>From: Kieran Suckling <ksuckling at sw-center.org>
>Reply-To: ksuckling at sw-center.org>To: (Recipient list suppressed)
>Subject: [SEAC-ANNOUNCE:167] BIODIVERSITY ALERT #224
>Date: Wed, 09 Feb 2000 22:58:39 -0700
>>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><>><<>
> CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY
>> <www.sw-center.org> 2-8-00 #224
><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><>><<>
>>§ 47 MILLION ACRES OF COASTAL ALASKA PROPOSED AS
> "CRITICAL HABITAT" FOR THE SPECTACLED EIDER
>>§ PETITION FILED TO LIST SIERRA NEVADA POPULATION OF
> THE MOUNTAIN YELLOW-LEGGED FROG AS ENDANGERED
>>§ SUIT LEADS TO LISTING OF IMPERILED CALIFORNIA PLANT
> UNDER ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT
>>§ GOVERNOR'S PANEL OVERTURNS POPULAR BAN ON
> PREDATOR HUNTING CONTESTS IN ARIZONA-
> CALLS, LETTERS NEEDED TODAY!
>>>47 MILLION ACRES OF COASTAL ALASKA PROPOSED AS
>"CRITICAL HABITAT" FOR THE SPECTACLED EIDER
>Keeping to a settlement agreement with the Center for Biological
>Diversity and Christians Caring for Creation, the U.S. Fish &
>Wildlife Service submitted a proposed rule to designate and
>protect critical habitat for the Spectacled eider on 2-1-00. The
>proposal identifies nearly 74,539 square miles of coastline in the
>Yukon Delta, the North Slope, Norton Sound, and Ledyard Bay
>as "critical habitat" for the rapidly declining sea duck.
>>In the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, the eider has declined from
>96,000 birds in the 1970's to fewer than 5,000 in 1992. Another
>10,000 may inhabit Alaska's North Slope. It is threatened with
>poisoning from led shot, predation, and habitat loss associated
>with oil and gas operations. Complex changes in fish and
>invertebrate populations in the Bering Sea may also be having
>an effect. The Spectacled eider was listed as a threatened species
>in 1993. A fact sheet with more information is available at:
><http://www.r7.fws.gov/ea/0002.html>.
>>Additional critical habitat is expected to proposed for Stellar's
>eider on 3-1-00.
> ________________________
>>PETITION FILED TO LIST SIERRA NEVADA POPULATION OF THE
>MOUNTAIN YELLOW-LEGGED FROG AS ENDANGERED
>On 2-8-00 the Center for Biological Diversity and the Pacific Rivers
>Council filed a formal petition to list the Sierra Nevada mountain yellow-
>legged frog (Rana muscosa) as endangered under the Endangered
>Species Act. Formerly one of the most common amphibians in the
>high Sierra lakes and streams, the yellow-legged frog has declined
>precipitously due to stocking of non-native fish, pesticide drift from
>Central Valley agribusiness, over grazing and habitat loss. It has
>declined by up to 90%, with only a few dozen large populations
>remaining. Two of the largest known populations crashed dramatically
>in the past few years, going from over 2,000 adults in 1996 to only 2
>in 1999.
>>An Adobe Acrobat version of the petition is available at:
><http://www.sw-center.org/swcbd/news.html>
> _________________________
>>SUIT LEADS TO LISTING OF IMPERILED CALIFORNIA PLANT
>UNDER ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT
>On on 2-9-00, in response to a lawsuit by the Center for Biological
>Diversity and the California Native Plant Society, the U.S. Fish &
>Wildlife Service listed the Kneeland Prairie penny-cress (Thlaspi
>californicum) as "endangered" under the U.S. Endangered Species
>Act. Endemic to Kneeland Prairie on the Humboldt County coast,
>the rare penny-cress had declined due to habitat destruction. It is
>currently threatened by road realignment projects and a proposed
>airport expansion.
>>The penny-cress is one of ten imperiled California plants the Center
>and CNPS sued to protect on 6-22-99. Eight of the plants have
>been in line for Endangered Species Act listing since 1975 when
>the Smithsonian Institute formally petitioned the U.S. Fish &
>Wildlife Service to list them. Under pressure not to protect imperiled
>species, the Service allowed the plants to linger in bureaucratic
>limbo even as they continued to decline toward extinction. Ruling on
>our suit, however, Judge Charles Breyer ordered the agency to
>make a final decision on all ten species by 3-15-00.
>>Other plants involved in the suit include:
>> Santa Cruz tarplant (Santa Cruz, Monterey, Contra Costa)
> Keck's checker-mallow (Tulare)
> Baker's larspur (Marin, Sonoma)
> Yellow larkspur (Marin, Sonoma)
> La Graciosa thistle (Santa Barbara San Luis Obispo)
> Lompoc yerba santa (Santa Barbara)
> Gaviota tarplant (Santa Barbara)
> Two subspecies of Purple Amole (Monterey, San Luis Obispo)
>>The case was argued by Brendan Cummings (Berkeley) and Jay
>Tutchton of Earthlaw (Denver, Palo Alto).
> _________________________________
>>GOVERNOR'S PANEL OVERTURNS POPULAR BAN ON
>PREDATOR HUNTING CONTESTS IN ARIZONA-
>CALLS, LETTERS NEEDED TODAY!
>On 2-1-00, Arizona Governor Jane Dee Hull's Regulatory Review
>Council, a six-member body which gives final reviews to all new
>rules, voted unanimously to overturn a decision by the Arizona
>Game and Fish Commission to ban predator hunting contests.
>The Commission passed the original ban with a 3-2 vote, under
>intense and vocal public pressure- 93% of over 13,000 letters r
>eceived by the agency urged the ban.
>>Call or write Governor Hull today! Tell her not allow these
>barbaric slaughter contests, not to subvert the overwhelming
>desire of Arizona's citizens.
>>Arizona Governor Jane Dee Hull
> Voice: (800) 253-0883 or (800) 542-4900
> Fax: (602) 542-1575
> Email: azgov at azgov.state.az.us> U.S. Mail: State Capitol, Phoenix, AZ 85007
>_____________________________________________________________
>>Kierán Suckling ksuckling at 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
BETTER LIVING THRU BeTTeR LiVinG!
http://www.interport.net/~rugosa/index.html
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