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SUIT
CHALLENGES FEDERAL GRAZING
SUBSIDIES NATIONWIDE
On
2-26-03, the Center for Biological
Diversity and other
groups filed suit against
the U.S. Forest Service for
illegally charging just $1.35
per month for each cow/calf
pair on tens of millions
of acres of public lands. The
federal fee is one tenth
of the market rate – less
than it costs to feed a hamster.
In
October 2002, the Center
released a report demonstrating
that the federal land grazing
program loses between
$500 million and $1 billion
of taxpayers’ money
every year in administrative
and mitigation costs. The
Forest Service pledged to
reform the flawed fee in 1994,
but it stalled the decision
when faced with political
opposition by the livestock
industry and conservative
western congressmen. The
suit charges that the agency
must complete the decision-
making process and increase
the federal grazing fee to
market rates.
Joining
the Center in the suit were
the American Lands Alliance,
Biodiversity Conservation
Alliance, Committee for the
High Desert, Forest Guardians,
Oregon Natural Desert
Association, the Nevada Outdoor
Recreation Association
and Western Watersheds Project.
The case is being argued
by Eric Glitzenstein of Meyer
and Glitzenstein (DC).
For
more information on the suit
and the Center’s grazing
reform program, click
here.
AGREEMENT
REACHED TO PROTECT 2,700
ACRES FROM DEVELOPERS
The
Center for Biological Diversity
and the San Bernardino
Valley Audubon Society have
reached an agreement with
developers in our suit to
stop the proposed Lytle Creek
development in San Bernardino
County. The 2,466-unit,
647-acre development is adjacent
to the San Bernardino
National Forest and the Glen
Helen Regional Park. It
has been designated as critical
habitat for the San
Bernardino kangaroo rat and
coastal California gnatcatcher.
The suit challenged the impacts
to these species and
the refusal to consider the
cumulative impact of sprawl
on the entire 2,700 contiguous
acres owned by the developers.
The
settlement permanently protects
1,200 acres of the highest
quality habitat from development
and secures an option
to purchase the remaining
2,500 acres. During the option
period, development is prohibited
and habitat protection
measures will be implemented,
including elimination
of unauthorized off-road
vehicle use of the site.
The
Center and Audubon were represented
by Center staff
attorneys Kassie Siegel and
Brendan Cummings and the
Law Office of Kate N. Neiswender.
To
learn more about the Center's
urban sprawl program,
click
here.
PYGMY
RABBIT DECLARED ENDANGERED
IN WASHINGTON
The
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
listed the Columbia Basin
pygmy rabbit as an endangered
species on 3-5-03.
Weighing
just a pound, the pygmy rabbit
is the smallest rabbit
in North America and the
only one in the United States
to dig its own burrow. It
has lived in Columbia Basin
shrub-steppe ecosystems with
tall, dense sagebrush and
bunch-grass in Oregon and
Washington for at least 100,000
years. But the decimation
of the shrub-steppe ecosystem
by cattle grazing, agricultural
sprawl, fire, and invasive
species has taken a heavy
toll on the pygmy rabbit and
dozens of other species.
Sixty percent of Washington’s
shrub-steppe has been converted
to human use, while
most of the rest has been
degraded by livestock grazing.
Shrub-steppe is Washington’s
least protected habitat
type.
Washington
State listed the pygmy rabbit
as a “threatened”
species in 1990, but the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
did not follow suit. It only
placed the species on its
“candidate” list
in 1991, which provides no
protection. Washington State’s
upgrading of the
species to “endangered”
in 1993 also did not
spur the Fish and Wildlife
Service to action. In 2001,
the Center for Biological
Diversity and other groups
negotiated an agreement with
the Fish and Wildlife Service
to list the pygmy rabbit
as endangered on a temporary,
emergency basis in 2001.
That listing has now been made
permanent, but it excludes
and prohibits recovery efforts
in Oregon.
While
the pygmy rabbit languished
on the candidate list for
over 11 years, it declined
from six populations and
more than 200 animals to
just one population of fewer
than 30 animals and 18 captive
animals. This tragic
and inexplicable delay in
federal action has hampered
and greatly increased the
cost of recovery efforts.
It may result in the extinction
of the species. Decades-long
listing delays, however,
are the rule, not the exception.
Hundreds of species have
languished on the candidate
list for 20 or more years.
Many went extinct before
being protected.
RIVER PROTECTION
ORDERED FOR SANTA ANA
SUCKER IN CALIFORNIA
On
2-26-03, a federal judge
ordered the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service to designate and
protect critical habitat zones
for the endangered Santa
Ana sucker within the Los Angeles
River basin by February 2004.
Until the designation
is complete, the court forbid
the agency from approving
(i.e. issuing biological
opinions) projects that harm
the sucker’s habitat
in the Santa Clara, San Gabriel
and Santa Ana rivers and
Big Tujunga Creek. The decision
came in response to a lawsuit
brought by the Center
for Biological Diversity,
the American Fisheries Society,
California Trout, and Friends
of the River.
Center
efforts to protect the Santa
Ana sucker are part of
a larger campaign to restore
southern California watersheds
for the benefit of the sucker,
southern
steelhead trout, Pacific
lamprey, unarmored
three-spined stickleback,
southwestern
willow flycatcher, yellow-billed
cuckoo, and many other
species. The Center is leading
a campaign for a citizens’
alternative to the new
southern California National
Forest Management Plans.
SUIT FILED
TO PROTECT RIO GRANDE CUTTHROAT
TROUT IN COLORADO AND NEW
MEXICO
On
2-25-2003, the Center for
Biological Diversity, Biodiversity
Conservation Alliance, Carson
Forest Watch, Center for
Native Ecosystems, and the
Pacific Rivers Council filed
suit against the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service to overturn
their decision not to list
the Rio Grande cutthroat
trout as an endangered species.
Despite the fact that
the Rio Grande cutthroat
has been eliminated from as
much as 99% of its historic
range, Fish and Wildlife
still denied the trout protection
as an endangered species
on 6-11-02.
The
Bush Administration claims
that the existence of just
13 populations means the
species is secure. Most of
these populations, however,
are found in tiny, isolated
headwater streams that provide
marginal habitat and
are subject to invasion by
exotic trout, which often
occur in the same streams
below a barrier.
The
Center for Biological Diversity
and other groups petitioned
to list the Rio Grande cutthroat
trout, which is the
state fish of New Mexico,
in February 1998. Fish and
Wildlife initially denied
the petition, but after the
Center and other groups sued,
it issued a new decision.
The second suit is being
argued by Neil Levine and Robin
Cooley of Earthjustice.
Click
now and become a member of
the Center for Biological
Diversity, and ensure a future
for wildlife and habitat.
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