11/3/1997 256

SUIT SEEKS CRITICAL HABITAT FOR RARE OWL, AQUATIC PLANT

The Southwest Center filed suit on November 3, 1997 against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for failing to designate critical habitat for the endangered Cactus ferruginous pygmy owl and the Huachuca water umbel. The Service argued that designation would further endanger them by alerting developers, bird watchers and plant collectors to their presence. The Service, however, is not required to reveal detailed site locations, only broad areas of crucial habitat.

The pygmy owl, once common along southern Arizona washes and streams, has declined to just nine birds: two in Organ Pipe National Monument and seven in development ridden northwest Tucson. The water umbel has been reduced to a handful of locations on streams in the San Pedro Basin and northern Mexico.