Subject: FW: SW BIODIVERSITY ALERT #79

Subject: SW BIODIVERSITY ALERT #79

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              SOUTHWEST BIODIVERSITY ALERT #79
                           5/31/97          

          SOUTHWEST CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY
           silver city, tucson, phoenix, san diego
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1.  SOUTHWEST LOGGING SHUT DOWN AGAIN!  APPEALS COURT ORDERS
    HALT OF MOST TIMBER SALES IN ARIZONA AND NEW MEXICO

2.  GILA NATIONAL FOREST LOGS NATION'S FIRST WILDERNESS AREA

3.  USFWS SEEKS TO DELAY GOSHAWK E.S.A. LISTING

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SOUTHWEST LOGGING SHUT DOWN AGAIN!  APPEALS COURT ORDERS HALT OF
MOST TIMBER SALES IN ARIZONA AND NEW MEXICO

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a preliminary injunction on
Friday, May 30th, shutting down all timber sales on all National
Forests in Arizona and New Mexico which are inconsistent with the
recently amended Forest Plans. About 25 of 30 active timber sales
will be affected, including the Bridger Salvage sale on the Kaibab
National Forest, the Hay Timber sale on the Apache-Sitgreaves
National Forest, and the La Manga sale on the Carson National
Forest. Logging will be stopped on about 75,000 acres.

All logging was previously enjoined from August 1995 to December
1996 on all SW National Forests and the Navajo Reservation. The
injunction was lifted when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
completed a Biological Opinion and the U.S. Forest Service agreed
to amend all eleven Forest Plans to conform to the Mexican spotted
owl recovery plan. While the Forest Service agreed to subject all
new logging to the recovery plan, it insisted that previously
authorized timber sales did not need to meet the new requirements. 

In September 1996, Forest Guardians, the Southwest Center for
Biological Diversity, and Dr. Robin Silver filed suit, arguing that
NFMA requires previously authorized timber sales be revised to be
consistent with Forest Plan amendments. In December, 1996 we
requested a preliminary injunction. The court stayed the request until
the summary judgement motion was resolved. In January, 1997 we
filed a motion to reconsider the injunction request. The court did not
respond, so on May 15th we appealed, claiming the lack of response
is equivalent to a denial. The Appeals Court agreed, and on May
30th, ruled that the preliminary injunction should have been granted.

The case  (CIV 96-2258-PHX-PGR) was argued by Mark Hughes
of Earthlaw (Denver) and Steve Sugarman (Santa Fe). They also
argued the 16 month injunction case.

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GILA NATIONAL FOREST LOGS NATION'S FIRST WILDERNESS AREA

Is this 1997? Gila National Forest firefighters cut down over 100 old
growth snags, with chainsaws, inside the Gila Wilderness on May
27, 1997. The crew told Dave Foreman (Wildlands Project) who
discovered the incident while hiking, that it was part of a routine
"fire management plan." In a letter to the Gila National Forest,
Forman, warned that he almost "blew half a dozen arteries" and
wondered whether the fire crew was on "methamphetamines and ran
amuk with their chainsaws."

Call the Forest Service today! Tell them to stop logging the
wilderness, and stop logs snags anywhere on the Forest.

Able Camerina, Gila Forest Supervisor 3005 E. Camino del Bosque
Silver City, NM 88061 505-388-8201

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USFWS SEEKS TO DELAY GOSHAWK ESA LISTING

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is under a court order to decide
whether to propose the Queen Charlotte goshawk as an endangered
species by May 31, 1997. It has asked the Court for an additional
90-days to consider the effects of the Tongass National Forest's
newly revised Forest Plan. The plaintiffs, however, are opposing the
request, arguing that the Service has delayed long enough, and that
existing information already demonstrates that the goshawk is
endangered.

The Southwest Center for Biological Diversity, Northwest
Ecosystem Alliance, Native Forest Network, and Don Mueller of the
Sitka Conservation Society petitioned the Fish and Wildlife Service
to list the imperiled raptor as endangered in May, 1994. The Queen
Charlotte goshawk is an obligate of old growth temperate rainforests
from Southeast Alaska, through coastal British Columbia, to the
Olympic Peninsula in Washington State.

The agency ruled that the raptor was imperiled, but denied the
petition, claiming that a promise by the Tongass National Forest to
develop an adequate conservation plan as part of its revised Forest
Plan was adequate protection. Judge Sporkin (Washington, DC)
disagreed, throwing out the denial and ordering the Service to
prepare a new decision.

In a related case, Judge Bilby (Tucson, AZ) told the Fish and
Wildlife Service in oral hearings, that he will throw out its negative
90-day finding on a Southwest Center petition to list the Apache and
northern goshawks as endangered in the 11 western states. A written
order is expected soon. This will be the second time Bilby has
thrown out a negative decision by the Service.

Between them, the three northern goshawk subspecies live in every
western old growth forest not occupied by the three spotted owl
subspecies.

The Queen Charlotte goshawk case is being argued by Kathy Meyer
of Meyer & Glitzenstein (DC), the Apache and northern goshawk
case is being argued by Matt Kenna (Durango) and Dan Rolf
(Portland).

Kieran Suckling                               ksuckling@sw-center.org
Executive Director                            520.733.1391 phone
Southwest Center for Biological Diversity     520.733.1404 fax
http://www.envirolink.org/orgs/sw-center      pob 17839, tucson, az 85731