Subject: FW: BIODIVERSITY ACTIVIST #264

Importance: High

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              CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY

            <www.biologicaldiversity.org>      2-06-00      #264
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§ $10,000 REWARD OFFERED FOR CAPTURE OF KILLER OF
    MEXICAN GRAY WOLF IN NEW MEXICO

§ 1,000 ACRES PROTECTED FROM OFF-ROAD VEHICLES

§ 1.9 MILLION ACRES OF DESERT PROTECTED FROM LIVESTOCK 

§ 845,000 ACRES PROTECTED FOR ENDANGERED BIGHORN SHEEP

§ 182,000 ACRES PROTECTED FOR ENDANGERED ARROYO TOAD

§ 341,140 ACRES TO BE REVIEWED FOR GRAZING IMPACTS IN AZ

§ SUIT TO BE FILED AGAINST MINE TO SAVE ARIZONA RIVERS

$10,000 REWARD OFFERED FOR CAPTURE OF KILLER OF MEXICAN
GRAY WOLF IN NEW MEXICO
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is offering $10,000 reward for information
leading the capture and conviction of the killer of a endangered Mexican
gray wolf in Catron County, NM. A member of the Francisco Pack, the wolf
was found shot to death north of Reserve, NM in a wood cutting area.
Anyone with information regarding the shooting should call USFWS special
agents at (480) 835-8289 or the New Mexico Department of Game and
Fish's Operation Game Thief at (800) 432-GAME.
      _________________

1,000 ACRES PROTECTED FROM OFF ROAD VEHICLES
In the second round of settlement negotiations in a lawsuit brought by the
Center for Biological Diversity, Public Employees for Environmental
Responsibility, and the Sierra Club, the Bureau of Land Management agreed
to close over 1,000 acres at Windy Point, CA to off-road vehicles. The
closure is necessary to protect a suite of imperiled species including the
Coachella Valley fringe-toed lizard, flat-tailed horned lizard, Palm Springs
pocket mouse, Coachella Valley/Palm Springs ground squirrel, Coachella
Valley Jerusalem cricket and Coachella giant sand treader cricket.

The first round of negotiations resulted in the closure of 49,310 acres of the
Algodones Dunes to protect the endangered Peirson's milkvetch.

The suit is being argued by Brendan Cummings (Berkeley) and Jay
Tuchton of Earthjustice (Denver).

For more on the suit, settlement and the Center's efforts to protect the
California Desert Conservation Area:
<http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/swcbd/goldenstate/cdca/>
      ________________

1.9 MILLION ACRES OF DESERT PROTECTED FROM LIVESTOCK
In the third round of settlement negotiations in a lawsuit brought by the
Center for Biological Diversity, Public Employees for Environmental
Responsibility, and the Sierra Club, the Bureau of Land Management
agreed to protect 1.9 million acres of the California Desert Conservation
Area from livestock grazing. The settlement was contested by the livestock
industry but approved by a federal judge on 1-29-01.

The BLM agreed to prohibit permit sheep grazing on 946,295 acres and
cattle on 43,596 acres of desert tortoise critical habitat. It will prevent
grazing
of 285,381 acres of critical and 213,281 acres of essential tortoise habitat
during the spring and fall. It will prohibit cattle on 394,835 acres of
currently
ungrazed endangered species habitat, and will remove all livestock from
within three miles of nesting southwestern willow flycatchers and least bell's
vireo. Rattlesnake Canyon on the north slope of the San Bernardino
Mountains will also be closed to livestock to protect Parish's daisy and other
species.

The suit is being argued by Brendan Cummings (Berkeley) and Jay Tuchton
of Earthjustice (Denver).

For more on the suit, settlement and the Center's efforts to protect the
California Desert Conservation Area:
<http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/swcbd/goldenstate/cdca/>
      _________________

845,000 ACRES PROTECTED FOR ENDANGERED BIGHORN SHEEP
In accordance with a legal settlement obtained by the Center for Biological
Diversity and Desert Survivors, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service designated
844,897 acres of "critical habitat" for the endangered Peninsular bighorn
sheep on 2-1-01.

Reduced from 1,200 in the 1970's to roughly 400 today, the Peninsular
bighorn ranges from the desert-side of the San Jacinto Mountains of
southern California to the Volcan Tres Virgenes Mountains near Santa
Rosalia in Baja California. In 1997, golf courses outnumbered bighorn in the
Palm Springs area 91 to 75. Dozens of additional golf courses and
developments are scheduled to destroy the bighorn's dwindling habitat in the
next few years. Diseases spread from sheep and cattle ranching is also a
major threat.

Federal agencies are prohibited from authorizing, permitting, or funding
actions which destroy or "adversely modify" critical habitat, including the
issuance of development permits on private land under the Clean Water Act.

As of 2-5-01, the Center for Biological Diversity has obtained 33.3 million
acres of critical habitat designations in TX, NM, AZ, CO, UT, CA, OR, and
AK; and federal proposals to designate an additional 5.6 million acres in CA,
NM, and OK.
      _____________________

182,000 ACRES PROTECTED FOR ENDANGERED ARROYO TOAD
In accordance with a legal settlement obtained by the Center for Biological
Diversity and Christians Caring for Creation, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
designated 182,360 acres of "critical habitat" for the endangered Arroyo
southwestern toad on 2-1-01.

Arroyo toads formally occupied streams form Monterey, CA to Baja
California, but now survive only in small, isolated headwaters. According the
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, urban sprawl, dams, cattle grazing, mining and
off-road vehicles use have pushed the toad to "the brink of extinction."
Nevertheless, it excluded critically important streams on the U.S. Marine
Corps's Camp Pendleton, claiming that the benefits of war training outweigh
those of preventing extinction. It also failed to protect upland habitat which
are used extensively by toads.
      ___________________

BLM AGREES TO REVIEW GRAZING IMPACTS ON 341,140 ACRES
In response to a formal notice of intent to sue filed by the Center for
Biological Diversity on 11-30-00, the Bureau of Land Management has
agreed to review the impact of allowing livestock grazing on 341,140 acres
of public land in Arizona. The review was required following the designation
of 900 river miles of critical habitat for the loach minnow and spikedace, two
imperiled minnows. The designation was ordered by a federal judge in a suit
brought by the Center.
      ______________________

SUIT TO BE FILED AGAINST ARIZONA MINE TO SAVE RIVERS
On 1-25-00, the Center for Biological Diversity and the Sierra Club formally
notified the Army Corps of Engineers and the Environmental Protection
Agency that they will sue over violations of the Endangered Species Act
associated with issuance of permits to the ASARCO mining company for the
Ray Mine. The open-pit copper mine is located 65 miles east of Phoenix.

Army Corps and EPA failed to review and mitigate the mine's impacts on
several endangered species, including the southwestern willow flycatcher,
spikedace, and cactus ferruginous pygmy owl, and their designated critical
habitat along the Gila and San Pedro Rivers.

Environmental contamination at the Mine-which reported 45 illegal spills
1988-1996 alone-is so severe that surveys conducted on Mineral Creek
found the water entirely devoid of fish. Copper levels in the few surviving
fish
are the highest recorded nationally. ASARCO, now owned by Grupo Mexico,
is Arizona's biggest polluter.

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