Subject: FW: SW BIODIVERSITY ALERT #80

Subject: SW BIODIVERSITY ALERT #80

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              SOUTHWEST BIODIVERSITY ALERT #80
                           6/9/97          

          SOUTHWEST CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY
           silver city, tucson, phoenix, san diego
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1.  QUEEN CHARLOTTE GOSHAWK E.S.A. DECISION DELAYED 90 DAYS

2.  CENTRAL ARIZONA PROJECT DEFUNDS FISH PROTECTION

3.  FOREST SERVICE VIOLATES LOGGING INJUNCTION

4.  FOIA SUIT FILED AGAINST C.E.Q.- AGENCY HIDING DOCUMENTS LINKING
    CLINTON ADMINISTRATION TO SUBVERSION OF E.S.A.

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QUEEN CHARLOTTE GOSHAWK E.S.A. DECISION DELAYED 90 DAYS

A Washington, D.C. court has granted the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service an additional 90 days to decide if it will propose the Queen
Charlotte goshawk as an endangered species. In response to a
petition and lawsuit filed by the Southwest Center for Biological
Diversity, the Northwest Ecosystem Alliance and others, the court
threw out an earlier decision by the agency not to list the species,
ordering a new decision by May 31, 1997. The agency has been
granted an extension to consider the impact of the new Tongass
Forest Plan. The new decision date is August 31, 1997.

The Queen Charlotte goshawk is an obligate of old growth coastal
rainforests from Southeast Alaska, the British Columbia coast, and
the Olympic peninsula. The Southwest Center is expecting a
favorable ruling soon on a separate petition and lawsuit to list the
Apache and northern goshawks as endangered in all 11 western
states. The Apache and northern goshawks are dependent upon
interior old growth forests, especially ponderosa pine.
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CENTRAL ARIZONA PROJECT DEFUNDS FISH PROTECTION

For the second year in a row, the Central Arizona Project (CAP) has
requested a decrease in its own budget to cut funding for protection
of endangered fish. The cut will eliminate funds to construct fish
barriers to protect the loach minnow, spikedace, Gila topminnow, and
razorback sucker from competition with, and predation by exotic
fish. CAP transports water and exotic fish from the Colorado River,
350 miles across central Arizona, to deliver them into the Gila River
system. The fish barriers are required by a 1994 biological opinion
which determined CAP will jeopardize the existence of the four
species.

The biological opinion was rushed to completion after the Southwest
Center threatened to file suit against the Bureau of Reclamation for
operating the canal system without Fish and Wildlife Service
approval. The Center is currently challenging the adequacy of the
biological opinion in court.

According to a 6/8/97 article in the Arizona Republic: "It seems like
a surprising turn since Arizona politicians have had their hands out
for federal funds in the $4.7 billion project for half a century. On
close inspection, however, the recent offer by CAP managers isn't
just about trimming the budget. It's another shot in a war over things
that really matter: the survival of endangered species.
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FOREST SERVICE VIOLATES LOGGING INJUNCTION

On May 30, 1997, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a
preliminary injunction banning logging on all southwestern timber
sales which violate recently amended forest plans. The Forest
Service has suspended logging on all or part of 20 timber sales,
about 2/3 of the regional total. The agency, however, claims that the
Bridger Salvage timber sale on the north rim of the Grand Canyon is
exempt from the injunction and its own forest plans. The Kaibab
National Forest admits that the sale violates mandatory leave tree
requirements, but argues that salvage sales are inexplicably exempt
from the requirements.

All eleven Southwest National Forests amended their forest plans in
1996 to add protective measures for the threatened Mexican spotted
owl and the imperiled northern goshawk. The amendments
effectively ended a 16 month injunction. The agency, however,
refused to update older timber sales to comply with the new
amendments, leading to the second injunction. Both lawsuits were
filed by Earthlaw (Denver) and Steve Sugarman (Santa Fe).

The 11 million board foot Bridger sale is the largest in the region. It
has been appealed by the Southwest Center and has been the focus of
numerous demonstrations, full page newspaper ads, and civil
disobedience.
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FOIA SUIT FILED AGAINST C.E.Q.- AGENCY HIDING DOCUMENTS LINKING
CLINTON ADMINISTRATION TO SUBVERSION OF E.S.A.

The Southwest Center for Biological Diversity filed suit against the
Council on Environmental Quality on March 30, 1997 for refusing
to provide politically embarrassing documents as required by the
Freedom of Information Act. The documents show that Katie
McGinty, a presidential appointee and head of CEQ, conspired with
California Congressman Calvin Dooley and deputy Secretary of
Interior, John Garamandi, to subvert the Endangered Species Act.

McGinty and Garamandi illegally intervened in an Endangered
Species Act consultation over the effects of Lake Isabella dam (CA)
on the endangered southwestern willow flycatcher. They arranged
secret meetings with Congressman Dooley to override Fish and
Wildlife Service biologists' attempts to alter management of the dam
to protect the endangered songbird.

The Southwest Center won a similar lawsuit in 1996 against John
Garamandi's office for hiding politically and legally embarrassing
documents. The documents led to a Southwest Center petition to filed
criminal charges against Garamandi. Both suits were filed by Larry
Sanders of Berliner Law Offices (Nevada City, CA).



________________________ !!! NEW ADDRESS !!!  ______________________________

Kieran Suckling                               ksuckling@sw-center.org
Executive Director                            520.623.5252 phone
Southwest Center for Biological Diversity     520.623.9797 fax
http://www.envirolink.org/orgs/sw-center      pob 710, tucson, az 85702-710