Federal agency proposes pulling pygmy owl from endangered list

[question everything]

Tuesday, August 2, 2005

Federal agency proposes pulling pygmy owl from endangered list

By: PAUL DAVENPORT - Associated Press Writer

PHOENIX (AP) -- A federal agency announced Monday that it will propose the removal of the cactus ferruginous pygmy owl in Arizona from the list of threatened and endangered species.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's action follows years of legal battles, including an appellate court decision which the agency cited as the basis for its new proposal.

The wildlife service listed the pygmy owls as endangered in 1997, followed by the agency's 2002 proposed designation of 1.2 million acres in Arizona as critical habitat.

The proposed delisting, to be published Wednesday in the Federal Register, also includes the critical habitat proposal, wildlife service officials said during a telephone news conference.

More

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2005/08/02/news/state/8105193417.txt

On the Net:

Arizona office of Fish and Wildlife Service: http:arizonaes.fws.gov

Southern Arizona Home Builders Association: http://www.sahba.org

Center for Biological Diversity: http://www.sw-center.org/swcbd

[pitohui]

1. bird of prey guy told me they're not endangered

said pygmies in arizona are just no. limit of range

i did wonder, as the birds seem well distributed and easy to find in mexico, even more easily heard

these birds will be OK

[blindpig]

2. It's not just about owls

Well, maybe it is, but let's just say that the ESA provides "collateral benefit" to the habitat of designated species and all species dwelling therein. Not strictly what the ESA is for but certainly beneficial.

The "development" boom on the Phoenix/Tuscon axis is obscene and unsustainable. Those real estate assholes don't give a flying fuck about about what their customers will do for water in 10, 20, 30 years. IT'S A FUCKING DESERT! Utterly unfit for mass quantities of any large animals, particularly humans.

May Gale Norton be afflicted with quadruple hemorrhoids.