Center for Biological Diversity at war with US Military
by Hugh Holub on May. 23, 2011, under Center for Biological Diversity, endangered species act, environment water and energy, litigious environmental groups, politicsThe Tucson-based Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) has decalred war on the US military at three locations…Fort Huachuca in Cochise County southeast of Tucson, Fort Irwion in California’s Mohave Desert, and on Okinawa.
In each case the Center claims the US military is threatening endangered species.
Here is the latest news on CBD’s war:
FORT HUACHUCA
From the Sierra Vista Herald April 22, 2011:
Activists want new biological opinion set
By Bill Hess Herald/Review
TUCSON — A lawyer for environmental activists wants a federal judge to order two U.S. agencies — The Fish and Wildlife Service and the Army — to renegotiate a biological opinion concerning the San Pedro River and its environs contending the two entities have failed to follow the Endangered Species Act.The plaintiff’s attorney, McCrystie Adams, said the continuing growth in the Sierra Vista area is caused by the existence of Fort Huachuca and as more people come to the area, they “are draining the aquifer year after year.”
However, a U.S. Department of Justice attorney contends all the requirements are being met and that ordering the Army and FWS to go back to the negotiating table is not needed, nor environmentally necessary because the current biological opinion is addressing the concerns of environmentalists.
Center for Biological Diversity Press Release January 26, 2011:
Study: Peril From Fort Huachuca/Sierra Vista Groundwater Pumping Nears San Pedro River
Groundwater-dependent activities related to and subsidized by Fort Huachuca jeopardize the San Pedro River and its endangered species. Pumping continues to increase to support expanding local, groundwater-dependent Department of Defense activities.
It has been clear for years that the Center for Biological Diversity wants to shut down Fort Huachuca to protect the San Pedro River.
FORT IRWIN
Endangered plant found only in SB County gets protected habitat
Wesley G. Hughes, Staff Writer
Posted: 05/18/2011 05:16:37 PM PDTThe Center for Biological Diversity won a victory Wednesday for an endangered plant found in only four places on Earth, all of them in San Bernardino County’s High Desert.The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service set aside 14,069 acres of habitat north of Barstow and near Fort Irwin for preservation of the Lane Mountain milk-vetch.
The center has been trying – since the Bush administration gave the plant zero acres for habitat preservation – to gain protection for the plant, said the center’s Ileene Anderson.
“Two and three-quarters of the total population of plants are on Fort Irwin and the remaining habitat is on BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land,” Anderson said….
The plant grows only in an area of the west Mojave Desert north of Barstow and on the Army’s National Training Center at Fort Irwin, the federal agency said. In 2004, the USFWS said, 29,522 acres had been proposed as critical habitat for the milk vetch but they were excluded for national security reasons, apparently to meet the needs of Fort Irwin.
Environmental groups sue to stop Fort Irwin tortoise relocation
http://www.desertdispatch.com/news/tortoises-3743-relocation-desert.html
PROPOSED US MILITARY BASE IN OKINAWA
Help Save Okinawa Dugong and Coral Reef Ecosystem
Okinawa is home to ecologically significant coral reefs that support more than 1,000 species of reef fish, marine mammals, and sea turtles. Creatures like the highly imperiled dugong, a critically endangered and culturally treasured animal, rely on these reefs for their survival.
But the U.S. government is planning to build a new American military base atop a healthy coral reef that will likely destroy the diverse array of animal life the reef supports, including at least nine species threatened with extinction. Okinawa’s coral reefs are already threatened by global warming and pollution: More than half have disappeared over the past decade. We must protect the reef and its inhabitants.
If the CBD had its way we’d still be doing environmental impact statements to plan for World War II.
Endangered Species Act — Introduction and Key Sections
Endangered Species Act — Definition of:”Harm”
May 28th, 2011 on 9:13 am
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