Judge nullifies biological opinion, rules against fort
Tue, 05/31/2011 - 11:36pm
Sandy Kunzer searches for bird life along the San Pedro River near the Hereford Bridge in this February 2009 photo.
(Mark Levy • Herald/Review)
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SIERRA VISTA — A federal judge in Tucson has declared the 2007 biological opinion between the Army and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) null and void.
In 34-pages of background on the issue signed on Friday and a two-page declaratory judgment, signed the same day by Federal Judge A. Wallace Tashima and filed Tuesday, the biological opinion entered into by the Army and FWS was declared capricious and arbitrary.
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You touch on the flaw nearly all environmental activists ignore. Activists like the CBD accuse the actions of man for the demise of species. In their "do gooder" inspiration they do not differentiate between the condition of the species separate from the forces of nature. The assumption being all things are man caused as long as you ignore all the other science. Three of the species the CBD claims are endangered by the Fort (Huachuca Water Umbel, Willow Flycatcher, Loach Minnow) would be endangered even if the Fort did not exist.
This begs the question; would the intervention to save a species so fragile that it faces extinction regardless of the acts by man be a moral and just. None of theses species are unique in their genus and no other species is threatened by their loss. I won’t bother pointing out how many genus of minnow there are you can Google that yourself. The San Pedro system was drying even before the Fort could have an impact and before none indigenous species were introduce (you know those big water sucking trees). The CBD apparently has a short memory and no money to try to address these problems, it does however have money for lawyers.
I support the Fort and a reasonable environmental policy.
What a patriot this guy is ??? He probably thinks we should turn "Yellowstone Nat. Park" into a giant coal pit or let the National bird "The Eagle" go extinct.! Heck, lets turn The Grand Canyon into a giant garbage pit and throw all our trash and liberals into it… Without these so-called liberal tree huggers we’d have none of these treasures to enjoy because "Neo-Cons" like ‘Vote No" HATE anybody who doesn’t think like they do !
Teddy Roosevelt would roll in his grave if he heard you call him a Liberal. He knew what needed protection, and as an avid hunter and explorer he saw the importance of protecting our precious lands.
Sierra Vista keeps growing the local use of water so Silver wants to kill the Fort which actually conserves water.
Here’s a link to an article in the Arizona Daily Star: http://bit.ly/lOQAgZ
Yeah it is amazing that only the fort is called out as a water waster yet no one mentions the waste of water I see every weekend driving down Fry. Anyone ever notice how many car washes they have on the weekends? I know they raise money for good causes but just look at all that water being wasted. Also I don’t see these folks going after Sierra Vista for their water waste and pressuring them to cut back so why jus the post?
The answer is its the best and cheapest target. The growth in and around Sierra Vista is a result of the economic contribution of the Fort. Stop the Fort and you effectively stop all growth and water consumption in the whole area. Suing the Fort is cheaper as well, if the CBD loses they are not liable for the costs of the defense, attorney fees etc.
It would be a strange twist of fate if the Fort were to be closed or diminished from CBD action and as a result lose the only real leverage they have.
Oh I agree with you. Funny thing is the fort just got an award for water conservation at the same time this ruling came down. Makes the judge look really foolish now. LOL.
Robin Silver is still getting his way through the judicial system. I don’t know what he has on these judges, but he continuous to get his way with the help from various judges.
I subscribe to the SV Herald and still can’t get the info unless I pay more to be a premium member. Subscribers should be able to get everything on the website without paying more!
Why? I don’t get the printed version but I pay the subscription to the online version. Why do you think you are entitled to more without paying? So in reality you are saying that I should get home delivery of the SVH as well as my premium membership. Well I have one question for you. If you are a subscriber then you could read the same article that I read online so what are you complaining about?