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SOUTHWEST CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL
DIVERSITY
http://www.sw-center.org
#172
2-12-98
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o
SUIT AGAINST MASSIVE PERMIT TO KILL ENDANGERED SPECIES GROWS
o SUMMARY
JUDGEMENT MOTION FILED IN QUEEN CHARLOTTE GOSHAWK CASE
o ARIZONA REPUBLICANS
SEEK TO BAN WILDLIFE AGREEMENTS
o 1999 FEDERAL GRAZING FEE ANNOUNCED: STILL
$1.35 PER AUM
o GOOD READING: WASTE OF THE
WEST
*****
***** ***** *****
SUIT AGAINST
MASSIVE PERMIT TO KILL ENDANGERED SPECIES GROWS
In what one newspaper called
a "shock wave to San Diego developers,"
numerous local environmental groups
joined a lawsuit originally filed
by the Southwest Center, the California
Native Plant Society and
others on 12-10-98. The suit seeks to invalidate
permits allowing the
killing of threatened and endangered wetland species
under a
massive county wide plan designed to "balance" the interests
of
protecting open space and endangered species with continued
urban
sprawl.
Ninety five percent of Southern California's vernal
pools have
already been destroyed. The plan, formerly thought to have
broad
consensus, allows the destruction of 12% of the remaining
pools.
Affidavits opposing further destruction were filed by two
of
California's most renowned vernal pool ecologists, both of whom
have
worked with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service on recovery plans
for
vernal pool species.
The suit now includes the Southwest Center,
the California Native
Plant Society, the Sierra Club, San Diego Audubon
Society, San Diego
Herpetological Society, Earth Media Inc., Horned Lizard
Conservation
Society, Preserve South Bay, Wetlands Actions Network, Save
Our
Forests and Ranchlands, Carmel Mountain Conservancy, Preserve
Wild
Santee, Iron Mountain Conservancy and Ramonans for Sensible
Growth.
It is being argued by Neil Levine of EarthLaw, Dan Rohlf of
the
Pacific Environmental Advocacy Center, and Tara
Mueller.
____________________________
SUMMARY
JUDGEMENT MOTION FILED IN QUEEN CHARLOTTE GOSHAWK CASE
On 1-25-99, the
Southwest Center, the Biodiversity Legal Foundation
and the Sitka
Conservation Society filed a motion for summary
judgement in its case against
the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service for
refusing to consider the Queen
Charlotte goshawk for protection
under the Endangered Species Act. We are
seeking an order from
federal judge Stanley Sporkin, requiring the agency to
formally
propose the Queen Charlotte goshawk as an endangered
species.
The Queen Charlotte goshawk depends on old growth
rainforest
habitats on the Tongass National Forest, insular British
Columbia,
the Olympic Peninsula, and possibly the Washington and
Oregon
coast ranges. Clearcutting has massively reduced the
species
habitat and population. Despite an extensive survey effort,
only
10 pairs were known to nest on the Tongass in 1996, and 18 in
British
Columbia. Full protection for the goshawk will entail
drastic
cutbacks in logging throughout the species range
We are
represented by Kathy Meyer of Meyer &
Glitzenstein.
____________________________
1999 FEDERAL GRAZING FEE ANNOUNCED: STILL
SUBSIDIZED AT $1.35 PER AUM
On 2-11-99 the Bureau of Land Management
announced that the 1999 fee
for grazing cattle, horses, and sheep on federal
public lands would
remain $1.35 per "animal unit month." This means $1.35 per
month for
either one cow and calf, one horse, or 5 sheep. Try to feed your
gold
fish on $1.35 a month.
Not only is this is a massive subsidy, it
is the lowest possible fee
permitted by law. It is derived from a base value
determined in 1966!
____________________________
ARIZONA REPUBLICANS SEEK TO BAN WILDLIFE
AGREEMENTS
The Republican dominated Arizona state legislature has introduced
a
bill that would prohibit the Arizona Department of Game and Fish
from
implementing any cooperative agreements with the U.S. Fish &
Wildlife
Service to protect threatened or endangered species, unless
the
agreement is first approved by both the house and senate and signed
by
the Governor. Since all three are notoriously anti-wildlife, the
bill would
essentially kill future agreements.
The original version of HB 2028 would
have prohibited any person or
group from signing an agreement without
approval from the legislature.
This version was directly aimed at settlement
agreements between
environmentalists and the Forest Service which have
dramatically reduced
logging and grazing levels in the Southwest in recent
years. Luckily, it
was pointed out that such a bill would violate the U.S.
constitution.
The final version is aimed at stopping many good
initiatives by the
Arizona Department of Game and Fish, including
reintroduction of the
endangered Gila trout to the Verde River
Basin.
__________________________
GOOD
READING: WASTE OF THE WEST
Overgrazing harms more endangered species in the
West than logging,
mining, farming, or development. The livestock industry
uses 70%
of the West for grazing, most of it on public land. "Waste of the
West"
by Lynn Jacobs explores the remarkably sordid, cruel, wasteful,
and
destructive world of public lands ranching. Forget cowboy movies
and
western novels, find out what really goes on out there in the
vast
rural West.
Waste of the West is 8 1/2" X 11", 602 pages, and
heavily illustrated with
more than 1000 photos, drawings, cartoons, graphics,
and maps. The book is
now available from our web site @
http://www.sw-center.org/swcbd/grazing/waste.html
_____________________________________________________________________________
Kierán
Suckling
ksuckling@sw-center.org
Executive
Director
520.623.5252 phone
Southwest Center for Biological
Diversity 520.623.9797 fax
http://www.sw-center.org
pob 710, tucson, az 85702-710