Despite lawsuit threat, fort stands firm (Army vs. EnviroNUTZ!)

Sierra Vista Herald/Review ^ | Bill Hess

[SandRat]

FORT HUACHUCA — This Southern Arizona Army post has again been informed it will be sued if the most recent biological opinion with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is not renegotiated.

However, Garrison Commander Col. Melissa Sturgeon said the fort stands by the 2007 opinion as being sound science.

Earthjustice, a nonprofit public interest law firm, informed the fort, other military officials and the Fish and Wildlife Service of the intent to file a lawsuit in 60 days from Wednesday unless the post takes action to correct what it considers violations of the Endangered Species Act.

If another biological opinion is negotiated, it will be the fourth since 1999.

The notice of intent was filed on behalf of the Tucson-based Center for Biological Diversity and the Maricopa Audubon Society.

A longtime critic of the fort, Center for Biological Diversity chairman Robin Silver, a Phoenix physician, has caused a number of lawsuits, or threats of them, to be filed against the fort claiming its existence drains water needed to continue the flow of the San Pedro River.

The center has never agreed with any of the biological opinions.

Silver also claims the increased expenditures of fort funds in the area, which he said is up 81 percent since the 2002 biological opinion, shows the fort is growing and using more water.

While the post “continues to do an exemplary job of mitigating their ground water use,” the same cannot be said of the fort’s impact off the installation, Silver says.

“Off post, the base continues its attempts to avoid responsibility for the San Pedro-harming groundwater pumping that would not take place but for DoD’s (Department of Defense’s) local funding,” he said.

The newest opinion allows for “a huge new Fort Huachuca expansion, while failing to increase the base’s mitigation requirement,” Silver said.

In the “Notice of Intent to Sue for Violations of the Endangered Species Act,” Earthjustice said past biological opinions and the new one continue to fail to address the root problem, which is the fort isn’t doing enough to address the groundwater pumping issue.

“The Army is violating this substantive duty by relying on an arbitrary and capricious biological opinion issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on June 14, 2007, and by failing to mitigate for the cumulative effects of its actions combined with the actions of state, local and private entities,” the Earthjustice document states.

Harm being done to the Huachuca water umbel, a small aquatic plant, and the southwestern willow flycatcher, a migratory songbird, is of specific concern, the document states.

Sturgeon disagrees.

“The biological opinion issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildfire Service is sound and is based on the best available science,” she said.

And the fort is not working in a vacuum on the issue, the colonel added.

“The fort is an active member of the Upper San Pedro Partnership and continually implements effective water management strategies,” Sturgeon said.

The partnership is a consortium of local, state and federal agencies, conservation groups, including the National Audubon Society, and business groups that came together to address the water issues of the Upper San Pedro Basin, specifically the Sierra Vista Subwatershed.

“The fort is an active member of the Upper San Pedro Partnership and continually implements effective water management strategies,” Sturgeon said.

While balancing area environmental concerns, post officials are also aware of its national defense mission, the colonel added.

“The fort meticulously balances its national defense missions with its responsibilities to protect its natural resources for future generations. The fort will continue to stay this course in the future,” Sturgeon said.

herald/Review senior reporter Bill Hess can be reached at 515-4615 or by e-mail at bill.hess@svherald.com.

[donmeaker]

Virgin Sturgeon need no urgin’?

[uglybiker]

Earthjustice, a nonprofit public interest law firm, informed the fort, other military officials and the Fish and Wildlife Service of the intent to file a lawsuit in 60 days from Wednesday unless the post takes action to correct what it considers violations of the Endangered Species Act.

Okay. I've been down to that part of the state, but admittedly have not spent much time there. So maybe you can tell me:

Just what the #&$@ is down there that could possibly be endangered?! Rocks?!!

[B4Ranch]

>>Harm being done to the Huachuca water umbel, a small aquatic plant, and the southwestern willow flycatcher, a migratory songbird, is of specific concern, the document states.<<

[SandRat]

The San Pedro River, The Huachuca Water Umbrell, the Mexican Spotted Owl, some minor subspecies of a fish are all the claims of the EnviroNUTZ. What really is threatened is the Post and Humans because we don’t fit the tree hugging mold. These turds are what Tom Clancey’s book RAINBOW Six was all about. They just haven’t got as rabid as the villains in the book; YET!

[joebuck]

There should be no private right of action under these statutes. All enforcement should be vested with the Justice Department.

[SandRat]

The EnviroNUTZ use the E.S.A. and since the only thing they can sue under it is the Fort that’s what they do; constantly.

[BerryDingle]

Yes, I remember Huachuca had lawsuits against it when I was there from the Maricopa Audubon Society. They are constant.

[ASOC]

The Post is always painted as the bad guy. Growth in the area outside of the has been - well - hard to describe. Like flies reprooducing perhaps.....

The area from SV down to Bisbee is really filling in. Tombstone to Charleston is growing rapidly as well.

Palominas has a web site that covers a lot of the area and some of the issues.

See http://www.palominas.com/ for more.