From: Kieran Suckling [ksuckling@sw-center.org]
Sent: Tuesday, December 14, 1999 9:06 PM
To: Recipient list suppressed
Subject: BIODIVERSITY ALERT #217
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             CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY

           <www.sw-center.org>      12-14-99      #217
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§ 900 MILES OF RIVER PROPOSED AS CRITICAL HABITAT FOR
   ENDANGERED FISH IN ARIZONA AND NEW MEXICO

§ PETITION FILED TO LIST COLORADO RIVER CUTTHROAT TROUT
   AS ENDANGERED IN AZ, NM, UT, CO, AND WY

§ A LAWSUIT OUT OF THE OLD TESTAMENT: LEGAL JOURNAL
   CHRONICLES CHRISTIAN/ENVIRONMENTAL ALLIANCE FOR
   ENDANGERED SPECIES

§ NEW BOOK: "REMOVING LIVESTOCK FROM PUBLIC LANDS TO
   CONSERVE NATIVE BIODIVERSITY"

900 MILES OF RIVER PROPOSED AS CRITICAL HABITAT FOR
ENDANGERED FISH IN ARIZONA AND NEW MEXICO
In response to a lawsuit by the Center for Biological Diversity, the U.S.
Fish & Wildlife Service proposed on 12-10-99, to designate and protect
900 river miles of critical habitat for two threatened fish: the Loach minnow
and Spikedace. Both fish are endemic to the Gila River Basin and have
declined by 85% due to dams, overgrazing, logging, water diversions and
introduction of exotic game fish. They have continued to decline since
being listed as threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. In
response to a petition from the Center, both fish are scheduled to be
upgraded to endangered status.

The designation includes large portions of the Verde and Black River
complexes, the middle and upper Gila Rivers, the San Pedro River,
Aravaipa Creek, Eagle Creek, the Blue River, and the San Francisco
River.

The suit was argued by Matt Kenna of Kenna & Hickcox (Durango).
     ______________________

PETITION FILED TO LIST COLORADO RIVER CUTTHROAT TROUT
AS ENDANGERED IN AZ, NM, UT, CO, AND WY
On 10-9-99, The Center for Biological Diversity led a coalition including
the Biodiversity Associates, Biodiversity Legal Foundation, Southwest Trout,
Ancient Forest Rescue, Wild Utah Forest Campaign, Center for Native
Ecosystems and Colorado Wild in filing a formal petition to list the Colorado
River cutthroat trout as an endangered species. Formally widespread in all
cold water streams of the Colorado River in parts of Wyoming, Utah, Colorado
and extreme northern Arizona and New Mexico, the trout has been eliminated
from 95% of its range and is no longer found in the latter two states. This
severe range reduction was caused by introduction of exotic game trout, and
habitat loss caused by overgrazing, dams, logging, water diversions, mining,
and road building.

Remaining populations of native trout are closely associated with roadless,
wilderness, and undeveloped areas. They are one the West's best indicators
of healthy watersheds. To ensure the protection of the West's dwindling
wildlands, the Center has filed petitions to protect the Gila trout, and the Rio
Grande and Colorado River cutthroat trout, and has filed suit to stop habitat loss
for the Apache, Gila, and Steelhead trout.
     _________________________

A LAWSUIT OUT OF THE OLD TESTAMENT: LEGAL JOURNAL CHRONICLES
CHRISTIAN/ENVIRONMENTAL ALLIANCE FOR ENDANGERED SPECIES
On 10-7-99, the San Francisco Daily Journal published an article called
"Saving the Planet With Prayers Along With Politics" examining a recent
lawsuit by the Center and a California group called Christians Caring for
Creation. The article notes the growing involvement of Christian groups in
environmental battles, and their increasing frustration with complacent
environmentalism in face of the global extinction crisis:

  "For Connie Hanson, going to court is an act of faith. So is just about
  everything else in the life of this deeply religious Southern California school
  teacher, including her passion to protect "creation". Hanson and her daughter
  Amy are co-directors of Christians Caring for Creation, one of the growing
  number of religious environmental groups....The organizations filed suit in
  March to require designations of "critical habitat" for seven threatened or
  endangered animals. The lawsuit has an old testament echo, seeking
  protection for the locust like Zayante Band-Winged Grasshopper, a southern
  California toad and a serpent called the Alameda Whipsnake...The case is
  believed to be one of the first times the increasingly potent religious ecological
  movement has gone to court. "Jesus himself certainly did not live in a bubble,
  said Hanson."
     ____________________

NEW BOOK: "REMOVING LIVESTOCK FROM PUBLIC LANDS TO
CONSERVE NATIVE BIODIVERSITY"
Good reading alert from the American Lands Alliance's grasslands
and deserts program: The University of Oklahoma Press has published a
new book, "The Western Range Revisited: Removing Livestock from
Public Lands to Conserve Native Biodiversity," by University of Wyoming
College of Law Professor Debra Donahue. In her book, Professor Donahue
proposes a landscape-level strategy for conserving native biological
diversity on federal rangelands, a strategy based chiefly on removing
livestock from large tracts of arid BLM lands in ten western states.
Copies may be ordered from OU Press at 800/627-7377 and
 http://www.ou.edu/oupress
_____________________________________________________________

Kierán Suckling                     ksuckling@sw-center.org
Executive Director                  520.623.5252 phone
Center for Biological Diversity     520.623.9797 fax
<http://www.sw-center.org>          pob 710, tucson, az 85702-0710