And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
Date: Fri, 10 Sep 1999 15:35:43 -0600
To: "Wild Rockies Alerts" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Please Read: Grizzly Bear Habitat Criteria Alert and Update
Since we first sent out this Habitat Criteria Alert to the masses,
there have been several changes that need to be noted by activists.
1). Comments can now be accepted by e-mail. Simply send them to
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
2). The comment period has been extended until October 30,1999.
3). There will be a public comment meeting in Bozeman on
September 23, 1999 from 10:00 am - 4:00 pm. The meeting will be
held at the Bozeman District Ranger Office (3710 Fallon, Suite C
-- Just west of the Mall -- off Main Street by USDA Service
Center on the right). The Ranger Office can be reached for
details at (406) 587-6920.
American Wildlands Greater Yellowstone Coalition Great Bear
Foundation Idaho Conservation League Jackson Hole Conservation
Alliance Montana Wilderness Association Predator Project
Sierra Club The Wilderness Society Wyoming Outdoor Council
New Plan Would Shrink Habitat for Yellowstone Grizzly Bear
Removal of Federal Protection Could be Next
Please take a moment to write a letter for Yellowstone's grizzly bear.
In a major step toward removing the grizzly from the protection of the
Endangered Species Act, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has
released a plan that falls short of what is necessary to protect grizzly
habitat in and around Yellowstone National Park.
Scientists agree that survival of the grizzly bear in the lower-48 states
relies on protecting sufficient habitat. Unfortunately, the government's
plan is seriously flawed. The plan would:
Confine grizzly habitat protections within a recovery zone whose
boundaries were drawn when bears were at precariously low numbers. Many
bears now living outside that boundary would receive no habitat protection
on public land slated for oil and gas development and logging.
Sanction further habitat loss. Even within the government's insufficient
grizzly bear recovery area, further habitat loss would be allowed,
jeopardizing key sources of food and the bears that depend on them.
When Lewis and Clark explored the West 200 years ago, more than 100,000
grizzlies roamed America between the Mississippi River and the Pacific
Ocean. Now there are less than 1,000 grizzly bears remaining in the
lower-48 states, with only a few hundred in Greater Yellowstone.
To protect bears and their habitat, the grizzly was listed as a threatened
species in 1975-a move credited with keeping grizzlies alive in the
lower-48 states. But since then, threats to grizzlies and their most
important food sources, including whitebark pine seeds, cutworm moths,
bison and Yellowstone cutthroat trout, have increased and intensified.
Combined impacts from logging, mining, oil and gas drilling, rural sprawl,
and off-road vehicles have made stronger habitat protection an absolute
necessity.
Now, the Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing a plan which would result
in even more habitat loss. The plan could also expedite the "delisting" or
removal of the grizzly from federal protection. Delisting the bear will
take away restrictions on industrial development of public lands that
surround Yellowstone National Park, currently in place to protect the
bear.
Grizzly bear survival hinges on strong habitat protections in Greater
Yellowstone. The grizzly recovery area must reflect where bears live and
where key habitat is found. Also, the government must take concrete steps
to assure that no further loss of these lands occurs. Only these steps
will ensure the grizzly bear's long-term survival.
Please urge the Fish and Wildlife Service to take these steps.
Take a minute today to write the agency. Ask the Fish and Wildlife
Service to go back to the drawing board and start over with the bear-not
industrial development-in mind. Ask the agency to:
Protect sufficient habitat. The Recovery Area boundaries must be
changed to include areas currently used by bears as well as areas vitally
important for food and habitat. Boundaries must be based on the needs of
bears, not a desire to open more lands to industrial development.
Strike the plan's loopholes which allow for destruction of thousands of
acres of bear habitat within the recovery zone. One such loophole allows
for a one percent loss of much of the remaining bear habitat. This
translates to an additional loss of over 25,000 acres of habitat within
the current recovery zone.
Protect lifelines. Wildlife corridors between Yellowstone and Canada
are vital to the long-term survival of grizzlies in the lower-48 states.
Unfortunately, the government's plan proposes only to "study" these
linkages but provides no guaranteed protection, even on an interim basis.
The plan should call for action, not more study.
Restore degraded habitat. The current plan identifies important grizzly
bear areas where habitat is degraded below acceptable levels. However,
it does not set any goals or timelines that agencies must meet to restore
this degraded habitat-it only states these areas need "improvement." The
Fish and Wildlife Service should require that these problem areas be
brought up to standards which will sustain bears.
Comments must be postmarked by October 30th. Address your comments to:
Dr. Chris Servheen, Grizzly Bear Recovery Coordinator
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
University Hall, Room 309
University of Montana
Missoula, MT 59812
or email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Public Meeting will be held on September 23, 1999 from 10:00 am - 4:00 pm
at the
Bozeman District Ranger Office.
For more information call:
Tim Stevens, Greater Yellowstone Coalition,
406-586-1593
Louisa Willcox, Sierra Club Grizzly Bear Ecosystems Project, 406-582-8365
Caroline Byrd, Wyoming Outdoor Council,
307-332-7031
Reprinted under the Fair Use http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html doctrine
of international copyright law.
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Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit)
Unenh onhwa' Awayaton
http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/
UPDATES: CAMP JUSTICE
http://shell.webbernet.net/~ishgooda/oglala/
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