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SOUTHWEST CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL
DIVERSITY
http//www.sw-center.org
#180
4-20-99
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o
CORPORATE TAKE OVER OF EARTH DAY BOYCOTTED, PROTESTED
o ALASKA OIL
DEVELOPMENT PROJECT DELAYED FOR UP TO A YEAR
o FISHERMEN AND
ENVIRONMENTALISTS THREATEN SUIT TO PROTECT
CALIFORNIA'S
THREATENED STEELHEAD TROUT
o BENEFIT FOR ARIZONA'S ENDANGERED DESERT
SPECIES-
INVITATION TO SLIDESHOW, PERFORMANCE BY CARLOS
NAKAI
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CORPORATE
TAKE OVER OF EARTH DAY BOYCOTTED, PROTESTED
The Southwest Center, Sierra
Club, Earth First!, Arizona League of Conservation
Voters, the Arizona Green
Party, and the Arizona Safe Energy Commission
boycotted Tucson's Earth Day
celebration after being told that participants
are not permitted to criticize
the event's sponsors, which just happened to
include Raytheon Missile
Systems, Waste Management, and HBP Copper. For
$2,000, corporate polluters
were not only able to buy a good greenwashing,
they
were able to ban
public criticism.
The Earth Day organizers attempted to defend the
assault on free speech by
saying that Earth Day is "not supposed to be
political forum." Shane
Jimerfield, of the Southwest Center responded in the
Arizona Daily Star saying
Raytheon is "part of the war machine and we know
what the war machine is
doing to the planet. The military is one the largest
global polluters." Earth
First! later decided to participate, crashing the
downtown parade with
banner proclaiming "Raytheon Presents Kill The Earth
Day."
___________________________
ALASKA OIL
DEVELOPMENT PROJECT DELAYED FOR UP TO A YEAR
Development of the first
underwater oil pipeline in America's arctic came to a
temporary halt this
month when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service contested the
Army Corps of
Engineers' issuance of a permit for BP's Northstar project in
Alaska.
The Northstar project would develop a 145-million-barrel oil field
off
Alaska's North Slope and involve a subsea pipeline snaking from an
artificial
island created 7 miles offshore. The project would severely
impact habitat for
the endangered bowhead whale and the threatened Steller's
eider and spectacled
eider. The Fish & Wildlife Service has proposed that
BP choose a different
pipeline route that would be less catastrophic in the
event of a spill. BP had
already begun building ice-roads to the site
of the island construction. The
agency's objections will likely delay the
project for a year as BP can only
build in
winter when the Beaufort Sea is
frozen solid.
The Southwest Center is currently suing the Fish &
Wildlife Service to force
the agency to designate critical habitat for the
Steller's and spectacled
eiders.
Critical habitat for these sea ducks
would likely encompass the Northstar
project area, ensuring their habitat is
protected from oil production.
____________________________
FISHERMEN AND ENVIRONMENTALISTS WILL SUE TO
PROTECT
CALIFORNIA'S THREATENED STEELHEAD TROUT
On 4-14-99, the Southwest
Center and a coalition of conservation and
fishermen's groups formally
notified the National Marine Fisheries Service
(NMFS) of their intent to sue
the federal agency for failing to protect
California's threatened steelhead
trout. Joining the Southwest Center were
the Alameda Creek Alliance, the
Pacific Coast
Federation of Fishermen's Associations, the Northern
California Federation of
Flyfishers, the California Sportfishing Protection
Alliance, the Turtle Island
Restoration Network, the South Yuba River
Citizen's League, and the
Coastside Habitat Coalition.
Since steelhead
were listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in
August,1997,
NMFS has refused to issue protective regulations for the species
as required
by the ESA. While NMFS has delayed, steelhead continue to be
killed by water
diversions, and habitat critical to their recovery
continues to
be
destroyed. Abuses and fish kills have occurred in over 30 streams since
the
species was listed as a threatened species. From Arroyo Grande Creek in
San
Luis Obispo County to the Russian River in Sonoma County, water
flows
necessary for steelhead migration, spawning, and rearing are being
diverted.
>From the Carmel River in Monterey County to the Yuba River in
Yuba County,
interruption of flows have resulted in large
fish kills. From
Gazos Creek in San Mateo County to Lagunitas Creek in
Marin County, habitat
has been bulldozed or degraded.
The coalition is represented by attorneys
Larry Sanders and Brendan Cummings.
__________________________
BENEFIT FOR ARIZONA'S ENDANGERED DESERT
SPECIES-
INVITATION TO SLIDESHOW, PERFORMANCE BY CARLOS NAKAI
You are
invited to a benefit to help the Southwest Center's campaign to protect
the
Sonoran Desert and its many endangered species on May 1, 1999.
In
addition to cocktails, hors d'oeuvres and a slideshow in the beautiful
Tucson
Mountains, R. Carlos Nakai will perform a sunset concert. Tickets are
$65 for
members, $75 for the public. Please RSVP by 4-28-99, seating is very
limited.
For more information contact Stephanie Buffum: 520.623.5252 x 305
---
sbuffum@swcenter.org.
_____________________________________________________________________________
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