Subject: SW BIODIVERSITY ALERT
#52
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SOUTHWEST BIODIVERSITY ALERT
#52
2/27/97
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1.
CACTUS FERRUGINOUS PYGMY OWL LISTED AS ENDANGERED IN ARIZONA
2.
BUREAUCRATS SUPPRESS HABITAT PROTECTION FOR SOUTHWESTERN
WILLOW
FLYCATCHER- LETTERS NEEDED TODAY!
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CACTUS FERRUGINOUS PYGMY OWL LISTED AS ENDANGERED IN
ARIZONA
In response to a petition and three lawsuits by the
Southwest
Center, the USFWS will list the Cactus ferruginous pygmy owl
as
an endangered species on Friday, February 28th. The tiny
but
ferocious bird of prey is an obligate of the Southwest's
dwindling
mesquite/cottonwood and xeric riparian areas. The
Arizona
population has been reduced to 18 known pairs. A relatively
large
population remains on the private King Ranch in south central
Texas.
The Texas population will not be listed under the ESA
because of a
conservation agreement which the Center has not yet
seen.
Though most of the 18 Arizona pairs are in immediate peril from
proposed
housing developments in the Tucson area, the Fish and
Wildlife Service has
already stated it will issue take permits to
avoid conflicts. The Southwest
Center believes that any loss of
individual pygmy-owls will result in
jeopardizing the continued
existence of the
species.
The Service did not designate critical habitat as
required by the
ESA, so the Southwest Center will continue its ongoing
lawsuit for
habitat protection. The Center is represented by Matthew
Kenna
and Geoff Hickcox of Kenna and Associates.
BUREAUCRATS
SUPPRESS HABITAT PROTECTION FOR ENDANGERED SOUTHWESTERN
WILLOW FLYCATCHER-
LETTERS NEEDED TODAY!
The Southwest Center has obtained documents
showing that a
1994 Fish and Wildlife Service proposal to designate 1,200
river
miles of critical habitat for the Southwestern willow flycatcher
was
suppressed by high level bureaucrats who forced the agency to
falsely claim
that no critical habitat could be delineated because of
"scientific
uncertainty." The Southwest Center has sued the agency and
is currently
awaiting a court decision on critical habitat.
An obligate of riparian
habitat (especially bording wetlands), the
flycatcher has declined
dramatically since being listed as
endangered. Although the Fish and Wildlife
Service has stated that
"at current population levels, and with continuing
threats,
extinction of this species is foreseeable," it continues to issue
take
permits and authorize habitat degradation.
The following river
miles would have been protected:
CALIFORNIA
Santa
Ynez
30 Santa Ana River
16
Santa Margarita
20 San Luis
Rey 28
San
Dieguito
17 San Diego
River 5
Tijuana
River 3
ARIZONA
San Pedro
River 60 Gila
River 92
Salt
River
8 Tonto
Creek 4
Verde
River
90 Little
Colorado 30
Bill Williams
36 Santa Maria River
6
Big Sandy River
6 Colorado
River 55
Paria
River 8
NEW
MEXICO
Chama River
5 Rio Grande del Rancho
4
Rio Grande
264 Gila
River 95
San
Francisco
65
Tularosa/Apache 35
UTAH
Virgin
River
52 Shunes
Creek 4
Santa
Clara
4 Kanab
Creek 12
Paria
River
10 San Juan
River 36
Please write Nancy Kauffman, Southwest
Director of the Fish and
Wildlife Service; tell her to designate critical
habitat for the
Southwestern willow flycatcher and stop any more take of
this
endangered species:
U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service
500 Gold Ave. SW
Albuquerque, NM
87102
_______________________________________________________________________________
Kieran
Suckling
ksuckling@sw-center.org
Executive
Director
phone: 520-733-1391
Southwest Center for Biological
Diversity fax:
520-733-1404
POB 17839, Tucson, AZ
85731
www.envirolink.org/orgs/sw-center