From: Kieran Suckling
[ksuckling@biologicaldiversity.org]
Sent: Friday, October 20, 2000
5:49 PM
To: Recipient list suppressed
Subject: BIODIVERSITY
ACTIVIST
#257
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CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL
DIVERSITY
<www.biologicaldiversity.org>
10-20-00
#257
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§
SUIT CHALLENGES GRAZING ON 1.8 MILLION ACRES IN AZ & NM
§ 518,000
ACRES PROTECTED FOR GNATCATCHER & SHRIMP
§ SUIT FILED TO PROTECT
COLORADO RIVER CUTTHROAT TROUT
§ ENVIROS & NATIVE AMERICANS CHALLENGE
CELL TOWER ON
SACRED ARIZONA MOUNTAIN
§ WOLF KILLER GETS
FOUR MONTHS IN JAIL
§ SEND A FREE INTERNET FAX TO SAVE WETLANDS
AND
ENDANGERED SPECIES...UNIVERSITIES ARE FOR
EDUCATION,
NOT EXTINCTION
§ B.B. KING & LOS LOBOS TO
PLAY BENEFIT FOR CENTER THIS
SATURDAY
SUIT CHALLENGES
GRAZING ON 1.8 MILLION ACRES OF NATIONAL
FOREST IN ARIZONA AND NEW
MEXICO
On 10-20-00, the Center for Biological Diversity filed suit against
89
livestock grazing allotments on five national forests in the Gila
River
Basin in southern Arizona and New Mexico. Although nearly 900 miles
of
rivers running through these allotments has been designated as
“critical
habitat” for two threatened fish (the loach minnow and spikedace),
the
Forest Service has refused to review the impacts of livestock grazing
on
the streams. Livestock grazing is a primary cause of the decline of
both
species. Cattle eradicate the riparian trees which shade the
streams,
chew down the grasses which stabilize the soil, trample the
stream
banks, defecate in the water, and cause erosion to fill in fish
feeding and
spawning areas.
The Center has been in litigation since
1993 to designate critical habitat
for the loach minnow and spikedace, list
them as endangered species,
and protect their habitat from livestock,
logging, exotic species
introductions, water diversions, and stream bank
channelization. The
result has been designation of 900 miles of critical
habitat, reduced
logging in the headwaters of the Gila River, removal of
cattle from
hundreds of miles of public streams, a legal ruling against the
Central
Arizona Project, and a new lease on life for two of the Southwest’s
most
unique, and beautiful fish.
The Center is being represented by
Marty Bergoffen.
To see maps of grazing allotments and critical habitat
for the loach
minnow and spikedace:
<http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/swcbd/grazing/lmsd_suit.html>
______________
518,000 ACRES PROTECTED FOR GNATCATCHER FAIRY SHRIMP
On
10-17-00, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service designated 518,000
acres of
"critical habitat" of southern California coastal sage scrub and
vernal pool
wetlands for the endangered California gnatcatcher and San
Diego fairy
shrimp. The decision is likely to place sweeping limits on
developments which
would destroy open space and wetlands.
The San Diego fairy shrimp
designation came in response to a petition
and two lawsuits by the Center for
Biological Diversity. The California
gnatcatcher designation came in response
to a lawsuit by the Natural
Resources Defense Council, and listing petitions
submitted by NRDC
and Dave Hogan of the Center for Biological
Diversity.
In a move to mollify developers and the Marine Corps, the
Service
excluded roughly 327,000 acres previously identified as essential for
the
recovery of the two species. The exclusion of Marine Corps bases
Camp
Pendleton and Miramar was the result of a back room deal cut by
the
notorious anti-endangered species Service bureaucrat Michael
Spear.
To mollify developers and the powerful City of San Diego,
the
designation also arbitrarily excluded all habitat within the area covered
by
the San Diego Multiple Species Conservation Program. The
Service
justifies the exclusion by saying the program itself provides
sufficient
protection for the pools and endangered wetland species. In
1997,
however, the agency's own biologists concluded just the
opposite.
Indeed, they refused to certify the program for endangered
wetland
species protection.
For more information on the Center’s
Golden State Biodiversity Initiative:
<http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/swcbd/goldenstate/goldenstate.html>
______________
SUIT FILED TO PROTECT COLORADO RIVER CUTTHROAT TROUT
On
10-17-00, the Center for Biological Diversity, Biodiversity Associates,
the
Biodiversity Legal Foundation, Colorado Wild, and the Center for
Native
Ecosystems filed suit against the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to
list
the Colorado River cutthroat trout as an endangered species. The
Service has
refused to process a petition to list the trout under the
Endangered Species
Act even though it has declined throughout its
range do to logging, livestock
grazing, exotic species and incursion of
roads into roadless
areas.
One of the most spectacular of the West’s many cutthroat trout,
the
Colorado River cutthroat has a crimson belly and distinct black
spots
covering the tail, sides and back. It use to inhabit all cold-water
streams
of the Colorado River drainage, including portions of Wyoming,
Colorado,
Utah, and extreme northern New Mexico and Arizona. It has
been
reduced to less than five percent of its historic range. extinction.
The Center also petitioned and is litigating to list the Rio Grande
cutthroat
trout – the New Mexico state fish – as an endangered
species.
To see the Colorado River cutthroat trout petition:
<http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/swcbd/papers/CRCTintro.html>
________________
ENVIROS & NATIVE AMERICANS CHALLENGE CELL TOWERS ON
SACRED ARIZONA MOUNTAIN
On 10-19-00, the Center for Biological Diversity,
Sierra Club Grand
Canyon Chapter, and members of the Navajo, Hualapai, and
Hopi Indian
tribes appealed the Coconino National Forest's decision to allow
Cellular
One to construct a communication tower on the San
Francisco
Peaks. Called Dook'oo'osliid by the Navajos, the Peaks are of
cultural
and religious importance to at least 13 tribes in the Southwest,
and
activists are currently attempting to have the entire mountain
designated
as a "Traditional Cultural Property" under the National
Historic
Preservation Act.
Despite the importance of the Peaks to
Native Americans, the U.S.
Forest Service did not adequately consult with
tribal representatives or
accurately explain the visual impact which the
proposed tower would
have on the area. Additionally, the Forest Service
failed to address the
alarming levels of bird mortality which are caused by
communication
towers. It is estimated that in the U.S. alone, over 5
million birds a year,
most of them nocturnal migrants, die after colliding
with towers or
becoming disoriented by their lighting. The exponential
growth of the
cellular and digital communications industries has resulted
in
approximately 5,000 new towers being built each year, with the
number
expected to increase in the next decade. With over
77,000
communications towers already existing in the U.S. and industry
pushing
hard to build thousands more on federal land, it is imperative that
the
Forest Service and other agencies act now to address this
impending
crisis.
____________
WOLF KILLER
GETS FOUR MONTHS JAIL TIME
On 10-20-00, James Michael Rogers of Queen Creek,
Arizona was
sentenced to four months imprisonment, six months house arrest,
and
three years of supervised probation for shooting an endangered
Mexican
gray wolf. The wolf was killed on 10-18-98 near Nutrioso, AZ and
was
transported to NM in an attempt to cover up the killing.
In
addition to Rogers, who hails from a public lands ranching family, a
minor
was also apprehended in the killing. It is not known what happened
to
him.
______________
SEND A FREE, AUTOMATIC
INTERNET FAX TO SAVE WETLANDS
AND ENDANGERED SPECIES...UNIVERSITIES ARE
FOR
EDUCATION, NOT EXTINCTION
The University of California plans to build
an enormous new campus,
complete with a “supporting community,” new highways,
and massive
sprawl, in the largest remaining vernal pool complex in
California. The
site, located outside the city of Merced, was selected
in a poorly-publicized,
poorly conducted process which inexplicably rejected
less
environmentally sensitive areas. The proposed site is home to at
least
seven endangered species including the Conservancy Fairy Shrimp
(Branchinecta conservatio) and Vernal Pool Tadpole Shrimp (Lepidurus
packardi). The Center for Biological Diversity is working with a
coalition
to convince the university to relocate its proposed campus to a
less
environmentally destructive location.
Please use our
automated system to SEND A FAX to Governor Gray Davis
today. Ask him
to withdraw his support from the proposed U.S. Merced
site. JUST CLICK
HERE
<http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/protect_vernal_pools_fax>
Suggested
comments are pre-written in the send box, however we
strongly recommend that
you personalize the comments before sending.
For more information on this
project, the species that occur at the site,
and what you can do to help:
<http://www.vernalpools.org>
_____________________
B.B. KING & LOS LOBOS TO PLAY BENEFIT FOR
CENTER
B.B. King, Los Lobos, Merl Saunders and the Rainforest Band, and
Walt
Richardson will perform at the Sedona EcoFest 2000 in a benefit for
the
Center for Biological Diversity, Save Long Canyon, The
Nature
Conservancy, The Resource Center for Environmental Education,
and
The Humane Society of Sedona.
The EcoFest is on Saturday, October
21, 2000, in the Georgia Frontiere
Performing Arts Pavilion at The Sedona
Cultural Park, Sedona, AZ. In
addition to music, it will have educational
booths.
General Admission Lawn tickets are $40.00. Children five and
under
admitted free. To order tickets call (520) 203- 4TIX (4849) or (800)
780-
ARTS (2787) nationwide. For more information
<http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/swcbd/events/ecofest.html>
_____________________________________________________________
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