Biodiversity Activist #318 September
22, 2002
CENTER
RESEARCH SUPPORTS PROTECTION FOR ORCAS WORLDWIDE
Center for Biological Diversity conservation scientist Dr. Martin Taylor joined
an international team of scientists under the sponsorship of the Whale and Dolphin
Conservation Society to produce a comprehensive monograph on global distribution
of orcas or killer whales. The report was produced as a supporting document for the Government of Australia's
pending petition to list orcas worldwide as a species complex under the Convention
on Migratory Species.
The report lists 35 populations
in the world's oceans that are possibly distinct and discusses the many threats,
including global warming, fishing gear entanglement, oil and chemical pollution,
loss of food resources and direct persecution by fishermen and the live-capture
industry. Protection will commit party states to the development of international
conservation agreements for protection of orcas. The decision whether or not
to list the orcas is being made in September 2002 at the annual Conference of
the Parties in Germany.
The report is available
online at: Worldwide
review of orcas (pdf file)
BLM
MUST OBEY COURT ORDER TO PROTECT TORTOISE, ENFORCE SEASONAL CATTLE RESTRICTIONS
ON PUBLIC LANDS
Under the terms of the California
Desert Conservation Area (CDCA) court order, Interior Secretary Gale Norton
and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) must ensure cattle do not graze on nearly
half a million acres of public lands from Sept 7th to Nov 7th. Eight grazing
permittees must move their livestock on drought-stricken lands to protect the
threatened desert tortoise.
It is scientifically shown
that livestock mow down spring and fall annual plants essential to tortoise
health and reproduction. The hoofed livestock also trample tortoises and their
burrows, killing tortoises or wrecking their homes. The CDCA settlement was
negotiated to aid desert tortoise recovery by preventing grazing on 285,381
acres of critical and 213,281 acres of essential tortoise habitat during the
biologically critical spring and fall seasons.
The agreement provides moderate
relief for wildlife in fall and spring, however BLM's lack of enforcement remains
a problem. This spring the agency witnessed cattle illegally grazing in closed
areas on public lands at least seventeen times on six allotments but failed
to follow up with required enforcement actions such as fines, extension of the
grazing restrictions, herd size reductions, impoundment of cattle and possible
cancellation of ranchers' public lands grazing privileges.
For more on public
lands ranching and a comprehensive new book on the topic.
BAY AREA BUILDER CHARGED WITH KILLING
ENDANGERED RED-LEGGED FROGS
One of the Bay Area's largest
and most influential developers, Albert Seeno, Jr. of West Coast Homebuilders
Inc., ordered the destruction of ponds and creeks that contained breeding populations
of endangered red-legged frogs at a site where his company planned on building
3,200 homes. Seeno was well aware that the frogs lived at the site. In 1991,
West Coast Homebuilders hired an environmental consulting firm that found frogs
on the property. This information was relayed to Seeno orally and with a written
report.
Seeno's company was charged
on 6-28-02 in U.S. District Court with two counts of violating the Endangered
Species Act after a dead frog was found at the site and the ponds found destroyed.
The company intends to plead guilty to at least one count. The company could
face a maximum of five years probation and order fines. Seeno's family has long
been a political powerhouse in Contra Costa County. His father, the late Albert
Seeno Sr., founded A.D. Seeno Construction Co., one of the county's biggest
and most influential builders. The younger Seeno has operated Nevada casinos
and built shopping malls and thousands of homes.
The amphibian, listed as
threatened under the Endangered Species Act in 1996, is believed to be the frog
Twain wrote about in his famous short story "The Celebrated Jumping Frog
of Calaveras County." Red-legged frogs were once common throughout California,
ranging from Shasta County to the Mexican border. But their numbers have been
in steep decline in recent decades as the marshes they favor have been drained
for cropland and housing tracts, and has disappeared from nearly three-quarters
of its natural range. Only 10% of its original population remains.
For more information on
red-legged
frogs.
FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE OPPOSES BLM PLAN TO OPEN CA DUNES
TO ORV'S
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
(Service) and BLM are in disagreement over the environmental affects of BLM's
plans to open over 50,000 acres of the Algodones Dunes to off-road vehicle use.
The BLM is aggressively pushing a Bush Administration plan to allow off-roading
on an area currently protected by a court-ordered settlement between the BLM,
off-road groups and the Center for Biological Diversity, Sierra Club and Public
Employees for Environmental Responsibility. Under the settlement agreement,
almost 70,000 acres remain open to unlimited off-roading, while the other half
of the dunes are protected for wildlife and non-motorized recreation.
The Service, charged with
protecting endangered species, may issue an issue an opinion that re-opening
the dunes will jeopardize the survival of the endangered Peirson's milkvetch.
The BLM is urging the Service not to issue a "jeopardy opinion," and
is making arguments based on an off-road industry financed report.
A key legal issue is the
continued survival of endangered species on the dunes, including the Peirson's
milkvetch, Algodones Dunes sunflower, Colorado Desert fringe-toed lizard, Flat-tailed
horned lizard, Sand food, Giant Spanish needle and desert tortoise. All have
been harmed by off-roading on the dunes. The BLM plan to remove most protection
would be devastating to rare species, greatly worsen air pollution, and run
off hikers, birdwatchers, Native Americans and others.
For press
release.
CONSTRUCTION
MORATORIUM SOUGHT FOR POSSIBLE SAN DIEGO COUNTY PRESERVE
On 9-10-02 the Center for
Biological Diversity and nine other groups sent a letter to the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service and seven cities in northern San Diego County, CA requesting
a halt to development until the Multiple Habitat Conservation Program (MHCP)
is completed.
The MHCP has been under
preparation for ten years, yet the participating cities are permitting large
projects in critical endangered species habitat and open space necessary for
success of the program. Only 27% of the land inside the MHCP remains undeveloped,
and continued development jeopardizes the conservation plan and calls into question
the commitment of the cities to the program.
San Diego County has more
rare, threatened and endangered species than any other County in the continental
United States, and the MHCP is an opportunity to create a viable preserve that
slows or halts species extinction in the region. Thirty-five construction projects
ranging from parks and golf courses to residential, commercial, industrial,
and agricultural development are in the planning stages within the most biologically
important areas of the MHCP. Approval of even a few of the projects puts the
viability of the preserve at risk.
For
more information...
Visit the web address below and tell your friends about this important issue!
http://actionnetwork.org/BIODIVERSITY/join-forward.html?domain=BIODIVERSITY&r=Vp111111mu-e&
If you received this message from a friend, you can sign up for Center for Biological Diversity - Biodiversity Activist Center.
This message was sent to [email]. Visit your subscription management page to modify your email communication preferences or update your personal profile. To stop ALL email from Center for Biological Diversity - Biodiversity Activist, click to remove yourself from our lists (or reply via email with "remove or unsubscribe" in the subject line).
|