Subject: SW Biodiversity Alert
**** **** SOUTHWEST
BIODIVERSITY ALERT **** ****
Southwest Center for Biological
Diversity
swcbd@igc.apc.org
SOUTHWEST CENTER SUES BUREAU OF
WRECK-THE-NATION
The Southwest Center has filed a lawsuit against the Bureau
of
Reclamation in an effort to prevent complete filling of Roosevelt
Lake
behind the recently raised Roosevelt Dam in central Arizona.
Filling of the
lake behind the dam would flood extensive
cottonwood/willow riparian habitat
home to 40% of Arizona's breeding
population of southwestern willow
flycatchers. The suit alleges
inadequate NEPA analysis and violation of the
Endangered Species Act.
SALVAGE MANIA HITS THE GILA
The Gila
National Forest has announced plans to offer a timber sale
within the Eagle
Peak roadless area burned by last summer's HB Fire.
Located between Reserve
and Mogollon, New Mexico, in the southwest
corner of the State, the HB Sale
is offered under the logging without
laws salvage rider. Old growth mixed
conifer and ponderosa pine forests
in the area represent one of the largest
intact old growth forests remaining
in the southwest. Substantial
concentrations of Mexican spotted owls
and other old growth dependent species
are found within the sale area.
During the recent scoping process, the
Southwest Center proposed the
Natural Recovery Alternative (NRA) for
consideration. Under this
alternative, the Gila NF would remove livestock
from the area,
discontinue all fire suppression activities, and initiate
intensive
monitoring of forest recovery. Activists are already planning
for
woods action should this sale slip through the current moratorium
on
cutting in MSO habitat.
NEW WOLF POLL RESULTS
A survey of
rural residents in southwestern New Mexico counties found
a majority favored
re-introduction of the Mexican wolf. Of 204 adults
queried, 52% supported the
re-introduction proposal while 34% were
opposed. The poll also found
statewide support for the proposal
running at 62%. The state had previously
stated that it opposed any
wolf re-introduction efforts because it believed
support in affected
rural counties was "practically
nonexistent."
GILA RIVER CHANNELIZATION PROPOSAL
In yet another
example of a federal agency proposing to turn the
reins of regulation over to
resource-hostile county agencies, the
Army Corps of Engineers is fielding a
proposal to allow "management"
of the upper Gila River in New Mexico by the
Soil and Water
Conservation Districts of Grant and Hidalgo Counties and
private
parties. The proposal itself is extremely vague; while
the
Conservation Districts are the applicants, it appears that anyone
with
a D-9 could actually participate without Corps oversight.
Current plans
entail extensive river channelization, and dike and
levy construction. This
stretch of the upper Gila still supports
many species which have already been
extirpated from the rest of
the Gila basin including the loach minnow and
spikedace, and the
largest remaining population of southwestern willow
flycatchers. The
Southwest Center is already planning litigation should a
permit be
issued for this project.
For more information please
contact us at P.O. Box 17839, Tucson,
AZ, 85731, (520)
733-1391.