No. 302, May 13, 2002
********************************** CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY Biodiversity Activist No. 302 May 13, 2002 www.biologicaldiversity.org ********************************** AGREEMENT RESULTS IN PROTECTION OF SEVEN ENDANGERED SPECIES
SEVEN NEWBORN MEXICAN WOLF PUPS DUG FROM MATERNITY DEN
HEARING HELD TO CHALLENGE LOGGING ON EIGHT MILLION ACRES IN AZ AND NM TO PROTECT GOSHAWKS AND OLD GROWTH
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AGREEMENT RESULTS IN PROTECTION OF SEVEN ENDANGERED SPECIES
In keeping with a negotiated agreement to expedite the protection of 29 species under the Endangered Species Act, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service recently acted to protect seven species in WA, CA, NM, TX, and NC. The agreement was negotiated by the Center for Biological Diversity, the California Native Plant Society, and the Southern Appalachian Biodiversity Project in August 2001. Thus far it has resulted in 14 final listings, six proposed listings, two initial listing decisions, and three proposed critical habitat designations.
For more information on the agreement: http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/swcbd/activist/ESA/settlement.html
The Buena Vista Lake Ornate Shrew was listed as an endangered species on 3-01-02. It formerly inhabited the million acres of wetlands and riparian areas surrounding the massive Tulare, Buena Vista, Kern, and Goose Lakes in the southern San Joaquin Valley. Over 95% of these wetlands have been destroyed by agribusiness, reducing the shrew to just four scattered, tiny populations. Only thirty shrews have been sighted in the past decade.
To learn more about the ornate shrew: http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/swcbd/species/shrew/index.html
The Showy Stickseed was listed as an endangered species on 2-06-02. It occurs in just a single population of 500 plants on about 2 acres in Chelan County, WA. It is threatened by invasive weeds, herbicide spraying, highway maintenance, and fire suppression which allows unnatural encroachment of shading shrubs and trees.
The Golden Sedge was listed as an endangered species on 1-26-02. It occurs in just eight populations in the Cape Fear watershed in Pender and Onslow Counties, NC. Its habitat - the ecotone between pine savannas and wet hardwood, conifer/hardwood forests, underlain by calcareous deposits - is very rare and biologically diverse. Likened to an island archipelago system by biologists, it is home to several other endangered and unique species. The sedge is threatened by sprawl, industrial development, mining, agribusiness, fire suppression, and herbicide spraying.
The Roswell Springsnail, Koster's Tryonia, Pecos Assiminea, and Noel's Amphipod were proposed as endangered species on 2-06-02. They occur in four small wetland areas in the Roswell Basin of southern NM and northern TX. The basin is underlain by two aquifers that bubble up through soluble limestone and dolomite deposits, creating unique karst formations including underground streams, springs, seeps, and wetlands. The area in which these three snails and Noel's amphipod are found is the last known habitat for a number of endemic mollusks and crustaceans. Unfortunately, they are threatened by groundwater pumping, oil and gas exploration, water pollution, and wetland draining.
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SEVEN NEWBORN MEXICAN WOLF PUPS DUG FROM MATERNITY DEN
The only established pack of wolves in New Mexico lost their entire litter of seven newborn pups to a government capture operation. The pups of the Pipestem Pack, with eyes closed and still nursing, were dug out of their den on Sunday. Their parents are still free but slated for capture. This pair, the only two survivors not recaptured of the two packs released into the Gila Forest in March 2000, began scavenging on livestock carcasses this spring and then transitioned into killing cattle.
The Center for Biological Diversity has filed a formal sixty day notice of intent to sue the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management over their failures to address the problem of livestock carcasses, thus leading to wolves scavenging on them and suffering removal from the wild.
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HEARING HELD TO CHALLENGE LOGGING ON EIGHT MILLION ACRES IN AZ AND NM TO PROTECT GOSHAWKS AND OLD GROWTH
On 5-06-02, the Center for Biological Diversity and the Sierra Club presented legal arguments to a federal judge in Phoenix, calling for the cessation of logging on eight million acres of forest on eleven National Forests in Arizona and New Mexico. The groups argued that the agency's 1996 goshawk "management plan" was watered down in response to timber industry opposition and ignored a large body of scientific evidence showing that goshawks require large stands of mature, closed canopied forest. The final plan, much weaker than the draft, was opposed by New Mexico Game and Fish, Arizona Fish and Game, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and the Department of Interior.
The case was argued by Mike Lozeau of Earthjustice (Palo Alto). A decision should be issued this summer.
For more information on the suit: http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/swcbd/species/goshawk/swgoshawk.html
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