Subject: SOUTHWEST BIODIVERSITY ALERT
#96
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SOUTHWEST BIODIVERSITY ALERT
#96
10/13/97
SOUTHWEST CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL
DIVERSITY
silver
city, tucson, phoenix, san
diego
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1. US
FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE, AND BLM CONSPIRE TO MAINTAIN GRAZING STATUS
QUO
2. SUIT FILED TO PRESERVE GILA BOX
3. CONGRESS STILL USING
RIDERS TO PUSH PERSONAL AGENDAS - KYL/DOMENICI RIDER
STILL
ALIVE
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US FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE, AND BLM CONSPIRE TO MAINTAIN GRAZING
STATUS QUO
A US Fish and Wildlife Service Biological Opinion has
concluded that cattle
grazing on hundreds of miles of Arizona streams and
former grasslands does
not jeopardize the existence of 15 endangered species,
if grazing conflicts
in riparian areas are removed. Although the FWS found
that grazing on 36
allotments has destroyed SW Willow Flycatcher habitat it
did not require the
BLM to make alterations to any specific allotments.
Responding to the
Opinion, the BLM stated it will remove livestock from
riparian areas on only
15 grazing allotments.
Eleven critically
imperiled species were left out of the consultation
process entirely.
Although no surveys were conducted the BLM determined
grazing has no effect
on the masked bobwhite quail based on the presumption
that no quails occupy
BLM lands. The same conclusion was reached for the
bald eagle, jaguar,
ocelot, and fish such as the Yaqui sucker, chub, and
topminnow were dismissed
because occupied streams are located off BLM lands.
Yet degraded BLM lands
make up a significant portion of the watersheds
occupied by these species,
and grazing on these lands has significantly
altered aquatic habitat
conditions.
The Opinion concludes a lengthy consultation intended to head
off a 1996
Southwest Center lawsuit. The Southwest Center is represented in
BLM grazing
litigation by Geoff Hickcox of Kenna and Associates.
SUIT
FILED TO PRESERVE GILA BOX
The struggle to bring real changes in
management of the Gila Box riparian
area has been taken to the courts. Too
busy working on mining plans, it has
been over five years since the BLM was
charged with making alterations that
could ban cattle and off-road vehicle
use in the congressionally protected
Gila Box Canyon.
Last week the
Southwest Center for Biological Diversity, Sierra Club, and
the Land and
Water Fund of the Rockies filed suit to have the BLM finish the
management
plan to protect the Gila Box, a process it started five years
ago. The draft
management plan released in 1993 contains alternatives that
would eliminate
cattle and off-road vehicle use in the ecologically
sensitive area, however
nothing has been done since the draft. Off-road
vehicle use, and cattle
continue to degrade the "protected area."
Gila Box Canyon is home to 174
kinds of birds, 45 reptiles, and amphibians,
42 mammals, and 21 fish. Among
them are the endangered peregrine falcon,
southwestern willow flycatcher,
razorback sucker, and bald eagle.
CONGRESS STILL USING RIDERS TO PUSH
PERSONAL AGENDAS - KYL/DOMENICI RIDER
STILL ALIVE
Despite the fact
that anti-environmental riders led to a government shutdown
in previous
years, Congress is back doing what it does best: making special
deals and
handing out special favors for its friends from behind closed
doors. These
riders are an affront to the public, which in the past has
plainly rejected
Congressional efforts to roll back or undermine
environmental protections and
to interfere in the management of public lands.
Fifteen
anti-environmental riders found their way to the Interior
Appropriations Bill
currently before Congress. From striping funds for the
Land and Water
Conservation Fund to turning portions of the Lake Clark
National Park in
Alaska over for corporate degradation, these riders are all
special deals
that have not considered the public's point of view.
We have written a
letter to President Clinton and Members of Congress urging
them to remove
these riders and specifically the rider added by Senators Kyl
and Domenici.
This rider removes the ability of the Forest Service to comply
with a current
Court Order to stop all grazing activities which violate
current management
plans. This injunction came about as a result of a suit
filed, by the
Southwest Center for Biological Diversity and Forest
Guardians, to prevent
activities in the Southwest National Forests which
violate current management
plans. We have obtained over 40 organizations'
and many individuals'
signatures to our
letter.
____________________________________________________________________________
Shane
Jimerfield
Tel: 520.623.5252, ext.
302
Assistant Director
Fax: 520.623.9797
Southwest Center
for Biological Diversity email:
sjimerfield@sw-center.org
PO Box 710, Tucson AZ
85702-0710
http://www.sw-center.org