From: ndallen@r-node.gts.org (Nigel Allen)
Subject: Government to Grant Swift Endangered Species Act Protection to Hundreds of Imperiled Species
Organization: Echo Beach, Toronto
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1992 06:09:29 GMT

Here is a press release from the Fund For Animals Inc. and
Defenders of Wildlife.

 Government to Grant Swift Endangered Species Act Protection to
Hundreds of Imperiled Species in Sweeping Settlement of Major Lawsuit
 To: National Desk, Environment Writer
 Contact: Eric R. Glitzenstein, 202-328-3500, or Wayne Pacelle,
          301-585-2591, of the Fund For Animals Inc., or
          John Fitzgerald of Defenders of Wildlife, 202-659-9510

   WASHINGTON, Dec. 15 -- In one of the most comprehensive 
settlements ever of a lawsuit under the Endangered Species Act 
(ESA), the Bush administration has agreed to expedite
federal protection for hundreds of animal and plant species now
facing a threat of extinction and to take steps to protect more than
900 additional species.  In total, more than 1,300 species are
affected by this agreement.
   The lawsuit, Fund for Animals vs. Lujan, was brought on May 28,
1992, by The Fund for Animals, a national wildlife protection
organization; Defenders of Wildlife, a national environmental group;
and a coalition of environmentalists from around the country.  The
defendants in the case are Manuel Lujan, secretary of the Interior,
and John Turner, director of the Fish and Wildlife Service.
   Under the settlement, which was filed today in federal district
court in Washington, D.C., the government must, by September 1996,
propose the "listing" of at least 400 domestic species -- the process
that secures federal legal protection for species under the ESA.
Final listing actions must be taken within one year following a
proposal.  Since the ESA was enacted in 1973, approximately 750
domestic species -- an average of about 40 per year -- have been
listed.
   According to Jasper Carlton, director of the Biodiversity Legal
Foundation and one of the plaintiffs in the case, "This settlement
will result, in the next few years, in a major increase in the number
of species that are protected under the Endangered Species Act.  It
represents a desperately needed and long-overdue commitment by the
government to take more seriously its obligation to protect our
nation's dwindling biodiversity."
   Species subject to the 1996 listing deadline include the Florida
black bear, Marianas flying fox, Tarahumara frog, Ponape short-eared
owl, Jemez mountain salamander, Eastern hog-nosed skunk, Southwestern
pond turtle, Montana arctic grayling, Oregon semaphore grass, Texas
aycnia and Steller's eider.
   Wayne Pacelle, national director of The Fund for Animals,
explained, "The slow pace of placing animals and plants on the
endangered list was leading to a fast slide toward extinction
for hundreds of species.  By now securing a place on the endangered
list, these species will gain an array of protections to help them
survive into the 21st century."  For three years, The Fund for
Animals has campaigned to end the hunting of one of the nation's
rarest large mammals, the Florida black bear; the settlement, by
compelling the listing of this subspecies, will translate into an end
to this biologically reckless hunt.
   In addition to the 400 species subject to the September 1996
deadline, over 900 more must be officially assigned listing
"priority" numbers within the next year.  Assignment of such numbers
is the first step in the government's administrative process for
listing species.
   Species affected by this aspect of the agreement included the
Spotted frog, Puerto Rican broad-winged hawk, Sherman's fox squirrel,
Appalachian Bewick's wren, Texas amorpha, Saddle Mountain bitter
cress and Limestone fameflower.
   According to John Fitzgerald, director of wildlife law for
Defenders of Wildlife, "The government's process for listing species
has during the past decade, been an administrative and scientific
nightmare.  Along with expediting protection of hundreds of species,
this settlement will help greatly in the creation of an orderly,
sensible system for all listing decisions in the future."
   The plaintiffs were represented by attorneys Eric Glitzenstein, an
environmental lawyer in Washington, D.C., and Michael Sherwood, with
the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund in San Francisco.  (The Sierra
Club Legal Defense Fund is a separate organization from the Sierra
Club and is not affiliated with the Sierra Club.)
   Sherwood stated that, "This is the best news for endangered
species in a very long time.  The pace of listing has been
dangerously slow.  We applaud the Fish and Wildlife Service and the
Department of the Interior for their cooperation and foresight in
settling this case."
   In addition to The Fund for Animals, Defenders of Wildlife and
Jasper Carlton, the other plaintiffs in the case were In Defense of
Endangered Species, a conservation organization headquartered in
Ohio, and the following conservationists: Keith Hammer of Montana;
Joanne Duffey of Florida; Edward W. Mudd Jr. of Alabama; Andrew
Wiesburd of Illinois; David Hogan of California; Julia Fonseca of
Arizona; Mitch Friedman of Washington; and Anne Petermann of Vermont.
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