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NAPOLITANO
VETOES RAID ON ARIZONA WILDLIFE
FUND
At
the urging of environmental
activists, Arizona’s
new Democratic governor,
Janet Napolitano, used her
line-item veto power on
6-17-03 to kill a Republican
plan to transfer millions
of dollars from the state’s
Heritage Fund to the general
operating budget. The
fund was established by
a citizen ballot measure
and is supposed to be dedicated
to protecting wildlife
habitat. It is a perennial
target of Republican legislators
who oppose virtually all
forms of habitat protection
and all locally made decisions
to protect endangered
species.
CENTER
ATTENDS WHALING COMMISSION
MEETING, PRESENTS
SCIENTIFIC REVIEW OF
HABITAT DEGRADATION AND
GLOBAL WARMING ISSUES
Center
for Biological Diversity
conservation biologist Dr.
Martin Taylor attended
the 55th meeting of the Scientific
Committee of the International
Whaling Commission
(IWC) in Berlin from May
26-June 6, with assistance
from the Whale and Dolphin
Conservation Society (UK)
and the Government of Australia..
He presented a
paper entitled “Habitat
Degradation in the
context of climate change:
A review of recent work,” helping
to convince the full IWD
to form a Conservation Committee.
Whaling nations Japan and
Norway threatened to resign
over the formation of the
committee as it represents
a historic shift of the
IWC from an exclusive focus
on whaling to a broader conservation
agenda.
With U.S. backing, the Scientific
Committee recommended
a commercial whaling quota
that would allow Japan to
catch minke whales in the
northwest Pacific Ocean.
This is the first time that
a quota for commercial
whaling of a whale species
has been recommended.
More
Information.
VICTORY
FOR WILD AND SCENIC RIVERS,
STEELHEAD TROUT IN NORTHERN
CALIFORNIA
On
6-20-03 a federal judge
ruled in favor of a lawsuit
to protect the North Fork
Eel River brought by the
Center for Biological Diversity,
EPIC, and a Native
American elder, Coyote
Downey. The North Fork Eel
River was designated as
a “wild” river
under the Federal Wild
and Scenic Rivers Act in 1981,
elevating standards to
protect it. Nonetheless, the
Six Rivers National Forest
continued to allow cattle
to pollute the water, trash
the stream banks and
strip away streamside vegetation.
In the process,
it continued to push endangered
steelhead trout toward
extinction.
According to Coyote Downey,
“My
people have always been
the caretakers of the river.
The entire
headwaters of the Eel River
ecosystem is our ancestral
homeland and needs to be
protected for the children.”
DAM LICENSE
GIVEN UP, FOSSIL CREEK
TO BE RESTORED
In
keeping with a legal agreement
brokered by the Center
for Biological Diversity,
the Yavapai-Apache Nation
and a coalition of environmental
groups, the Arizona
Public Service Company
has submitted an application
to the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission to relinquish
its license for the Childs
Irving Hydroelectric Project
and dams on Fossil Creek in
central Arizona.
Fossil Creek is fed by artesian
springs at an amazing
rate of 320 gallons per second,
but for over 90 years,
the Arizona Public Service
Company has dammed the creek
to feed the Childs-Irving
hydropower plant. This has
left the entire length of
the creek dry and the surrounding
ecosystem damaged.
APS had applied to renew its
dam license for 30 years,
but under the terms of the
agreement will give it up.
The power plant will be decommissioned
by 12-31-04
and the site restored by
2009. Some minor structures
will be left for historical
reference, but the entire
aboveground flume system,
bridges, penstocks, and the
top six feet of the dam including
the intake structure
will be removed. The maintenance
road will be restored
to a hiking trail and three
small bridges will be removed
to eliminate potential ORV
routes. Underground tunnels
will be fitted with bat-friendly
grates.
Click
now and become a member of
the Center for Biological
Diversity, and ensure a future
for wildlife and habitat.
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