From: Kieran Suckling [ksuckling@biologicaldiversity.org]
Sent: Tuesday, July 17, 2001 2:24 PM
To: Recipient list suppressed
Subject: BIODIVERSITY ACTIVIST #280
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             CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY

           <www.biologicaldiversity.org>      7-17-01      #280
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§ MASSIVE CALIFORNIA TIMBER SALE STOPPED...FOR NOW

§ SEVEN MORE ORCAS DEAD, COUNTY SUPPORTS ENDANGERED
   SPECIES LISTING

§ LAND SWAP TO EXPAND POLLUTING AZ MINE CHALLENGED

§ CENTER JOINS SUIT TO PROTECT GRAND CANYON

§ BUSH TRASHES CLINTON AGREEMENT TO PROTECT
   ENDANGERED CALIFORNIA FISH

MASSIVE CALIFORNIA TIMBER SALE STOPPED...FOR NOW
On 7-11-01, EPIC, the Center for Biological Diversity, the Sierra Club,
California Wilderness Coalition, Klamath Forest Alliance,
Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center and Forest Conservation Council
won a temporary restraining order blocking a massive timber sale within
a roadless area bordering the Trinity Alps Wilderness. The Big Bar timber
sale is the first planned in a California roadless area since the Clinton
Administration released its roadless area conservation plan in January. It
would log 1,050 acres of the Six Rivers National forest to produce 20
million board feet of lumber.

Though the timber sale would harm northern goshawks, Pacific fishers,
salmon, and steelhead trout, the Forest Service did not take steps to
protect any of them.

The case is being argued by Marc Fink of the Western Environmental
Law Center (Eugene). A hearing will be held soon to determine if the sale
will be stopped for the duration of the lawsuit.

The Center’s Pacific fisher page:
http//www.biologicaldiversity.org/swcbd/species/fisher/fisher.html

The Center’s northern goshawk page:
www.biologicaldiversity.org/swcbd/species/goshawk/swgoshawk.html


SEVEN MORE ORCAS DEAD, COUNTY SUPPORTS ENDANGERED
SPECIES LISTING
Seven more of Puget Sound’s killer whale population have been declared
dead after failing to return from their winter travels. As resident orcas live
their entire lives within their birth pods, usually in close proximity to their
mothers, long term absence is always an indication of death. The
population has declined by 20% since 1996, prompting the Center for
Biological Diversity and others to file a petition with the National Marine
Fisheries Service to list them as a federally endangered species on 5-1-01.

Puget Sound orcas have some the highest PCP levels recorded in any
marine mammal- well above levels known to cause death, birth defects,
reproductive problems, and reduced intelligence in other species. The
whales are also being impacted by salmon declines (which make up 95%
of their diet), intense whale watching pressure, and the continuing
unraveling of the Puget Sound ecosystem.

On July 10, 2001, the San Juan County board of commissioners sent a
letter to the Fisheries Service supporting the listing petition. It also
allocated $30,000 to develop new whale watching guidelines.

To learn more about Puget Sound orcas:
www.biologicaldiversity.org/swcbd/species/orca/index.html


LAND SWAP TO EXPAND POLLUTING MINE CHALLENGED
On 7-12-01, the Center for Biological Diversity, the Western Land
Exchange Project and the Sierra Club formally appealed decision by the
Bureau of Land Management to exchange 11,000 acres of federal land
for 7,300 acres owned by mining giant Asarco.  The exchange would
allow the company to expand its massive open-pit Ray Copper Mine east
of Phoenix.  The Ray Mine is a notoriously toxic and negligent facility. In
1997, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service found copper levels in fish below
the mine to be “by far” the highest recorded nationally.  The mine is just
upstream of the Gila River, designated critical habitat for cactus
ferruginous pygmy owl, spikedace, and southwestern willow flycatcher. 

The land to be given to Asarco borders the isolated White Canyon
wilderness area, which contains perennial waters and riparian deciduous
forest, and is considered a priority reintroduction site for bighorn sheep. 

Roger Flynn and Jeff Parsons of the Western Mining Action Project in
Boulder are arguing the appeal.

For more information:
www.biologicaldiversity.org/swcbd/Programs/mining/ray.html


CENTER JOINS SUIT TO PROTECT GRAND CANYON
A federal judge on 7-12-01 allowed the Center for Biological Diversity to
join a Sierra Club lawsuit challenging a Forest Service decision to trade
federal land adjacent to Grand Canyon Nation Park to a developer. The
developer would then build a small city on the site (Canyon Forest
Village) with Arizona’s largest commercial shopping center outside
Phoenix, 1,270 hotel rooms, housing, and up to 20,000 square feet of
commercial space.

The project is opposed by the cities of Flagstaff, Tusayan, and Williams,
and by environmental groups because it will bring sprawl to the Grand
Canyon, threaten water supplies needed by wildlife, and hurt tourist
businesses already existing in the Flagstaff area.

The case is being argued by Howard Shanker.


BUSH TRASHES CLINTON AGREEMENT TO PROTECT
ENDANGERED CALIFORNIA FISH
The Bush Administration is refusing to abide by a legal agreement to
designate protected critical habitat areas for the endangered Santa Ana
sucker in southern California. On 7-10-01, the Center for Biological
Diversity, the American Fisheries Society, California Trout, and Friends of
the River notified the administration that if it does not immediately protect
the sucker's habitat, we will ask a federal judge to find it in contempt of
court. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service settled a lawsuit in November
2000 by agreeing to map out and protect critical habitat areas for the
Santa Ana Sucker by January 2001. But the Bush administration has
squelched progress on the protections.

The Santa Ana sucker was once one of the most common fish in lower
elevation Los Angeles basin rivers and streams.  The species is now
absent from 75% of its historic range as a result of urbanization and
water pollution, and is now limited to short stretches of the Santa Clara,
San Gabriel and Santa Ana rivers and Big Tujunga Creek. Because the
sucker requires clean water to survive, the species serves as a prime
indicator of the water quality of southern California rivers and streams.