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Press
Release
—Defenders of Wildlife—
—Center for Biological Diversity—
—Arizona Audubon Council—
Groups Challenge Decision to Drop Protection for
Few Remaining Pygmy-owls
Tucson, AZ –Defenders of
Wildlife, the Center for Biological Diversity, and the Arizona
Audubon Council, representing all eight Audubon chapters in the
state, today filed an official notice of intent to sue the US Fish
and Wildlife Service over its decision to remove the cactus
ferruginous pygmy-owl from the federal list of endangered species.
With only 13 known pygmy-owls left in Arizona, the species
faces imminent extinction, and the decision by the Bush
administration to eliminate all ESA protections for the owl and its
habitat will guarantee its demise.
“The decision to delist the owl is in
clear violation the Endangered Species Act, which obligates the
agency to protect species threatened with extinction in the United
States,” said Jenny Neeley, southwest representative of Defenders
of Wildlife. “If this
rule is allowed to stand, what is to stop the Bush administration
from removing protections for many other species, including the
wolf, grizzly bear and sea turtles, which are imperiled in the
United States, but exist in other countries?”
The administration’s decision follows a
2003 ruling by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of
Appeals that the Fish and Wildlife Service had failed to adequately
explain its decision to list the pygmy-owl in Arizona but not in
Mexico. Notably, the
court acknowledged that the pygmy-owl was threatened with extinction
in Arizona and did not order that the pygmy-owl be delisted from the
Endangered Species Act. Instead,
the court remanded the matter to the Fish and Wildlife Service for
further consideration and explanation.
Unfortunately, instead of simply addressing the court’s
concerns and reaffirming the
owl’s legal status as an endangered species, the Bush
administration seized this opportunity to strip the pygmy-owl of all
Endangered Species Act protections, notwithstanding the fact that
the best available science clearly establishes that the species is
on the brink of extinction in Arizona.
“This is nothing more than another
political maneuver by the Bush administration, at the expense of
this country’s wildlife,” said David Hogan, Urban Wildlands
Director for the Center for Biological Diversity.
“The decision to delist the owl is anti-science,
anti-conservation, and shows a profound disrespect for the American
people’s love of nature and wildlife.”
Contacts:
Contact:
Jenny Neeley, Defenders of Wildlife
520-623-9653 x102
Mike Senatore, Litigation Director,
Defenders of Wildlife 202-682-9400
David Hogan, Center for Biological
Diversity 760-809-9244
Daniel Patterson, Center for Biological
Diversity, 520-906-2159
Karen O’Neil, President, Arizona Audubon
Council, 928-778-3018 |
Letter from
Arizona Audubon Council Joining Lawsuit
Dear Mr. Senatore:
I am writing on behalf
of the Arizona Audubon Council which would like to sign on to the 60
day Notice of Intent to Sue regarding the de-listing of the Cactus
Ferruginous Pygmy Owl.
Plaintiff ARIZONA AUDUBON COUNCIL is a
nonprofit organization (501C4) which represents the eight local
chapters of the National Audubon Society in Arizona. Its
mission is to provide conservation information and advocacy for
these chapters. The Council serves to protect endangered
species in Arizona through advocacy on behalf of these chapters for
these species specifically, and for conservation of birds, other
wildlife and habitat generally.
The chapters have approximately 10,000
members throughout Arizona. Chapters focus on the protection and
restoration of habitat for birds, other wildlife, and humanity
through education, conservation, community involvement, and
recreation in the form of birding watching. The 10,000 chapter
members represent only a minority of the hundreds of thousands of
people interested in bird watching who live in Arizona, around
North America, and the rest of the world. Arizona is famous
for its bird watching opportunities, and bird watching is a
major industry here. This recreational activity adds
significantly to the local economies of numerous Arizona
communities.
The Arizona Audubon Council brings this
action on behalf of itself and the adversely affective members of
the local Audubon chapters whose representatives make up the
Council. Defendants' failure to make timely and scientifically
appropriate petition findings regarding the cactus ferruginous pygmy
owl facilitates the decline of this species and its habitat.
Therefore, the educational, scientific, aesthetic, conservation and
recreational interests of the Audubon chapters represented by the
Arizona Audubon Council have been, are being, and will continue to
be adversely affected and irreparably injured by defendants'
inaction and failure to comply with the law.
Karen O'Neil
President
Arizona Audubon Council |