[TN-Bird] Injunction to protect Ivory-billed and White River habitat
- From: "Wallace Coffey" <jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "TN-birds" <tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 3 Feb 2006 02:08:29 -0500
TN-Birders:
Don Miller of Greeneville, TN ask that I post this announcement to the list.
It regards a hearing concerning the Ivory-billed Woodpecker. It was sent to
Don and his wife, Alice, by Randy Sargent, an environmental lawyer for National
Wildlife Federation.
Don felt some west Tennessee birders might want to attend the hearing scheduled
for this coming Monday.
Let's go birding....
Wallace Coffey
Bristol, TN
-------------------------BEGIN FORWARD FROM DON MILLER-----------------
Nice talking to you, Alice. Below is the information that was emailed.
Thanks! Randy
Subject: Show Your Support for the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker
Dear Friend of Wildlife,
You're invited to watch the National Wildlife Federation and Arkansas Wildlife
Federation in action! NWF and AWF recently filed an injunction to stop further
construction on the Grand Prairie irrigation project until the court rules on
the claim that the Endangered Species Act has been violated, placing the newly
rediscovered ivory-billed woodpecker in harm's way.
Show your support by attending the hearing!
WHEN:
Monday, Feb. 6, 2006
9:00 a.m.- ?
WHERE:
Federal Building / Courthouse
615 South Main, Courtroom #324
Jonesboro, Ark.
MORE ABOUT THE CASE:
The Army Corps of Engineers has refused to perform an in-depth investigation
into the threats posed by the Grand Prairie irrigation project to the
ivory-billed woodpecker and the bottomland hardwood forests that provide the
woodpecker's essential habitat. As a result, the National Wildlife Federation
and Arkansas Wildlife Federation are asking the court to halt construction of
the Grand Prairie Irrigation project until a formal Endangered Species Act
consultation is performed and ruled upon.
The Grand Prairie Area Demonstration Project (GPADP) is a $319 million U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers project designed to pump 158 billion gallons of water a
year from Arkansas' lower White River to irrigate 867 rice farms in four
counties in eastern Arkansas.
By the Corps' own estimate, the project will lower the level of the White River
by approximately 1 foot. Such massive withdrawals will permanently alter the
complex hydrology of internationally acclaimed forested wetlands that line the
river and rely on its seasonal pulses of high water for their continued health
and vitality. Thousands of acres of these bottomland forests have long been
protected by their inclusion in the Cache River and White River National
Wildlife Refuges.
In 2004, the ivory-billed woodpecker was sighted for the first time in 60 years
in the Cache River National Wildlife Refuge in eastern Arkansas. Based on
recent sound recordings, the ivory-bill is now also believed to be present in
the White River National Wildlife Refuge. Despite worldwide interest in the
bird's rediscovery and public pledges by Interior Secretary Gale Norton to aid
in its recovery, the Corps is forging ahead with the Grand Prairie Project,
building its massive pumping station at DeValls Bluff, less than 20 miles from
where the woodpecker was sighted.
Despite the importance of these wetlands and the National Wildlife Refuges
charged with protecting them, the Corps has refused to perform an in-depth
investigation into the impacts of the project on the ivory bill and its
habitat. They have refused to do either a formal consultation under the
Endangered Species Act or a supplemental Environmental Impact Statement to
formally study the impact of the project on the bird, even though they admit
that the Grand Prairie project will destroy part of the ivory bill's habitat
and that the amount and quality of habitat needed by this critically endangered
bird is not yet known.
Despite the lack of any real factual dispute on these points, the Corps is
rushing forward with construction. An injunction is necessary to stop
construction and ensure that the ivory billed woodpecker's already-limited
habitat is not further damaged and destroyed, and so that options for saving
the species from extinction are not foreclosed.
For more information, contact Jeff Barger, NWF Aquatic Habitats Scientist, at
barger@xxxxxxx or 512-476-9805, ext.19.
Thank you very much!
-----------------------END FORWARD FROM DON MILLER------------------
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