Subject: FW: SOUTHWEST BIODIVERSITY ALERT #34

Subject: SOUTHWEST BIODIVERSITY ALERT #34

* ************* Southwest Biodiversity Alert #34 *****************
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*            southwest center for biological diversity           *
*                      ksuckling@sw-center.org                   *
*             http://www.envirolink.org/orgs/sw-center           *
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1.  SOUTHWEST LOGGING BAN CONTINUES: JUDGE THROWS OUT LATEST
    BIOLOGICAL OPINION

2.  SW FOREST ALLIANCE AD TARGETS CLINTON AT GRAND CANYON.

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1.  SOUTHWEST LOGGING BAN CONTINUES: JUDGE THROWS OUT LATEST
    BIOLOGICAL OPINION

Throwing out yet another Biological Opinion, Judge Carl Muecke has
reinstated his ban on logging in southwestern National Forests for a
third time. Muecke ruled that the Biological Opinion on the
programmatic effects of 11 SW Forest Plans on the Mexican spotted owl
did not specify a maximum level of incidental take and did not
consider the non-logging effects such as recreation developments and
road construction. He described the Fish and Wildlife Service's
inclusion of sales not yet contracted or cut in the environmental
baseline as a "house of mirrors" but did not order that part of the
Opinion to be redone.

If the additional work required to complete an adequate Biological
As the logging ban enters its 14th month, a poll found that 65% of
Arizonans supported the logging ban including 51% of Republicans,
70% of Democrats, and 75% of Independents.




2.  SW FOREST ALLIANCE AD TARGETS CLINTON AT GRAND CANYON.

As President Clinton announced a new 1.8 million acre National
Monument in southern Utah, the Southwest Forest Alliance took out a
full page at in the Northern Arizona Daily Sun asking Clinton to stop
the Bridger Fire Salvage Sale and repeal the Salvage Rider.  The
"Open Letter to President Clinton" asked him to keep his promise to
protect America's forests by repealing the Salvage Rider.

The Bridger Fire Sale, proposed at 35 million board feet, is on the
border of the Grand Canyon National Park. It is the largest planned
sale in the Region. The Southwest Center is hosting a gathering at
the proposed sale site this weekend. The Southwest Forest Alliance
includes over 50 forest activist groups in Arizona and New Mexico.