7/22/2000 824

FEDS PROPOSE PROTECTION OF 13.5 MILLION ACRES OF FOREST IN AZ, NM, UT, AND CO FOR MEXICAN SPOTTED OWL

In keeping with a court ordered obtained by the Center for Biological Diversity, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service published a proposed rule on 7-21-00 to designate and protect 13,487,544 acres of “critical habitat” for the Mexican spotted owl in AZ, NM, and the southern forests of UT, and CO. The proposal includes 5.0 million acres of federal and tribal lands in AZ, 4.6 million in NM, 3.3 million in UT, and .57 million in CO. A final rule must be issued by 1-15-01. No private or state lands were included. The Mexican spotted owl was listed as a federally “threatened” species in 1993 because of the planned liquidation of its old growth forest habitat in the American Southwest and Mexico. It has been extirpated from southern Mexico and low elevation riparian forests in Arizona and New Mexico. Only about 2,100 owls are thought to still exist north of the border. Since 1993, the Center has won designation of 2,790 miles of river and 833,002 acres of land as "critical habitat" for a multitude of endangered species. It currently has 68.8 million acres under proposal, including 1.81 million acres in California, 13.5 million acres in New Mexico, and 53.5 million acres in Alaska.