an earlier review brought about
by
lawsuits by the two groups. Using a static formula, the Forest Service
had
concluded they were "not likely to adversely affect" threatened
and
endangered species even though they permitted cattle to
continue
grazing within already degraded loach minnow and spikedace
habitat.
Guardians and the Center challenged the determination in court,
while in
April, the Center won a designation of 898 miles of river as
critical habitat
for the two species. In the face of overwhelming evidence
that habitat for
the two imperiled fish (as will as the southwestern willow
flycatcher and
Mexican spotted owl) are being destroyed, the Forest Service
filed
papers with the court agreeing to submit the allotments to review by
the
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.
Cattle have be removed from over
300 miles of public streams in the Gila
River Basin since 1998 due to a
series of suits by the Center and Forest
Guardians. The suits were based on a
series of Endangered Species Act
petitions file by the Center to protect
imperiled aquatic and forest species
in the upper and middle Gila Watershed.
Beginning in 1989, the Center
has petitioned to list the Mexican spotted owl,
southwestern willow
flycatcher, loach minnow, spikedace, cactus ferruginous
pygmy owl,
Sonora tiger salamander, Huachuca water umbel, Bloomer's dock,
Canelo
Hills ladies' tresses, Gila chub, and Chiricahua leopard frog
as
endangered species.
The new review, which the Forest Service
promises to begin in
December should lead to further grazing reductions.
Seeing the writing
on the wall, the Forest Service has also indicated it will
assess the
impacts of livestock grazing on millions of acres of spotted owl
habitat
when the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service completes mapping out
"critical
habitat" for it. Earlier this year, the Center won a proposed
designation of
13.5 million acres of "critical habitat" for the Mexican
spotted owl on
National Forests in Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and Colorado.
When that
designation is complete, the Forest Service will have to assess
the
impacts of all livestock grazing on hundreds of additional
allotments
covering millions of acres.
The current suit is being
argued by Robert Wiygul, Susan Daggett, and
Jay Tuchton of Earth
Justice.
__________________
BORDER PATROL HOLDS PUBLIC HEARINGS IN AZ
The
Border Patrol will be conducting public hearings this week to address
the
environmental effects of its operations along the
Arizona/Sonora
border. Proposed activities include the addition of
hundreds of new
Border Patrol agents and vehicles, associated on and off-road
ground
patrols and low-level helicopter overflights, construction of border
walls
and fences, installation of high powered stadium style lights,
and
placement of high-tech surveillance cameras and sensors. Many
of
these activities may directly impact the many threatened and
endangered
species in the borderlands region, including Sonoran pronghorn,
jaguar,
Huachuca water umbel, Gila chub, masked bobwhite, lesser
long-nosed
bat, and Pima pineapple cactus. Additionally, protected
areas including
Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge, Organ Pipe Cactus
National
Monument, and the San Pedro National Riparian Conservation Area
are
threatened by increased Border Patrol presence.
Hearings will take
place, Tuesday, October 3 at the Maricopa Room of
the Tucson Convention
Center; October 4 in Nogales at the Days Inn,
884 N. Grand; October 5 at the
Sells administration building and
Tuesday, October 17 at the Yuma Civic and
Convention Center.
______________
NO BUD FOR
YOU! LETTERS NEEDED TO STOP BUDWEISER
CATTLE FROM POLLUTING WATER AND
TRASHING TROUT
STREAMS ON PUBLIC LANDS
The U.S. Forest Service is seeking
comments on a proposal to continue
cattle grazing on the South Fork Kern Wild
& Scenic River and within the
Golden Trout Wilderness. These public lands
are being grazed, at public
expense, by Anhueser-Busch (maker of Budweiser
beer) on the
Templeton and Whitney grazing allotments on the Inyo National
Forest.
The Kern River system in the southern Sierra Nevada has been
heavily
overgrazed for more than 150 years, denuding riparian habitat along
the
banks of the South Kern Wild & Scenic River. According to the
Forest
Service, livestock grazing has:
- Damaged 80
percent of the Kern Plateau with gully erosion.
- Reduced
habitat for the California golden trout, the mountain yellow-
legged frog,
and the little willow flycatcher.
- Degraded water quality with
sediment, increased water temperature,
and elevated bacteria and nutrient
levels.
- Increased conflicts with recreational visitors,
damaged trails, and
degraded scenic quality and the overall wilderness
experience.
Amazingly, the Forest Service has proposed to continue
grazing and the
flow of public subsidies to Anheuser-Busch, even though
elimination of
cattle is the best and cheapest way to improve water quality
and habitat
conditions.
Continued heavy grazing in these allotments
despite proposed
mitigation measures -- would violate the National Wild
& Scenic Rivers
Act, the Clean Water Act, and Forest Service regulations.
The South
Fork Kern was added by Congress in 1987 to the National Wild &
Scenic
Rivers System to protect its outstanding scenic, recreation,
fishery,
botanical, and geological values. These values include its
unique
population of golden trout, two sensitive plants (Ramshaw sand
verbena
and Alkali mariposa), extensive recreational opportunities, and
highly
scenic meadows all of which the Forest Service acknowledges will
be
adversely impacted by continued grazing.
Write a letter today.
Comments are due by November 1, 2000:
Luci McKee, Mt.
Whitney District Ranger
Inyo National Forest
P.O. Box 8, Lone Pine, CA 93545.
Urge Ms. McKee to adopt Alternative A
the no grazing alternative. This
is the only alternative that
guarantees protection for the South Fork Kern
Wild & Scenic River¹s
outstanding values and complies with the
Wilderness Act, Clean Water Act, and
Endangered Species Act. If you
have hiked, backpacked, or fished in
this area, be sure to include your
personal views on the impacts that grazing
may have had on your
wilderness experience.
For more information,
contact:
Steve Evans, Friends of the River
915 20th Street, Sacramento, CA 95814
(916) 442-3155
x221
sevans@friendsoftheriver.org
or: Noah Greenwald,
Center for Biological Diversity
P.O. Box 710,
Tucson, AZ 85702
(520) 623-5252
x308
ngreenwald@biologicaldiversity.org
_____________________________________________________________
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
</x-flowed>