Subject: SOUTHWEST BIODIVERSITY ALERT #34
* *************
Southwest Biodiversity Alert #34
*****************
*
*****
*****
*****
*
*
***
*
*
*
*
*
southwest center for biological
diversity
*
*
ksuckling@sw-center.org
*
*
http://www.envirolink.org/orgs/sw-center
*
******************************************************************
1.
SOUTHWEST LOGGING BAN CONTINUES: JUDGE THROWS OUT LATEST
BIOLOGICAL OPINION
2. SW FOREST ALLIANCE AD TARGETS CLINTON AT
GRAND CANYON.
*** *** ***
***
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.