Subject: SW BIODIVERSITY ALERT #26
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Southwest Biodiversity Alert #26
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southwest center for biological
diversity
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ksuckling@sw-center.org
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http://www.envirolink.org/orgs/sw-center
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1.
FOREST SERVICE VIOLATES LOGGING INJUNCTION,
SECOND ATTEMPT
TO LIFT INJUNCTION FAILS
2. PETITION TO STOP COAL MINE
DENIED
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1. FOREST SERVICE VIOLATES LOGGING INJUNCTION, SECOND ATTEMPT
TO LIFT
INJUNCTION FAILS
In its second attempt to
lift an 11 month long logging injunction on 11
National Forests and the
Navajo Nation, the Forest Service unilaterally
declared the injunction over,
sending logging companies back to the work.
Within 24 hours, the decision was
stomped by an angry federal judge who
originally issued the
injunction.
In his order, Judge Muecke stated:
"This court
is at a loss to understand why defendants would choose to
proceed in
this fashion in light of the Court's prior order advising
defendants
that the consultation would not be deemed to be complete
until the
"proper" biological opinion was issued under the requirements
of the
ESA and the applicable regulations. Instead, defendants have
unilaterally determined that they have met all the requirements of the
law, stipulation, and orders of the court, and elected to proceed,
even
though the plaintiffs disagree, have raised the issue with the
Court
and the Court has hade little to no opportunity to review the
factual
and legal issues. This is a highly unusual manner in which to
proceed
in this lawsuit or any lawsuit. Rather than speeding up the
resolution
of this lawsuit, this situation again is being delayed
by
inappropriate procedures."
"No later than July 19,
1996, at 12:00 p.m. defendants shall file
affidavits signed by those
persons responsible for the decisions to
proceed with the timber
cutting. The affidavits shall include the name
and title of the
persons making those decisions and information about
with whom they
consulted before deciding to go forward with the
decisions to resume
tree cutting."
The injunction was issued in August, 1995 and is to remain
in effect
until the Fish and Wildlife Service completes a legal
Biological
Opinion on the effects of 11 Forest Plans on the threatened
Mexican
spotted owl. While Biological Opinions have been forthcoming,
the
Fish and Wildlife Service has had problems with the "legal" part.
A
previous "conditional" jeopardy opinion was successfully challenged
by
the plaintiffs. Angered by opinion, Judge Muecke threatened to
file sanctions
against Forest Service Chief Jack Ward Thomas. He also
declared that
henceforth, the injunction would not automatically
disappear with the
issuance of a Biological Opinion, but would
require his personal review and
approval. The Forest Service ignored
Muecke's ruling, unilaterally declaring
the injunction over with the
completion of a new Biological
Opinion.
The new opinion is as fraudulent but more sophisticated than
the
first. It declares that continued logging under the Forest Plans
will
jeopardize the Mexican spotted owl unless conducted in
accordance
with the Spotted owl Recovery Plan. According to a declaration
filed
by Kieran Suckling of the Southwest Center, however, the
opinion
treats all 239 timber sales held up by the Muecke's injunction as
if
they were already cut. Even worse, timber sales and projects which
have
not yet been issued and/or sold are also treated as if already
cut. In all,
some 150-200 million board feet were exempted from the
Recovery Plan. Bowing
to Forest Service pressure, the Fish and
Wildlife Service is pretending that
the logging injunction never
happened. It is proceeding as if the trees were
already logged even
though Muecke enjoined cutting in order to give the Fish
and Wildlife
Service the chance to request that the sales be cancelled
or
modified.
2. PETITION TO STOP COAL MINE DENIED
The
Office of Surface Mining and the New Mexico Minerals and Mining
Department
have refused to consider a petition by the Southwest
Center to declare a
proposed mine site unsuitable for surface coal
mining. The Center argued that
the mine would harm Native Americans
and have detrimental impacts on the
quantity and quality of water in
the Fence Lake area in the northern portion
of the Gila Headwaters
Ecosystem.
The Salt River Project's Fence Lake
mine would draw water from the
aquifer which feeds the sacred Zuni Salt
Lake. At least seven tribes,
including the Ramah Navajo, Zuni, Hopi,
and Mescalero Apache make
religious pilgrimages to the Salt Lake.
MMD
and OSM refused to consider the Southwest Center's petition
because it was
filed after the Permit Application Package was declared
"administratively
complete" in July 1995.
The Southwest Center will appeal to the Interior
Board of Land
Appeals to overturn the decision if the mining plan is
approved.