Subject: SW Biodiversity Alert
**** **** Southwest
Biodiversity Alert **** ****
Southwest Center for Biological
Diversity
swcbd@igc.apc.org
Fighting "Logging without Laws" in the
Chiricahua Mtns
On December 27, 1995 the Southwest Center for
Biological
Diversity filed suit in federal court to stop the Rustler
"salvage
sale" in the Chiricahua Mountains, well known birder's mecca
in
southeastern Arizona. This sale is the first in the Southwest
under the
"logging without laws" rider under the Rescission Act.
The Center claims the
Coronado National Forest has violated the
Rescissions Act and the
Administrative Procedures Act through
issuance of a Categorical Exclusion.
The Rescission Act states
that, at a minimum, a combination
Environmental Assessment
(under NEPA) / Biological Evaluation (under the ESA)
must be
prepared for all "salvage" sales.
This is the second
round of decision making by the Forest and
litigation by the Southwest Center
over the Rustler Sale. The
Forest Service wants to release 250,000 board feet
of timber from
the area burned by the Rattlesnake Fire in 1994. This sale
was
initially announced and public involvement was solicited earlier
this
year. The Forest continued to push the sale despite a
moratorium on logging
throughout the southwest. The Forest
withdrew the decision notice for the
sale on December 8th after
the Southwest Center and SEAC - Southwest vowed to
file
contempt of court charges.
Later that same day the Forest
released the sale again under the
Rescission Act. Fortunately, they can't get
anything right. This
sale cannot be allowed under Categorical Exclusion due
to a
Memorandum of Agreement signed by the US Dept. of
Agriculture and the
US Dept. of Interior that requires the Forest
Service to adhere to all
existing conservation plans for the
Mexican spotted owl. The MOA states that
any action taken,
within or outside of critical habitat, "may effect" the
MSO, and
thus requires consultation.
Suit filed for the
Southern maritime chaparral
The Southwest Center in November filed a
lawsuit to compel the
Fish and Wildlife Service to list six plant species
from southern
California as threatened and endangered. All six species
are
found along the southern California coastline in Orange and San
Diego
Counties and are indicators of declining Southern
maritime
chaparral.
Southern maritime chaparral is a unique vegetation shaped
by
unusual soil types and dense autumnal coastal fog. Because
fog
distribution is limited, the Southern maritime chaparral was
never
extensive. Out of 20,000 original acres, fewer than 2500
severely fragmented
acres remain. Many Southern maritime
chaparral species are relics from
periods of wetter climate in
southern California and include the Del Mar
manzinita, short-
leaved live-forever, and the well known Torrey pine.
Of the six
species included in the suit, the big-leaved crown beard is
the
most abundant with thousands of individuals remaining, while
fewer
than twenty individual Orcutt's spineflower specimens
remain at a single
location.
A final rule was due for these Federally proposed species
in
October 1994. To no one's surprise, the Service delayed the
decision
until the congressional moratorium on species listings
took effect in April
1995. The suit is on hold pending outcome
of Presidential / Congressional
wrangling over numerous riders
included on the Interior Appropriations bill.
These riders include
an extension of the moratorium on species
listings.
For more information please contact the Southwest Center
at:
P.O. Box 17839
Tucson AZ
85731
(520)733-1391