** Army Corps suspends Trump era permit, spares San Pedro River
------------------------------------------------------------
Friday, July 9, 2021
The San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area in Arizona is a biological hotspot. Photo: BLM Flickr ([link removed])
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has suspended a permit ([link removed]) issued under the Trump administration that would have allowed a proposal to move forward to build 28,000 new homes near Arizona’s San Pedro River. Environmental groups sued ([link removed]) in 2019 under a provision of the Clean Water Act that regulates the discharge of dredged material into streams, washes, and wetlands, arguing the federal government should have analyzed the potential harm to the San Pedro River as part of its analysis.
The Army Corps' reversal is just the latest obstacle to the controversial ([link removed]) home-building project, known as the "Villages at Vigneto." Opponents ([link removed]) of the development have argued that the groundwater pumping to supply the homes would threaten the San Pedro River ([link removed]) , including parts of a national conservation area and the wetlands at St. David Cienega. Robin Silver with the Center for Biological Diversity, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, said of the decision
([link removed]) , "The Army Corps and the Fish and Wildlife Service decided that they don’t want to actually let Vigneto suck dry St. David Cienega or destroy the northern part of the national conservation area. We don’t know why. But their action stands for itself."
In 2017, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service determined ([link removed]) that a Clean Water Act permit approval for Vigneto was not likely to threaten or harm endangered species. A review of the FWS' 2017 decision was triggered ([link removed]) by revelations from a now retired FWS official, Steve Spangle, who spoke out in 2019 about improper political interference by a Trump administration appointee at the Interior Department. After issuing an initial recommendation to the Army Corps that the FWS should conduct a full biological assessment to examine whether the development would affect threatened and endangered species, Spangle said he received a call
([link removed]) from a lawyer at the Interior Department’s headquarters, who told him ([link removed]) that a "very high-ranking" political appointee believed he had made an incorrect decision, and that he would be "wise to reconsider it," which led Spangle to reverse his initial decision.
In light of the FWS' reversal this week, Spangle said ([link removed]) , "I have steadfastly believed that formal consultation was the appropriate path forward, and that the interference from the Secretary’s office was blatantly political and inappropriate. As a career professional who believed my original call was the right one and who had never been rolled like this, it made my decision to retire under that administration an easy one."
Quick hits
** How crowded are national parks? See for yourself
------------------------------------------------------------
New York Times ([link removed])
** California to invest $61 million in new highway crossings for wildlife
------------------------------------------------------------
CalMatters ([link removed])
** New Mexico state land office shatters all-time revenue record
------------------------------------------------------------
Los Alamos Daily Post ([link removed])
** Army Corps suspends Trump era permit, spares San Pedro River
------------------------------------------------------------
Arizona Republic ([link removed]) | Arizona Daily Star ([link removed])
** Thawing permafrost forces iconic Denali National Park to reimagine its future
------------------------------------------------------------
National Geographic ([link removed])
** Pacific northwest heat wave would have been impossible without climate change
------------------------------------------------------------
CBS News ([link removed])
** Extreme heat and drought capture Colorado lawmakers' attention
------------------------------------------------------------
Colorado Public Radio ([link removed])
** Opinion: Protecting the lands that protect us
------------------------------------------------------------
The Hill ([link removed])
Quote of the day
What we are seeing is unprecedented. You're not supposed to break records by seven to nine degrees Fahrenheit. This is such an exceptional event that we can't rule out the possibility that we're experiencing heat extremes today that we only expected to come at higher levels of global warming."
—Dr. Friederike Otto ([link removed]) , Oxford University
Picture this
** @USFWSRefuges ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
Is this you in the summer heat? Some of us soak it up while others run for the shade. Eastern collard lizard on a hot day at Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma ([link removed] ([link removed]) ). (Photo: Steven Hunter, Share the Experience 2015)
============================================================
** Twitter ([link removed])
** Facebook ([link removed])
** Medium ([link removed])
** Instagram ([link removed])
Copyright © 2021 Center for Western Priorities, All rights reserved.
You've signed up to receive Look West updates.
Center for Western Priorities
1999 Broadway
Suite 520
Denver, CO 80202
USA
** View this on the web ([link removed])
Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can ** update your preferences ([link removed])
or ** unsubscribe from this list ([link removed])
