BIODIVERSITY BROADCAST
Email Newsletter for January 2005

Contents:
1. BCA Files Suit to Protect Clean Air in Laramie
2. Great Divide Plan Released--Public Meetings Planned
3. Old Growth Forest on the Chopping Block in the Black Hills
4. Yellowstone Cutthroat to be Considered for Protection
5. Black Hills' Most Imperiled Bird on Track for Endangered Species Review
6. Wilderness threatened by Coalbed Methane Development
7. Clean Water Reigns in Powder River Basin
8. Help BCA Find Some Wheels

BCA Files Suit to Protect Clean Air in Laramie
BCA and the Sierra Club Local filed suit last December 23 against the Mountain Cement Company because of air pollution violations at the Company's coal-fired cement plant south of Laramie. According to its own monitors, Mountain Cement has violated its air pollution permit thousands of times in the last five years. The violations are the result of excessive opacity - or the density of pollution - coming from the Company's smokestacks. And because opacity limits have been exceeded, particulate limits have also been violated. Particulates less than 10 microns in size—or 1/7 the diameter of a human hair—is small enough to get into human lungs and is closely linked to respiratory ailments and the incidence of asthma. According to Mountain Cement's own records, more efficient pollution control measures could be installed to stop the violations.

Great Divide Plan Released--Public Meetings Planned
The Draft Great Divide Resource Management Plan, a blueprint for how 4.8 million acres of land will be managed over the next several decades in southern Wyoming, has been released by the Bureau of Land Management. This plan is the largest and most important land-use plan, covering the eastern half of the Red Desert and thousands of acres of important wildlife habitat. Local businesses, hunters, and conservationists have put forth the Western Heritage Alternative, a conservation-based alternative for management of the Great Divide that envisions a landscape where well-planned development is compatible with wildlife and public recreation. For more information on the Western Heritage Alternative, visit our website.

Right now, the Bureau of Land Management is accepting comments on the Draft Great Divide Plan, giving you an opportunity to weigh in on this crucial land management blueprint. We strongly encourage you to write a letter to the Bureau of Land Management and send copies to Governor Freudenthal and your congressional representatives asking them to support the Western Heritage Alternative. Watch for an alert, which will be coming soon to your e-mail and mailbox, or visit our website for more information. The Bureau of Land Management will also be holding public hearings in Rock Springs on February 7, Baggs on February 8, Rawlins on February 9, and Laramie on February 10 to gather public comment, and we urge you to attend one or more. For more information on the upcoming public meetings, visit our website or contact Travis at maggie@voiceforthewild.org.

Old Growth Forest on the Chopping Block in the Black Hills
BCA and other groups offered pointed criticism of the U.S. Forest Service's proposed Phase II Amendment to the Black Hills National Forest Plan on January 14, and again urged the adoption of a Conservation Alternative based on the recommendations of scientists. Of particular concern are the Forest Service's proposals to target old growth forest for logging. Old growth is defined as relatively undisturbed areas of old (150 years or older), dense, large diameter "yellowbark" pines and currently comprises less than 1.5% of the entire Black Hills National Forest. In response, BCA and several local and regional conservation groups submitted a Conservation Alternative for the Phase II Amendment to restore declining forest wildlife and habitat and require sustainable forestry. For more information on the Phase II Amendment and the Conservation Alternative, visit our website.

Yellowstone Cutthroat to be Considered for Protection
In response to a lawsuit brought by a coalition of groups including BCA, a court ruled last Friday the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ignored the best available science when it rejected protection for the Yellowstone cutthroat trout under the Endangered Species Act. The Yellowstone cutthroat's range once included portions of southern Montana, northwestern Wyoming, southeastern Idaho, and northern Nevada and Utah. They have been eliminated from roughly 90% of this historic range by a combination of habitat degradation and replacement by non-native trout. Despite declines and habitat loss, in 2001 the Fish and Wildlife Service rejected a 1998 petition to protect the trout under the Endangered Species Act, which is a safety net for wildlife, fish and plants on the brink of extinction. The Fish and Wildlife Service must now reconsider protection for the cutthroat using the best available science. For more information, visit our website.

Black Hills' Most Imperiled Bird on Track for Endangered Species Review
BCA and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service both reached agreement today that the Black Hills population of American dipper should be reviewed for protection under the Endangered Species Act. The agreement settles a lawsuit filed last August over the Service's failure to respond to a citizen petition requesting the Black Hills population of American dipper be protected under the Endangered Species Act. By law, the Service is required to review such petitions and make a finding whether protection may be warranted within 90-days. The Service must now issue its 90-day finding on or before January 20, 2006, almost three years after the petition was submitted.

Water pollution is the greatest threat to the American dipper in the Black Hills. In 2004, the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks reported that a dead dipper with a deformed beak was found along Whitewood Creek. Analyses found the dipper had toxic levels of selenium in its liver and kidneys. The Game, Fish and Parks' report, as well as a picture of the deformed bird, is online.

Wilderness threatened by Coalbed Methane Development
Last December, BCA filed an appeal of the 120-well "Pacific Rim" coalbed methane project, which was recently approved and would industrialize a major part of the citizens' proposed Kinney Rim North wilderness in the Red Desert, west of Adobe Town. In this project, the Bureau of Land Management approved maximum-impact wellfield development for the roadless lands, without even considering a directional drilling alternative that could have radically reduced the impacts of the project. BCA was joined on the challenge by the Wyoming Wilderness Association.

Clean Water Reigns in Powder River Basin
In response to a lawsuit filed by the Wyoming Outdoor Council, Powder River Basin Resource Council, and BCA, a Wyoming judge earlier this month ruled the Army Corps of Engineers illegally authorized the widespread construction of coalbed methane reservoirs along stream channels in the Powder River Basin. Reservoirs built along stream channels speed the spread of coalbed methane wastewater, which is often laced with salts, heavy metals, and other pollutants, into streams. In a victory for clean water and native fish, the ruling requires the Army Corps of Engineers to ensure protection of sensitive wetlands, water quality, and ranchlands, and to consider the environmental impacts of future reservoir development before approving future reservoirs. For more information, visit our website.

Help BCA Find Some Wheels
The year 2004 was a rough one for the BCA motor pool: both our Toyota 4Runner and our Tercel Wagon died of old age and had to be scrapped. During their years of service, these vehicles saved BCA thousands of dollars in travel costs, allowing us to put much-needed funding toward our conservation efforts instead. Now BCA is once again looking for reliable vehicles that get good gas mileage to fill these niches. We need to find a four-wheel-drive vehicle we can use for public outings and media tours in the Wyoming outback, plus a vehicle that can tote our displays to public events throughout the region. If you have such a vehicle that you would like to donate or sell at a reasonable price to BCA, please contact erik@voiceforthewild.org.

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Biodiversity Conservation Alliance
P.O. Box 1512, Laramie, WY 82073
(307) 742-7978 - maggie@voiceforthewild.org