From: Kieran Suckling [ksuckling@biologicaldiversity.org]
Sent: Tuesday, November 14, 2000 5:22 PM
To: Recipient list suppressed
Subject: BIODIVERSITY ACTIVIST #259
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             CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY

           <www.biologicaldiversity.org>      11-14-00      #259
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§ CUCKOO PROTECTION DECISION ORDERED BY COURTS

§ REVIEW OF CENTRAL ARIZONA PROJECT ORDERED TO
   PROTECT IMPERILED FISH

§ ORV CLOSURE DOUBLES WILDERNESS PROTECTION FOR
   ALGODONES DUNES

§ PLAN TO LIMIT WATER FLOWS TO COLORADO RIVER DELTA
   OPPOSED

CUCKOO PROTECTION DECISION ORDERED BY COURTS
A federal judge has ordered the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to make a
decision on whether to propose federal listing of the western yellow-billed
cuckoo as an endangered species by 7-1-01. The cuckoo has declined
dramatically as western riparian areas have been destroyed by dams,
water diversions, logging, cattle grazing, road construction and sprawl. It
is now essentially extinct in AK, BC, WA, and OR. A few small, isolated
populations remain in CA, AZ, NM, and Sonora. Individual birds are
occasionally still seen in NV, UT, ID, WY, MT, and western CO.

Though the Fish & Wildlife Service admits that cuckoos have decline
precipitously west of the Continental Divide, and possesses genetic
studies showing that the western population diverged from the eastern
population between 410,000 and 460,000 years ago, it has delayed
protecting it. The Service alternately claims that western cuckoos may
not constitute a biological population and that the extinction of cuckoos
from all states and provinces west of the Continental Divide is “not
significant.”

Still at issue in the suit is the status of the cuckoo in the eastern U.S.,
Canada, and Mexico. It has also declined there, but not to the same level
as in the West. In addition to the western subspecies, the species as a
whole should be listed to stem eastern declines before they reach critical
levels.

Joining the Center in suit were the Huachuca Audubon Society, Maricopa
Audubon Society, ONRC (Oregon Natural Resources Council), Wetlands
Action Network, Wildlife Damage Review, San Pedro 100, Southern Utah
Wilderness Alliance, Friends of the River, Sky Island Alliance, Oregon
Natural Desert Association, and Klamath Siskiyou Wildlands Center. The
case was argued by Neil Levine of Earthjustice and Stephanie Parent of
the Pacific Environmental Advocacy Center.

The Center's cuckoo web page has links, photos, bird songs, letters by
scientists, legal documents, and a more detailed explanation of cuckoo
conservation issues
http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/swcbd/species/cuckoo/cuckoo1.html
     _______________________________

REVIEW OF CENTRAL ARIZONA PROJECT ORDERED TO PROTECT
IMPERILED FISH
In response to a suit by the Center for Biological Diversity, a federal
judge has ordered the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to revisit its decision
supporting extension of Central Arizona Project canals into the Gila and
San Pedro River system. The Project diverts heavily polluted Colorado
River water 400 miles across the state, and would allow exotic species to
invade the Gila and San Pedro systems, including Aravaipa Creek which
supports the state’s healthiest native fishery.

The courts ruled that the Bureau of Reclamation had repeatedly failed to
implement mandatory mitigation measures and that the U.S. Fish &
Wildlife Service repeatedly watered down the mitigation even though it
previously found that the loach minnow, spikedace, and razorback sucker
would become extinct if the mitigation measures were not completed.
     _______________________

ORV CLOSURE DOUBLES WILDERNESS PROTECTION FOR
ALGODONES DUNES
48,000 acres of the Algodones Dunes in Southern California were placed
off limits to off-road vehicles last month as part of a legal settlement won
by the Center, the Sierra Club, and Public Employees for Environmental
Responsibility. The settlement sought to protect the endangered
Peirson’s milkvetch and other species from being run over and eroded
away while the BLM develops a long-term plan to ensure that wildlife and
plants are protected on the 10.5 million acre California Desert
Conservation Area.

Following another round of negotiations, the Algodones Dunes exclosure
was increased to 49,130 acres on 10-20-00. Combined with the 32,240
acre North Algodones Dunes Wilderness, a total of 81,550 acres or 54%
of the dunes are now protected from ORV damage.

For more information on the suit, the Algodones Dunes, and rare desert
creatures:
<http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/swcbd/goldenstate/algodones.html>
     _________________________

PLAN TO LIMIT WATER FLOWS TO COLORADO RIVER DELTA
OPPOSED
Six conservation groups led by Southwest Rivers and including the
Center have sent a letter to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation opposing its
proposed declaration of “surplus” conditions in the Colorado River basin
for the year 2001.  The proposed surplus determination comes in
response to California demands for far more water than its legal
allocation instead of being more logically based on the condition of
watershed runoff. Dry conditions have lowered reservoir water levels,
thereby increasing the risk of shortages and harm to the river’s fragile
delta if dry conditions continue into 2001.

The groups are concerned with Reclamation’s decision because a
declared surplus will reduce the amount of water reaching the river’s
imperiled delta ecosystem.  Massive upstream dams and diversions have
eliminated 95% of former delta wetlands and have pushed to the edge of
extinction Vaquita porpoise, Totoaba fish and Southwestern willow
flycatcher.  No water is allocated for maintenance of the delta ecosystem,
and currently the Colorado River only flows through the delta and to the
Sea of Cortez in wet years when all the water cannot be captured in
reservoirs or diverted into canals.  A surplus determination will compound
this problem by reducing the amount of water stored behind Hoover
Dam, thereby reducing the likelihood of delta-benefitting flood control
releases.

_____________________________________________________________

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