Subject: FW: BIODIVERSITY ACTIVIST #284

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>                 CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY
>
>        http://www.biologicaldiversity.org
> 10-4-01    #284<https://maxvps003.maximumasp.com/v003u09bwd/joinus/joinus.html>
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>§ KOOTENAI RIVER BURBOT MAY BE LISTED AS ENDANGERED IN ID, MT, AND BRITISH
>COLUMBIA
>
>§ UTAH, ARIZONA PLANTS LISTED AS ENDANGERED
>
>§ PETITION FILED TO LIST MIDVALLEY FAIRY SHRIMP AS ENDANGERED
>
>§ NEW REPORT MAY MEAN MORE WATER FOR DRIED-UP COLORADO RIVER DELTA
>__________          __________         ___________
>
>KOOTENAI RIVER BURBOT MAY BE LISTED AS ENDANGERED IN ID, MT, AND BRITISH
>COLUMBIA
>
>In keeping with an agreement reached with the Center, the Southern
>Appalachian Biodiversity Project, and the California Native Plant Society
>to issue listing decisions on 29 species from coast to coast, the U.S.
>Fish & Wildlife Service made an initial positive finding on a petition to
>list the Kootenai River burbot as an endangered species in Idaho, Montana,
>and British Columbia on 9-28-01.
>
>Burbots are the only freshwater members of the cod family. The Kootenai
>River burbot, also known as the "Leopard of the Kootenai," is completely
>restricted to the Kootenai River Basin and has declined catastrophically
>since the construction of the Libby Dam in 1975. The petition to list it
>under the Endangered Species Act was filed by American Wildlands and the
>Idaho Conservation League on 2-2-00. The Fish & Wildlife Service will now
>conduct a full status review of  the burbot and decide whether to issue a
>proposed listing rule.
>
>Eleven miles of the Kootenai River were recently designated as critical
>habitat for the Kootenai River white sturgeon due to a Center lawsuit. The
>Center plans to file another suit to attain a larger protected area and to
>force the Army Corps of Engineers to comply with protections measures
>developed by the Fish & Wildlife Service.
>
>For more information on the 29 species agreement:
>http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/swcbd/activist/ESA/settlement.html
>
>For more information on the Kootenai River white sturgeon:
>http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/swcbd/species/sturgeon/index.html
>__________          __________         ___________
>
>UTAH, ARIZONA PLANTS LISTED AS ENDANGERED
>
>In keeping with an agreement reached with the Center, the Southern
>Appalachian Biodiversity Project, and the California Native Plant Society
>to issue listing decisions on 29 species from coast to coast, the U.S.
>Fish & Wildlife Service listed Shivwitz milk-vetch (Astragulus
>ampullarioides Welsh) and Holmgren milk-vetch (Astragulus holmgreniorum
>Barneby) as endangered species on 9-28-01
>
>The Holmgren milk-vetch occurs in just three areas within a 7-10 mile
>radius to the south, west and northeast of St. George. The majority of its
>range is within Washington County, UT, but it also occurs in Mohave
>County, AZ. Only 5,000 individual plants remain. The Shivwits milkvetch
>occurs in just 5 sites in Washington County, west and northeast of St.
>George, and on and near the Shivwits Indian Reservation. There are only
>about 2,000 individual plants left. The Center for Biological Diversity
>and the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance petitioned to list them under
>the Endangered Species Act on 6-2-99 because excessive sprawl, off road
>vehicles, and cattle grazing are driving them to extinction.
>
>Critical habitat was determined to be necessary for both plants, but is
>being indefinitely delayed. The delay is especially worrisome since the
>listing rule states that the Fish & Wildlife Service will not protect
>areas which are not currently occupied or not within critical habitat. The
>Center will take additional legal action to protect habitat areas for
>these two plants.
>
>While the Clinton administration listed 60 species under the Endangered
>Species Act by 10-1-01 of its first year in office, the Bush
>administration has listed just four, all of them in response to petitions,
>lawsuits, and agreements with the Center for Biological Diversity. The
>Center has protected 119 species and 35.3 million acres of critical
>habitat under the ESA since 1993.
>
>For more information on the 29 species agreement:
>http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/swcbd/activist/ESA/settlement.html
>__________          __________         ___________
>
>PETITION FILED TO LIST MIDVALLEY FAIRY SHRIMP AS ENDANGERED
>
>Last month the Center filed a petition to list the Midvalley Fairy Shrimp
>(Branchinecta mesovallensis) as endangered under the ESA. The Midvalley
>Fairy Shrimp is a newly-described species that inhabits vernal pools in
>only a handful of counties within the Great Central Valley, including
>Sacramento, Solano, Merced, Madera, San Joaquin, Fresno, and Contra Costa
>counties. Vernal pools are one of the most threatened habitat types in the
>world. Over 97% of California's original vernal pool habitat has already
>been lost due to urban sprawl, agribusiness, offroad vehicles, livestock
>grazing, and wetland draining. Vernal pools are home to many plants and
>animals that in turn form a valuable part of the food chain for a wide
>array of animals, including birds of prey, shorebirds, migratory
>waterfowl, frogs, toads, salamanders and pollinating insects. Fairy
>shrimps are a vital part of this web of life.
>
>The Midvalley Fairy Shrimp is a small, soft-bodied crustacean adapted to a
>life in the most shallow and ephemeral of vernal pools, depressions that
>fill with water during the rainy season and dry completely by the summer.
>The Midvalley Fairy Shrimp will hatch and reproduce during a short
>interval in the winter when the vernal pools are filled with water. Fairy
>shrimp cysts (encysted embryos) fall to the bottom of the pool where they
>withstand the hot, dry summers of California's grasslands. After one or
>more dry seasons, the cysts will hatch when the pools are once again
>inundated, and the cycle of life begins again. A unique aspect of fairy
>shrimp behavior is that the species swims upside down with rythmic
>movements of its eleven pairs of delicate legs, and filters bacteria,
>algae, and other food particles from its aquatic environment.
>
>The Midvalley Fairy Shrimp is threatened primarily by the destruction of
>its vernal pool habitat. One of the largest single threats is the
>University of California's plan to build a new campus and city on one of
>the largest remaining vernal pool mosaics in the state. The proposed 1,300
>acre UC Merced campus will directly impact dozens of acres of vernal pools
>some of which are occupied by the Midvalley Fairy Shrimp. Increased urban
>sprawl, agricultural and residential conversion, and indirect impacts
>(such as altered hydrology) resulting from the proposed UC Merced campus,
>a new town of 30,000 people, and associated infrastructure development are
>anticipated to destroy, fragment and degrade nearby Midvalley Fairy Shrimp
>habitat as well.
>
>To view the petition and learn more about fairy shrimp visit our web site at:
>http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/swcbd/species/fshrimp/mvfs.html
>__________          __________         ___________
>
>NEW REPORT MAY MEAN MORE WATER FOR DRIED-UP COLORADO RIVER DELTA
>
>A report released by the Center for Biological Diversity and Defenders of
>Wildlife concludes that a clam found at the mouth of the Colorado River is
>a distinct species occurring no where else in the world. A related 1999
>report concluded that drastically reduced Colorado River flows from the
>U.S. is the likely cause of near extinction of the species. The latest
>report, Taxonomic status and distribution of the bivalve mollusk Mulinia
>coloradoensis in the Gulf of California, was authored by Dr. Karl Flessa
>of the University of Arizona, and Miguel Agustin Tellez-Duarte, Autonomous
>University of Baja California at Ensenada.
>
>The earlier report found that the delta clam was once the most abundant
>mollusk inhabiting the estuary of the Colorado River Delta, where abundant
>fresh water once mixed with the Gulf of California. Delta beaches are
>made-up of the shells of this nearly extinct species. The report's
>conclusions show that Endangered Species Act protection is warranted.
>
>A U.S.-based Lower Colorado River MultiSpecies Conservation Program has
>repeatedly rejected calls from conservationists to consider the effects of
>U.S. dams and diversions on the river's delta ecosystem in Mexico.
>Possible delta conservation measures under last year's U.S. ­ Mexico
>Colorado River water treaty Minute 306 will come long after, and likely be
>precluded by, contracts under the Multi-Species program.
>Conservation organizations, including the Center and Defenders do not
>support the program as a result.The clam report is part of a larger Center
>campaign to restore key Colorado River and delta wetlands in the U.S. and
>Mexico.
>
>To read more about the campaign and the clam reports, click here:
>http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/swcbd/Programs/watersheds/lcr/index.html
>______     ______    _____     _____    _____
>
>Shane Jimerfield
>Center for Biological Diversity
>Tel: 520.623.5252, ext 302  Fax: 520.623.9797
>PO Box 710, Tucson AZ 85702-0710
>http://www.biologicaldiversity.org



Kierán Suckling                           ksuckling@biologicaldiversity.org
Executive Director                        520.623.5252 phone
Center for Biological Diversity        520.623.9797 fax
<www.biologicaldiversity.org>        POB 710, Tucson, AZ 85702-0710


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