Subject: FW: SW BIODIVERSITY ALERT #179

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        SOUTHWEST CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY
                 http//www.sw-center.org
        #179                               4-12-99
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o BELUGA WHALE MAKES FIRST STEP TOWARD RECOVERY-
  FEDS CONFIRM E.S.A. LISTING PETITION
o SUIT PLANNED TO PROTECT 30 IMPERILED PLANTS AND ANIMALS
o SUIT PLANNED TO FORCE STATEWIDE REVIEW OF B.L.M. IMPACTS TO ENDANGERED
  SPECIES ACROSS CALIFORNIA
o GROUPS REFUSE TO PARTICIPATE IN COLORADO RIVER "CONSERVATION" PLAN-
  ASK BABBITT TO REFORM PROCESS TO PROTECT ENDANGERED SPECIES

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BELUGA WHALE MAKES FIRST STEP TOWARD RECOVERY-
FEDS CONFIRM E.S.A. LISTING PETITION
On 4-2-99, the National Marine Fisheries Service issued an official
90-day finding agreeing with the assessment of a petition to list the
Cook Inlet beluga whale as an endangered species. The petition, filed
on 3-3-99 by the Center for Biological Diversity, former Inupiat whale
hunter Joel Blatchford, Trustees of Alaska, the Center for Marine
Conservation and others, documents the rapid decline of the beluga
due to over hunting and likely impacts to it habitat and prey base by
commercial fishing, oil production, and excessive boat traffic.

Formerly seen throughout the northern Gulf of Alaska from Cook Inlet to
Yakutat Bay, the beluga is now restricted to Cook Inlet. Even there, it
has become very rare in the lower inlet and is continuing to decline in
the upper inlet. The National Marine Fisheries Service estimates that
the 1994 population of 653 whales dropped to 347 by 1998. In the 1970s,
by contrast, it was common to see 450 or more whales in a single day.

The 90-day finding is the first of three hurdles a species must pass
to be protected under the Endangered Species Act. The National Marine
Fisheries Service must determine whether to formally propose listing
with in 10 months, and whether to issue a final rule by March, 2001.

For more information visit our web site at
http://www.sw-center.org/swcbd/activist/beluga.html
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SUIT PLANNED TO PROTECT 30 IMPERILED PLANTS AND ANIMALS
On 2-24-99, the Center for Biological Diversity formally informed the
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service that it will file suit to protect 3O
imperiled plants and animals if the agency does not take immediate
steps to list and protect them under the Endangered Species Act.
The Fish & Wildlife Service has completed status reviews on all 3O
species and has proposed them for protection under the E.S.A., but
has refused to issue final, legally binding decisions because of
political interference.

The species include ten Hawaiian plants threatened by habitat loss and
feral animals, a fish from UT threatened by water diversions and
habitat loss, a rabbit and a woodrat from California's central valley
imperiled by livestock grazing and development, several plants from CA,
OR, and WA threatened by livestock grazing and development, and a snake
from Ohio threatened by development.

OREGON AND WASHINGTON           TEXAS, UTAH, New Mexico
Rough Popcornflower                     Zapata Bladderpod
Howell's Spectacular Thelypody  Desert milk vetch
Wenatchee Mountains Checkermallow       Willamette daisy                       
Kincaid's lupine                       
                                        HAWAII                                 
CALIFORNIA                              Kauai Cave Wolf Spider
Baker's Larkspur                        Hedyotis schlechtendahliana var. remyi
Yellow Larkspur                 Alani
Ione Manzanita                  Haha (3 species)
Ione (Irish Hill) buckwheat             Kamakahala
Keck's Checkermallow                    Kohe malama malama o kanaloa
Riparian Woodrat                        Kamakahala
Riparian Brush Rabbit           Oha Wai
                                        Newcomb's Snail
OTHER                                   Blackburn's sphinx moth
Lake Erie Water Snake           Na'ena'e
Catesbaea melanocarpa           Kauai Cave Amphipod
     ____________________________

SUIT PLANNED TO FORCE STATEWIDE REVIEW OF B.L.M. IMPACTS TO ENDANGERED
SPECIES ACROSS CALIFORNIA
On 2-27-99, the Center for Biological Diversity formally informed the
Bureau of Land Management that it will file suit to compel the agency
to review the cumulative impacts of its programs in CA for systematic
and ongoing harm to 75 threatened and endangered species on tens of
millions of acres of public land. The  agency is piece mealing species to
extinction with hundreds of timber sales, new roads, grazing allotments,
water diversions, mines, and oil and gas extraction without ever
systematically assessing the total impact of all its actions as required by
the Endangered Species Act.

The B.L.M. has 60 days in which to initiate the review, request that
the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service prepare a formal biological opinion,
and halt adverse affects. If it does not, the Center will file suit. Among
the species affected are the Peninsular bighorn sheep, San Diego
thornmint, Morro manzanita, California jewel flower, Santa Ana River
wooly star, Santa Monica Mts. Dudleya, Kern mallow, Southwestern
willow flycatcher, Least Bell's vireo, California gnatcatcher, Arroyo
toad, and Northern spotted owl.
     ___________________________

GROUPS REFUSE TO PARTICIPATE IN COLORADO RIVER "CONSERVATION" PLAN-
ASK BABBITT TO REFORM PROCESS TO PROTECT ENDANGERED SPECIES
A Coalition of nine groups led by Defenders of Wildlife and the Southwest
Center sent a letter to Interior Secretary Babbitt pledging not to
participate in the industry driven Lower Colorado River Multi-Species
Conservation Program absent major reforms. The groups specifically called
for program expansion TO address effects of U.S. River operations on the 
Colorado River Delta in Mexico, and establishment of a fair decision-
making process. The signatories include American Rivers, Pacific Institute,
Sierra Club, Environmental Law Foundation, Environmental Defense Fund,
Natural Resources Defense Council and the National Wildlife Federation.

Commenced in 1997, the MSCP is an effort by the Arizona, California and
Nevada to secure 50-year federal pemits to harm endangered Colorado River
wildlife during operation of massive dams and diversion canals. In
exchange for the permits, the states have promised to increase protective
efforts for the species. But the states have failed to deliver on their
promises. Recent decisions by the MSCP steering committee indicate that the
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is willing, perhaps even eager, to allow the
politically powerful states and the Bureau of Reclamation to continue
degrading the river while accomplishing little wildlife protection in
return.

_____________________________________________________________________________

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