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CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL
DIVERSITY
<www.biologicaldiversity.org>
5-08-01
#273
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§
PETITION FILED TO LIST PUGET SOUND KILLER WHALES AS AN
ENDANGERED SPECIES
§ SUIT TAKES ON LONGLINE FISHING TO SAVE SEA
TURTLES,
SEALS, WHALES, AND SEABIRDS
§ BUSH'S 1ST
100 DAYS: BUSINESS 4, ENDANGERED SPECIES 0
§ POLL: ENDANGERED SPECIES
TRUMP PRIVATE PROPERTY,
BUSH SHOULD LEAVE FORESTS
ALONE
§ LETTERS NEEDED: ARIZONA TO DECIDE WHETHER
TO
CONTINUE SUPPORT OF MEXICAN WOLF RECOVERY
PROGRAM
§ MEXICAN WOLF CAMPOUT, CARPOOL TO WOLF
HEARINGS
PETITION FILED TO LIST PUGET SOUND KILLER WHALES AS
AN
ENDANGERED SPECIES
On 5-1-01, the Center for Biological Diversity, nine
scientific and
environmental groups, and the former Attorney General of
Washington
State filed a petition to list the Puget Sound population of
killer whales as
endangered under the Endangered Species Act.
Formally
called the "Southern Resident Killer Whale," this orca population
is perhaps
the most urbanized whale on earth. It spends a large portion
of the year in
Puget Sound between Seattle, Bellingham, Vancouver, and
Victoria. It is
heavily polluted with PCBs, it's favored salmon prey are
endangered, it is
under intense whale watching pressure, and the Puget
Sound ecosystem is
collapsing around it. A population model developed
by scientists at the
Center for Biological Diversity concluded that under
current conditions, the
Southern Residents face up to a 99% chance of
extinction within the next 300
years.
To see the petition, the population model, and other information
about
this amazing mammal
<http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/swcbd/species/orca/index.html>
SUIT
TAKES ON LONGLINE FISHING TO SAVE SEA TURTLES,
SEALS, WHALES, AND
SEABIRDS
On 5-2-01, the Center for Biological Diversity and the Turtle
Island
Restoration Network filed suit against the National Marine
Fisheries
Service to close the California-based pelagic longline
fishery. The fishery
is a major threat to the critically endangered
leatherback sea turtle, and
other endangered sea turtles, marine mammals, and
seabirds.
Facing new environmental restrictions in the waters of Hawai'i,
a fleet of
longline fishing vessels has recently relocated to
California. Each vessel,
fishing primarily for tuna and swordfish, uses
monofilament lines up to 30
miles long carrying thousands of hooks which
ensnare leatherback,
loggerhead, olive ridley, and green sea turtles,
California and Steller's
sea lions, Guadalupe fur seals, Hawaiian monk seals,
the occasional
large whale, short-tailed albatross and numerous other
seabirds, as well
as underage swordfish and tunas, and thousands of
sharks.
California longline vessels are required to obtain permits from
the
National Marine Fisheries Service under the High Seas
Fishing
Compliance Act. The Act also requires the Fisheries Service to
ensure
the U.S. fishing practices are consistent with international
conservation
obligations. Since the U.S. Senate last year ratified an
international treaty
calling for the reduction of sea turtle mortality from
commercial fisheries,
the Fisheries Service is required to reduce sea turtle
bycatch.
Nevertheless, the agency has taken no action to regulate the
California-
based pelagic longline fishery. Nor has it reviewed the
impact of the
fishery as required by the Endangered Species Act.
The
case is being argued by Center for Biological Diversity attorney
Brendan
Cummings and by Jay Tutchton and Debbie Sevas
of
Earthjustice.
BUSH'S 1ST 100 DAYS: BUSINESS 4, ENDANGERED
SPECIES 0
Following a tradition initiated by Ronald Reagan and endorsed by
George
Bush Sr., George the younger has proposed a moratorium
on
Endangered Species Act listings within his first hundred days in
office.
Respectively, Reagan, Bush Sr., and Bush Jr. listed 0, 5, and 0
species
under the ESA during their first 100 days in office. Clinton listed
36. Bush
did set a record, however, in denying ESA protection to four
species
during that time. While the Bush Administration claims it has no
money to
issue ESA listing decisions, it somehow has found the money to
make
negative decisions, but not positive ones.
POLL: ENDANGERED
SPECIES TRUMP PRIVATE PROPERTY, BUSH
SHOULD LEAVE FORESTS ALONE
A Los
Angeles Times poll, reported on April 30, 2001, found that 58% of
American's
nationwide believe that protecting endangered species
"should take priority
over preserving personal property rights."
The poll also found that by a
margin of 65% to 24%, Americans oppose
President Bush's efforts to roll
back the new roadless policy banning road
building, mining and most logging
on early 60 million acres of national
forest.
ARIZONA TO DECIDE
WHETHER TO CONTINUE SUPPORT OF
MEXICAN WOLF RECOVERY PROGRAM: LETTERS NEEDED
TODAY
The Arizona Game and Fish Commission will meet on Saturday, May
12
in Safford to decide whether to continue its support of the Mexican
wolf
recovery program. Withdrawal of Arizona, which contributes the
most
biologists among the multi-agency program, would leave the
four
remaining packs in Arizona vulnerable to poachers just as they
are
expected to be nursing new-born pups. We need to keep
Arizona's
biologists in the field to ensure the safety of the wolves, and to
prevent
the Bush Administration from using the state withdrawal as an excuse
to
terminate the recovery program and recapture all the wolves.
Please
attend the Commission meeting at 1:30 pm Saturday at the
Manor House
Conference Center, 415 E. Hwy 70, Safford, Arizona.
Carpools are available
from Prescott, Phoenix, Tucson and points
in
between:
Tucson (520) 623-5252 ext.
314.
Phoenix (602)
253-8633
Prescott (520) 777-1095.
If
you can't attend, please send a letter to:
Dennis Manning,
Chair, Arizona Game & Fish Commission
2221 W. Greenway Rd.,
Phoenix, AZ 85023-4399
fax (602) 789-3299, email
<mketterer@gf.state.az.us>
MEXICAN WOLF CAMPOUT, CARPOOL TO
WOLF HEARINGS
Join the Center for Biological Diversity and the Sierra Club in
a campout
on Friday, May 11 in an area used by the Cienega, Saddle and
Hawk's
Nest wolf packs. Then carpool down to Safford the next morning to
testify
at the Game and Fish Commission hearing.
Cienega Campground is
in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest off
Hwy. 191 north of Clifton and
south of Hannagan Meadow.
To carpool to the campground or directly to the
hearings:
Tucson (520) 623-5252 ext.
314.
Phoenix (602)
253-8633
Prescott (520)
777-1095.
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