- FAX BLITZ AGAIN
DELAYS NM COAL MINE APPROVAL
- MEXICAN
WOLF HEARING ON MARCH 29, YOUR PRESENCE NEEDED
- BILL
INTRODUCED THAT UNDERMINES AZ'S AGUA FRIA MONUMENT
- BUSH VIOLATES
COURT ORDER TO PROTECT HABITAT FOR CA FISH
FAX
BLITZ AGAIN DELAYS NM COAL MINE APPROVAL
Faced with an onslaught
of nearly 2,000 faxes in late February, Secretary of Interior Gale Norton delayed
federal approval of the Salt River Project's massive 18,000 acre Fence Lake
coal mine. Located in remote western New Mexico, SRP's mine would pump thousands
of gallons of groundwater per day from an aquifer feeding the Zuni Salt Lake,
a unique high desert oasis and culturally significant area for the Zuni, Acoma,
Hopi, Navajo, Apache, and other tribes. For centuries, these tribes have gathered
the lake's pure salt for ceremonial and other purposes.
In addition to its disastrous
effect on Zuni Salt Lake, the Fence Lake coal mine would excavate hundreds of
human burials, obliterate ancient salt-gathering trails, and decimate the heart
of a 182,000 acre area known as the Sanctuary,'' a traditional neutral
zone where tribes can gather salt without hostilities. The mine permit area,
consisting of thousands of acres of rolling hills and grasslands home to prairie
dogs, pronghorn antelope, and nesting golden eagles, would be blasted, leveled
by enormous drag lines, and then ripped by bulldozers for dirty coal.
The Zuni Salt Lake Coalition,
comprised of the Center for Biological Diversity, Zuni Pueblo, Citizen's Coal
Council, Water Information Network, and Sierra Club's environmental justice
campaign, is working to ensure defeat of SRP's coal mine and to compel Interior
Secretary Gale Norton to uphold her trust responsibilities towards Indian tribes
and the nation's environment.
For more information click
here...
MEXICAN
WOLF HEARING ON MARCH 29, YOUR PRESENCE NEEDED
The New Mexico Game Commission
may vote on March 29th to withdraw involvement in Mexican wolf recovery, in
response to some commissioners' opposition of the program. Your presence at
this hearing could stay the course. Withdrawal would send a signal to the Bush
Administration that the federal program lacks the state's official support.
The livestock industry is pulling out all the stops to prevent upcoming reforms
in the program, including direct release of wolves into the Gila National Forest.
Arizona's Game Commissioners
held a hearing last May to prepare to withdraw from the program, but backed
off of that decision in the face of public testimony that was overwhelmingly
supportive of staying involved. The meeting is at New Mexico Tech's Macey Center,
801 Leroy, Socorro, from 9.00am to 4.30pm on March 29.
For more information, contact
Michael J. Robinson of
the Center for Biological Diversity at (505) 534-0360 or click
here...
BILL
INTRODUCED THAT UNDERMINES AZ'S AGUA FRIA MONUMENT
A bill introduced on 3-21-02
by Congressman Bob Stump (H.R.4076), would destroy protections for Arizona's
Agua Fria Monument, re-authorize use to include mining and development, and
undermine Presidential authority to create or expand monuments.
The monument's 450 prehistoric
cultural sites, grasslands, riparian forests and Agua Fria River, rich with
sensitive species, would be threatened by the opening of all "trails"
to vehicle travel for "any purpose." Livestock removal would be prohibited,
and, contrary to the Antiquities Act and original proclamation, ranching would
be listed as monument values. Current water rights that maintain the flow of
the Agua Fria River would be given away, and the size of the monument reduced
for freeway expansion and development.
This bill goes against
most Arizonan's interests: 75% support Agua Fria and Arizona's new monuments,
and 71% oppose removing monument lands and allowing mining and development.
For more information click
here...
BUSH
VIOLATES COURT ORDER TO PROTECT HABITAT FOR CA FISH
On 3-19-02 the Center for
Biological Diversity, the American Fisheries Society, California Trout, Inc.,
and Friends of the River sued the Fish and Wildlife Service over its failure
to comply with a court order to protect critical habitat for the endangered
Santa Ana sucker fish. The Bush Administration has a pattern of repeatedly refusing
to implement environmental policies agreed to by the Clinton Administration.
The Santa Ana sucker was
once one of the most common fish in lower elevation Los Angeles rivers and streams.
It is now absent from 75% of its historic range as a result of urbanization
and water pollution. The species is a prime indicator of water quality in southern
California, requiring clean water to survive.
For more information click
here...
WANTED:
YOUR IDEAS. TELL US WHAT YOU THINK!
Please take a few moments
to click on the link below and complete our online membership survey today,
or mail the printable version by April 10th. Whether you work with Center projects
directly or prefer to support us from the sidelines, we value your ideas. Your
responses will help us shape policy, focus on issues that matter most to you,
and better communicate with our supporters about our work. Click
here...
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