BIODIVERSITY BROADCAST
Email Newsletter for September 2005

Contents:
1. Black Hills Logging Project Withdrawn in Response to BCA Suit
2. Join Us for the Red Desert Photo Show!
3. BCA Inventory Catches Rogue Oil Well
4. You are Invited to the Annual BCA Member Celebration!
5. Thanks to Phil Polzer

Black Hills Logging Project Withdrawn in Response to BCA Suit
Earlier this month, the U.S. Forest Service officially withdrew its decision to implement the Cement timber sale, a massive industrial timber sale that threatened the Sand Creek Roadless Area in the Black Hills National Forest of northeastern Wyoming. This decision comes in response to a lawsuit filed by BCA last fall and a subsequent court ruling that halted the timber sale because of numerous illegalities. The withdrawal of the Cement timber sale is a huge victory for the Sand Creek Roadless Area and for old growth forest habitat on the Black Hills. Currently, the Forest Service estimates that only two-tenths of one percent of the 1.2 million acre Black Hills National Forest is old growth. The Cement timber sale would have made old growth shortages worse by cutting down trees needed to restore old growth forest lost because of past logging. For more information on our efforts to protect the Sand Creek Roadless Area and old growth forest from the Cement timber sale, visit our web site at http://www.voiceforthewild.org/bhnf/news/n30aug04.html.

Join Us for the Red Desert Photo Show!
This Friday from 5-9 p.m. and all day Saturday, BCA will host our second annual Red Desert Photo show at Coal Creek Coffee in downtown Laramie. Timed to coincide with the Gallery Walk, the judging will occur at 7:30 p.m. Come have a look at spectacular photos from some of the region's most talented photographers, and enjoy the beauty of the Red Desert. Artwork will be on sale, with half the proceeds benefiting BCA's Red Desert protection campaign. This is a great opportunity to purchase that unique gift that conveys the spirit of Wyoming! For more info on the Red Desert Photo Show, visit http://www.voiceforthewild.org/general/news/n5july05.html.

BCA Inventory Catches Rogue Oil Well
During the course of wilderness inventories along the South Fork of the Powder River (northwest of Casper), BCA discovered a rogue oil well that was dumping oily sludge directly into a stream course that feeds the South Fork. The polluted water was being discharged from a reserve pit into a nearby stream channel, and the murky brine was topped with a sheen of petroleum byproducts. We submitted photographic evidence and other data to the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality, and this agency rapidly issued a Notice of Violation for the well and directed the perpetrator, Beren Energy, to clean it up. BCA will continue to watchdog the enforcement process to be sure that this problem is corrected.

You are Invited to the Annual BCA Member Celebration!
PLACE: Snowy Range Lodge, Barber Lake Rd, Centennial, WY
TIME & DATE: Saturday, September 17th, 5pm
R.S.V.P.: Requested by September 12th
COST: $10 per plate, $5 low income
WHO'S INVITED: Members and their families;
MEMBERSHIPS: available at the door ($35 basic, $20 low income)

DINNER, REFRESHMENTS, SILENT AUCTION & LIVE MUSIC
with Keynote Speaker:
JEFF LOCKWOOD,
Author and Professor of Natural Sciences and Humanities,
presents:
GHOST STORY: A TALE FROM THE SPECIES CRYPT
For more info, please call Maggie at 307-742-7978.

Thanks to Phil Polzer
Operating behind the scenes, Phil Polzer is BCA's wizard of web sites and monarch of maps. Using Geographic Information System (GIS) technology, Phil is able to overlay wildlife data over maps with roads, administrative boundaries, or physical features. In this way, we are able to map the geographic array of sensitive resources in a given area, which helps us identify the magnitude of impacts for an industrial project or decide which land area is most important to protect. Phil has done excellent work for BCA with both his map wizardry and his web site capabilities. Many thanks!

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