Subject: FW: SW BIODIVERSITY ALERT #63

Subject: SW BIODIVERSITY ALERT #63

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           SOUTHWEST BIODIVERSITY ALERT #63
                        4/7/97          

         SOUTHWEST CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY
          silver city, tucson, phoenix, san diego
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1. ELEVEN MILLION BOARD FOOT SALVAGE SALE APPEALED- LETTERS NEEDED

2. PUBLIC LAND TRADES/SALES CHALLENGED- MINING COMPANY ATTEMPTING
   TO OBTAIN OVER 20,000 ACRES OF PUBLIC LAND

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ELEVEN MILLION BOARD FOOT SALVAGE SALE APPEALED- LETTERS NEEDED

The Southwest Center today appealed the Kaibab National Forest's
11 million board foot Bridger Salvage Timber Sale.  The largest
southwestern timber sale in over a decade, Bridger would  virtually
clearcut 2,700 acres, leaving only 2-3 trees per acre- right up to the
edge of Grand Canyon National Park. Tens of thousands of giant
pines will be logged, including 1,500 trees over 30 inches dbh. The
Forest Service estimates it will lose $1 million on the sale.

Prior to the appeal, the Southwest Center delivered a petition signed
by 1,000 people opposed to the sale to the Forest Service. Last
December, eight protesters were arrested at a demonstration
sponsored by the Center, the Student Environmental Action Coalition
and Arizona Earth First! A gathering of citizens against the Bridger
Sale will be held in the Kaibab National Forest on May 17- 20, 1997.

Please write: Connie Fritsch,
              Supervisor, Kaibab National Forest
              800 S. 6th St.
              Williams, AZ 86046


PUBLIC LAND TRADES/SALES CHALLENGED- MINING COMPANY ATTEMPTING TO
OBTAIN OVER 20,000 ACRES OF PUBLIC LAND

The Southwest Center and the San Carlos Apache tribe today filed a
notice of appeal against the trade of 3,600 acres of BLM land for
1,000 acres of Phelps Dodge land. Though land in the area typically
sells for $1,000 an acre, the BLM has valued the lands it would trade
away at only $125 an acre. The 3,6000 acres surrounds Phelps
Dodge's Morenci Mine, yet BLM refused to analyze the  effects of
future mining on the property, claiming it can't reasonably foresee
what Phelps Dodge wants the land for. Fifty acres within a proposed
BLM Wild & Scenic River corridor where dropped from the trade
following complaints from the Center.

On the banks of the San Francisco River, the Morenci Mine is one of
the largest open pit copper mines in the world. Pre-dating NEPA, it
has never been subject to environmental review. If BLM admits that
the traded land will become part of the Morenci operation, it would be
forced to review the cumulative effects of the entire mine.

Earlier this year, the Southwest Center won an  appeal of a BLM plan
to sell 460 acres of land to Phelps Dodge for $400 an acre. The sale
would have allowed Phelps Dodge to reopen its Lavender Mine, just
outside Bisbee, AZ. The BLM is now analyzing the effects of future
mining on the environment.

Following objections from the Center, the BLM has also reversed
itself on the Lone Star land exchange, agreeing to analyze the effects
of future mining on the 18,000 acres it will receive in exchange for
4,000 acres of public land. Earlier, the BLM had argued no analysis
was necessary since it had know way of knowing if Phelps Dodge
planned to mine the land. The Center produced sections from Phelps
Dodge's Annual Report and newspaper stories proving the company
planned the trade in order to expand mining.

The Final EIS on the Little Rock  Mine in southern New Mexico has
been delayed at least six months following complaints from the Center
that the BLM was wrongfully claiming there is no connection
between Phelps Dodge's decision to mine 460 acres of public land, the
shipping of the ore to a processing plant at its Tyrone mine, and the
operations of the Tyrone mine itself. Also begun prior to NEPA, the
Tyrone mine has never been subject to environmental analysis. A full
cumulative effects review will have to cover both mines including
their effects on the Gila River and Mangas Creek.

Kieran Suckling                               ksuckling@sw-center.org
Executive Director                            505.733.1391 phone
Southwest Center for Biological Diversity     505.733.1404 fax
http://www.envirolink.org/orgs/sw-center      pob 17839, tucson, az 85731