Subject: SW BIODIVERSITY ALERT
#88
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SOUTHWEST BIODIVERSITY ALERT
#88
8/11/97
SOUTHWEST CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL
DIVERSITY
silver
city, tucson, phoenix, san
diego
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1.
COURT REJECTS FOREST SERVICE ATTEMPT TO EVADE
TIMBER/GRAZING
INJUNCTION
2. GOSHAWK NUMBERS
LOOK GRIM IN NEW MEXICO-
FOREST SERVICE RESEARCHER WON'T
ACKNOWLEDGE RESULTS
***** *****
***** *****
COURT REJECTS FOREST SERVICE ATTEMPT
TO EVADE TIMBER/GRAZING INJUNCTION
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on
August 8, 1997, rejected a
request by the Forest Service to lift or delay its
recent injunction
against timber sales and grazing permits on National
Forests in AZ
and NM.
Though the injunction was issued on July 25,
1997, the Forest
Service has yet to move or remove any cattle from
allotments
which violate Forest Plan standards and guidelines. It
estimates
that up to half of the region's 1,300 allotments may be subject
the
injunction. The Forest Service has also refused to halt logging on
a
number timber sales identified by Forest Guardians and the
Southwest
Center to violate the injunction.
In denying the Forest Service's
request, the Appeals Court stated:
"Contempt proceedings may be brought in
the district court for
any violation of the
injunction."
_____
_____ _____ _____
GOSHAWK
NUMBERS LOOK GRIM IN NEW MEXICO-
FOREST SERVICE RESEARCHER WON'T ACKNOWLEDGE
RESULTS
According to a report by the New Mexico Department of Game
and
Fish, goshawk data gathered between 1991 and 1996 indicate
a declining
goshawk population on New Mexico National Forests.
Territories occupied by
nesting birds dropped from 71% to 42%,
successful nesting dropped from 85.5%
to 31.4%, and average
young per nest declined from 1.57 to 0.54. The study
also notes
that Forest Service monitoring of goshawk nests sites has
also
decreased dramatically.
A Forest Service sponsored researcher,
meanwhile, has published
an article in the Journal of Raptor Research
(31(2):95-106)
arguing that the Southwest Center's petition to list the
Northern
goshawk as endangered in the western U.S. should be denied.
Patricia
Kennedy claims that there are no data to indicate that
goshawks
should be protected under the ESA. To make her point,
however, Kennedy
establishes her own criteria for listing under the
ESA, completely ignoring
the five legally binding criteria of the
ESA. Even more astounding, Kennedy
refused to acknowledge
any unpublished reports (i.e. 90% of all goshawk
literature and
data, including the New Mexico Game and Fish
report).
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service must decide in
September
whether to issue a positive 90-day ruling on the
Southwest
Center's petition. Federal Courts have struck down two
previous
denials.
_____________________________________________________________________________
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