CHALLENGE MOUNTED TO REFORM ARIZONA WATER LAW

MINE TRESPASS IN IRONWOOD NATIONAL MONUMENT

SUIT CHALLENGES MASSIVE CALIFORNIA DEVELOPMENT

LAWSUIT FILED TO PROTECT STREAMS FOR ENDANGERED CALIFORNIA FISH

GREEN STURGEON PROTECTION INCHES FORWARD

COURT ORDERS ACTION FOR SIERRA NEVADA AMPHIBIANS


CHALLENGE MOUNTED TO REFORM ARIZONA WATER LAW

On 1-8-02, the Center for Biological Diversity, represented by the Center for Law in the Public Interest, filed suit to strike down a fundamental but nonsensical basis of Arizona water law: that there is no connection between a river's streamflow and the aquifer that supplies its water. Thus while it is illegal to directly pump water from a stream, it is legal to run the stream dry by pumping water out of the aquifer immediately adjacent to or far from the stream. This biological disconnect was established by the politicking of developers, miners, and agribusiness to allow unrestrained water pumping at the expense of free flowing rivers, riparian forests, and wildlife.

Only ten percent of Arizona's historic riparian habitat still survives. The last vestiges along the San Pedro and Verde rivers are now at risk due to water pumping.


MINE TRESPASS IN IRONWOOD NATIONAL MONUMENT

The illegal mining expansion into the recently established Ironwood National Monument and the fate of important lambing grounds for the last viable desert bighorn sheep herd in the Tucson area remain undecided after months of negotiations among conservation groups and the ASARCO/Grupo Mexico mining company. The Center for Biological Diversity, Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection, Desert Watch, Arizona Desert Bighorn Sheep Society, Silverbell Mountain Alliance, Red Hill Landowners, and the Sierra Club have been negotiating with ASARCO/Grupo Mexico, Arizona Dept. of Game & Fish and the Bureau of Land Management over ASARCO's illegal mining incursion, offering nine different alternatives, all of which have been rejected by ASARCO. The mining company insists it be given 100 acres of the National Monument in exchange for unpatented mining claims on 332 acres.

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SUIT CHALLENGES MASSIVE CALIFORNIA DEVELOPMENT

On 1-16-02, the Center for Biological Diversity and the San Bernardino Valley Audubon Society filed suit to overturn the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors approval of the largest housing development in San Bernardino County history.

The Lytle Creek North Project proposal would build 2,466 residential units on 647 acres of undeveloped land that is unsafe for human habitation and within the proposed critical habitat zone for the San Bernardino kangaroo rat. The project will require channelization of Lytle Creek, and will destroy 400 acres of highly imperiled Riversidean Sage Scrub and Alluvial Fan Sage Scrub. It would also harm the Los Angeles pocket mouse, golden eagle, and white-tailed kite.

The public vehemently opposes the development, which is notoriously unsafe, with flood, earthquake, liquefaction, and fire hazards. The Lytle Creek North Development approval flies in the face of the multiple-species habitat conservation planning process currently underway. The US Forest Service, California Department of Fish and Game, and the US Fish and Wildlife Service have all objected strongly to the project.

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LAWSUIT FILED TO PROTECT STREAMS FOR ENDANGERED CALIFORNIA FISH

The Center for Biological Diversity filed suit on 1-11-02 to force the Department of Interior to designate and protect specific "critical habitat" areas for one of America's most endangered fish, the unarmored threespine stickleback. The fish occurs only in northwestern Los Angeles County and in one location in Santa Barbara County.

The stickleback was listed as endangered in 1970. Thirty miles of critical habitat along the Santa Clara River, San Francisquito Creek, Soledad Canyon, and San Antonio Creek were proposed for the species in 1980. The designation, however, was illegally delayed leading to the continued destruction of the few remaining healthy streams in the region.

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GREEN STURGEON PROTECTION INCHES FORWARD

The National Marine Fisheries Service made a formal finding on 12-14-01 that listing the green sturgeon as a federally endangered species may be warranted. The finding is based on a petition submitted by the Environmental Protection Information Center, Center for Biological Diversity and WaterKeepers Northern California in June 2001.

Green sturgeon are among the largest and longest living species found in freshwater, living up to 70 years, reaching 7.5 feet in length and weighing up to 350 pounds. They are also one of the world's most ancient species having remained virtually unchanged since they appeared more than 200 million years ago. There has been an 88% decline in the sturgeon's range along the west coast, however, due to loss of its spawning populations from dams, water diversions, and pollution.

In addition to habitat destruction, over-fishing is a major cause of decline. Fisheries continue to deplete a stock of large, old fish that cannot renew itself at present harvest rates. reproductive success.

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COURT ORDERS ACTION FOR SIERRA NEVADA AMPHIBIANS

On 12-12-01, a federal judge ordered the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to end its stall tactics and issue a decision as to whether the Yosemite toad and the Sierra Nevada mountain yellow-legged frog should be protected as endangered species. The Center for Biological Diversity and the Pacific Rivers Council filed a petition to protect both species in 2000. Since the federal government refused to process the petition, both groups filed suit in 2001 with the representation of Earthjustice.

The mountain yellow-legged frog was historically the most abundant frog in the Sierra Nevada, distributed widely in high-elevation lakes and streams, and has now disappeared from 70-90% of its former habitat. Remaining frog populations are widely scattered and consist of few breeding adults. What was thought to be one of the largest remaining populations, containing 2000 adult frogs as recently as 1996, had collapsed to only two frogs in a 1999 survey.

The Yosemite toad, once common in the high country of the central Sierra Nevada, has disappeared from a majority of its historic breeding sites. Declines are especially alarming in Yosemite National Park, the species' most pristine and protected stronghold. Both species have been adversely impacted by introduced fish species, which prey on larval and juvenile frogs and toads, while their habitat has been degraded by pesticide pollution, cattle grazing, pathogens, and ozone depletion.

Earthjustice filed a suit in May 2001 on behalf of the Center for Biological Diversity and Pacific Rivers Council to protect the amphibians due to the serious declines of these two species.

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