Subject: SW BIODIVERSITY ALERT
#54
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SOUTHWEST BIODIVERSITY ALERT
#54
3/9/97
SOUTHWEST CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL
DIVERSITY
silver city,
tucson, phoenix, san
diego
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1.
SUIT FILED TO STOP EXOTIC SPECIES FROM ENTERING GILA AND SAN
PEDRO RIVER SYSTEMS VIA CENTRAL ARIZONA PROJECT
2. 10TH CIRCUIT COURT
THROWS OUT CRITICAL HABITAT FOR MEXICAN
SPOTTED OWL
3.
CLINTON ADMINISTRATION SHOWS LUKEWARM SUPPORT FOR KEMPTHORNE
EXTINCTION BILL
*** *** ***
***
SUIT FILED TO STOP EXOTIC SPECIES FROM ENTERING GILA AND SAN
PEDRO
RIVER SYSTEMS VIA CENTRAL ARIZONA PROJECT
Represented by
Earthlaw, the Southwest Center has sued the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service
for allowing exotic species to enter the
Gila River basin via the canals of
the Central Arizona Project
(CAP).
CAP is a 5 billion dollar federal
subsidy which transports water
from the Colorado River, 350 miles across
Arizona to the Phoenix
and Tucson areas. The canal system is an exotic
species
superhighway enabling fish, mollusks, bacteria, and disease
to
travel from the heavily contaminated Colorado River to the Verde,
Salt,
Gila and San Pedro Rivers. Exotic species feed upon,
compete with, and infect
endangered native fish. Every native fish
in the Gila River is either
threatened, endangered, or a candidate
species.
In 1994, the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service declared that CAP will
jeopardize the continued
existence of the Loach minnow,
Spikedace, Razorback sucker and Gila
topminnow. To mitigate the
impact, the agency required the continued use of
electronic
barriers and the building of check dams on the San Pedro
River
and Aravaipa Creek to prevent the movement of exotic species,
and
the transfer of $12.5 from the Bureau of Reclamation to the
U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service for unspecified fish recovery
efforts.
The Southwest
Center filed suit against the Fish and Wildlife
Service
because:
- Check dams do not work during the frequent flood
conditions in
the Gila basin. Electronic barriers have also proven to
be
ineffective.
- Check dams fragment river habitat,
preventing upstream movement
by native fish.
- CAP's
impact on the Hassayampa, Agua Fria, and Santa Cruz rivers
was not
taken into account.
- CAP's impact on other endangered species
such as the Bonytail
chub was not taken into account.
-
There is no requirement to prevent exotic species from entering
the
CAP system.
- There is no requirement to prohibit introduction of
exotic
species into the Gila River.
10TH CIRCUIT COURT
THROWS OUT CRITICAL HABITAT FOR MEXICAN SPOTTED OWL
A 10th Circuit
Federal judge has barred the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service from enforcing
4.8 million acres of critical habitat for the
Mexican spotted owl in Arizona
and New Mexico. The judge ruled
that critical habitat designation must be
done in accordance with
NEPA. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service policy states
that separate
NEPA analyses are not necessary since the Endangered
Species
Act requires and economic analysis for critical habitat. The
ruling
was not a surprise since the 10th circuit in 1995 threw out
critical
habitat for the Loach minnow and Spikedace on the same
grounds.
Since the 9th Circuit has ruled that NEPA analysis is
*not*
necessary, the issue is ripe for review by the supreme court.
The
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service refused to bring the
Loach
minnow/Spikedace case to the Supreme Court, however,
choosing
instead to penalize the two fish with no habitat protection.
The
Southwest Center has filed notice that it will sue the agency
for
failing to protect the habitat of the two fish.
Critical habitat
was first designated for the Mexican spotted owl in
1995 as a result of
lawsuit filed by the Southwest Center, Forest
Guardians, Maricopa Audubon
Society, and Carson Forest Watch.
The plaintiffs were represented by
Earthlaw
CLINTON ADMINISTRATION SHOWS LUKEWARM SUPPORT FOR
KEMPTHORNE-CHAFEE
EXTINCTION BILL
In its first public comment on a
draft ESA reauthorization bill
sponsored by Senator's Kempthorne and Chafee,
the Clinton
Administration has disappointed environmentalists by
showing
less than outright opposition. In a letter to the Providence
Journal,
Secretary of Interior Bruce Babbitt criticizes portions of the
bill,
but maintains it is the proper starting point for the
ESA
reauthorization process:
"Senators Kempthorne and Chafee
circulated their proposal as a
discussion document and we should
consider it only a starting
point. Believe me, the draft has a
long way to go before I could
support it. ...Those Americans,
like Ms. Landen and myself, who
believe strongly in the need to
protect the Endangered Species Act
should respond in kind, make our
objections known in a constructive
way and work together with Sen.
Chafee and others in Congress to
protect our wildlife. I agree
that the Kempthorne-Chafee proposal
in its present form is not what
Americans want or what our
threatened wildlife needs. But it is
a starting point from which
people acting in good faith can
begin."
The Chafee-Kempthorne bill retains many of the objectionable
portions
of last year's very controversial Industry-Environmental Defense
Fund
bill.
_______________________________________________________________________________
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