California Turtle and Tortoise Club
TURTLE ACTION NEWS
January to February 1998
Mexican Hotel Development Threatens Major Atlantic Sea Turtle Nesting Beach
2/26/98 X'cacel beach is located 100 Km. south of Cancun, in the state of Quintana Roo, on Mexico's Atlantic Coast. It was the only protected beach in the 120 Km. Cancun-Tulum tourist corridor, with one of the highest nesting densities for green and loggerhead sea turtles in Quintano Roo. Now, despite X'Cacel protected status, Mary Louise Whitlow reports that the Melia hotel chain of Spain has been allowed to purchase 45 hectares of X'cacel to build a resort there!
Some of the protected species found in X'Cacel 311 hectares, besides loggerhead green sea turtles are the boa constrictor, marsh turtle, Creaser's mud turtle, crocodile, Chit, Hoo'loop, mangrove, and subi'n. X'cacel along with the adjoining beaches of Aventuras-DIF and Chemuyil are the most important green and loggerhead nesting beaches in the state of Quintana Roo. However, all 3 of these beaches have been sold to developers by Fideicomiso Caleta de Xeh-ha y del Caribe (FIDECARIBE). The Ecological Group of the Mayab (GEMA) in 1994 proposed officially incorporating X'cacel into the National System of Protected Areas (SINAP) and completed all of the necessary requirements, their request has gone unanswered.
The Management Plan of the Tourist Corridor Cancun-Tulum (Gob. Fed. 1994a), was signed by the representatives of conservation groups, sea turtle biologists and local, state and federal Mexican government officials. This plan includes the following phrase, "In case of the realization of development projects or exploitation in the zone of X'cacel the following risks to the integrity of the ecosystem and the species in danger of extension that live there, such as marine turtles who depend on these beaches for their reproduction : a) erosion of dunes b) disturbance of the vegetation that controls the flow of water c) contamination and alterations of the physical, chemical and biological characteristics of the beaches d) disturbance of nesting female turtles and their nests e) disturbance caused by the artificial illumination of the beach and adjacent areas f) disturbance caused by noise generated by aquatic activities and g) disturbances in the reef and its platform, potentially able to alter the water flow". The Management Plan recommends that development should not be allowed between the federal highway and the 60 meters isobath, and if the property is to be sold that the conservation groups who have promoted the protection of the sea turtles and the area are given the right of first refusal.
It is public knowledge that the Melia hotel chain of Spain purchased 45 hectares of X'cacel for 2.5 million US dollars. Since pressure has been applied, the governor of the state declared the "Santuario de la tortuga marina X'cacel-X'cacelito", but this only provides protection to the area from the 60 meter isobath to100 meters up the beach. This was only a public relations move. The governor has been quoted in the local newspapers as saying that the construction of a tourist resort is not in conflict with the protection of X'cacel. He has made an agreement with the University of Quintana Roo (UQRO) to create a management plan for X'cacel, however, this has not pleased conservation groups since no one at UQRO is known to have experience with sea turtles.
Mary asks that you please write to the following and express your displeasure! Tell them that ALL 311 hectares of X'cacel need to be protected as a reserve! Ask them why the Melia hotel chain was allowed to buy part of X'cacel, the most important green and loggerhead sea turtle nesting beach on Mexico's Atlantic coast, when construction of a hotel on this site will destroy the nesting area of these two endangered species.
M. EN C. JULIA CARABIAS LILO (Secretary of the environment, natural resources, and fisheries)
PERIFERICO SUR 4209 6º PISO
COL JARDINES DE LA MONTAÑA
MEXICO D. F. 06500
tel. (5) 6280606 , 6280607 and 6280608
FAX (5) 6280609 carabias@servidor.dgsca.unam.mxING. MARIO VILLANUEVA MADRID (Governor of Quintana Roo)
CALLE 22 DE ENERO S/N 2º PISO
PALACIO DE GOBIENRO
CD. CHETUMAL 77000
MEXICOLIC. OSCAR ESPINOZA VILLAREAL.
SECRETARIA DE TURISMO
AV. PRESIDENTE MASARIK 178-8
COL. POLANCO, MEXICO D. F.MELIA MANAGEMENT FOR AMERICA
MR. EVAGRIO SANCHEZ
1000 BRICKELL AVE, SUITE 500
MIAMI, FL. 33131
FAX: 305-358 5166 evagrio.sanchez@solmelia.es
Melia's FAX at headquarters in Spain: 34 (9) 71 22 44 08
Ward Valley - BLM Backs Off On Evicting Protesters
2/19/98 The Riverside Press-Enterprise reports that the BLM has called a truce in the Ward Valley dispute. Federal officials backed away from a confrontation with American Indian activists Wednesday by postponing test drilling for a nuclear waste dump in prime desert tortoise habitat in the eastern Mojave Desert. More than 200 Indians and other anti-nuclear activists camped at the site of the proposed dump celebrated their reprieve Wednesday night. The U. S. Bureau of Land Management had set a deadline of 12:01 a.m. February 19 for the protesters to leave so test drilling could begin on 80 acres of desert land proposed for the dump. The agency, however, has decided to continue negotiations.
The Press-Enterprise quotes Carole Levitzky, a spokeswoman for the BLM's desert district office, which includes Ward Valley, as saying there were no immediate plans to evict the protesters. "I don't expect any major law enforcement action Thursday, Friday or over the weekend," she said. "As long as the Indian elders are at the camp, we don't expect any activity. We won't force the issue as long as there is no threat to property, public safety or natural resources."
Tribal elders have vowed to stay indefinitely at the site. Meanwhile, Department of Interior officials are considering their next moves. For more information please read the next story.
Ward Valley Protest Reaches New Crisis Stage
2/16/98 Plans to build the Ward Valley low level nuclear waste dump have reached a new crisis level. A coalition of area Indian tribes (the Fort Mojave, Chemehuevi, Quechan, Cocopah tribes and Colorado River Indian Tribes) has been holding round the clock religious ceremonies at a protesters' camp on the site. However, on Sunday the BLM served a federal five-day order that they vacate the site by midnight Thursday, February 19 for soil testing to be performed. Protesters claim that any forcible action taken against the camp may violate the American Indian Religious Freedom Act.
The Ward Valley site is located in eastern San Bernardino County, California and is federal category 1 desert tortoise habitat. The proposed dump is opposed by environmentalists and tortoise groups alike. The 80-acre site is on 1,000 acres of federal land that California would buy from the Bureau of Land Management. Even without the potential problem of leaks of radioactive waste, the dump will cause major problems for the indigenous desert tortoises as the increased vehicular traffic flow will have a detrimental impact on its own. Any radioactive contamination could obviously be a disaster for the entire ecosystem.
For more information on this breaking story read
Nuclear dump foes vow not to move from desert site by Pat Murkland, The Press-Enterprise Shundahai Network's Save Ward Valley Action Alert Save Ward Valley Newsletter
US Company Convicted of Wildlife Smuggling Loses its Import-Export License - Owner Currently Serving Eight Month Prison Sentence
2/3/98, U.S. Department of Justice Press Release One of the nation's largest reptile import companies, Hollywood, Florida-based Strictly Reptiles Inc., yesterday had its export-import license revoked for five years for smuggling more than 1,500 rare reptiles into the United States, the federal government announced.
In July 1997, the company and it's owner pled guilty to charges of conspiring to violate the Lacey Act, a federal law that protects endangered wildlife, by purchasing Indonesian reptiles between 1993 and 1995. Yesterday, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service revoked the company's license in connection with the plea.
The company's owner and President, Michael J. Van Nostrand, is currently serving an eight month prison sentence followed by eight months of home confinement as part of his guilty plea. Under the plea agreement, Van Nostrand also had to pay nearly $250,000 to the World Wildlife Fund to implement a government supervised restitutionary program to protect specific habitat in Indonesia that is home to the very creatures that were illegally trapped and smuggled. Additionally, the agreement bars the company and its owner from trading, selling or handling any endangered or threatened wildlife, as well as, certain species specifically identified in the agreement for five years.
"This case shows that those who rob a nation of its rare and endangered wildlife out of personal greed will be brought to justice," said Lois Schiffer, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division. "Trafficking in endangered wildlife is prohibited under U.S. law and international treaty, and will not be tolerated."
Thomas E. Scott, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, where the case was prosecuted, said "this case represents the finest in international environmental enforcement: cooperation among enforcement agencies to protect irreplaceable species, effective and timely punishment of the violators of conservation laws, and a creative effort to mitigate the harm from the criminal conduct. I commend the agents, both here and abroad, who contributed to this resounding success."
Van Nostrand and his company conspired to purchase Frilled Dragons and Fly River Turtles they knew were exported in violation of Indonesian law. Van Nostrand and his company also pled guilty to purchasing Argentinean reptiles, including Argentine Boas, Chaco Tortoises, Rainbow Boas, Red-footed Tortoises, Tegu Lizards, and Yellow-spotted Amazon Turtles, all of which they knew were smuggled into the country in violation of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), an international treaty designed to protect wildlife from over-exploitation.
The Indonesian chapter of the World Wildlife Fund will be responsible for operating the restitutionary program, which will focus on initiating, expanding, improving and maintaining wildlife projects in the Lorentz Strict Nature Reserve located on Irian Jaya--the Indonesian portion of the Island of New Guinea. The Lorentz reserve is home to the Frilled Dragon and the Fly River Turtle and other protected species often imported by Strictly Reptiles.
Because all Indonesian national parks and nature reserves suffer from funding shortages, the restitutionary funds will be used for practical programs such as training and certifying park guards and conservation bureau staff, providing critical equipment, and setting up "mobile awareness teams" to work with communities near the project sites to increase awareness about habitat protection and the illegality of poaching reptiles and other species. A portion of the funds also will be used to help communities, which often depend upon the income from wildlife poaching, to develop alternative means of earning money which are consistent with conservation goals.
The investigation was conducted with the cooperation of authorities in the Netherlands, including the Netherlands National Police and the District Office of the Public Prosecutor at Breda. The Netherlands National Police helped spur the investigation by providing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service with audiotapes from electronic surveillance of Dutch reptile dealers revealing that protected Indonesian reptiles were being laundered through the Netherlands and shipped to Strictly Reptiles Inc., falsely labeled as captive bred to give them the appearance of lawful imports.
Action Alert -- Sea Turtle Deaths in Orissa, India
1/28/98 In an urgent press release, Wildlife Society of Orissa reports the occurrence of a massive death toll of protected olive ridley sea turtles off the coast of Orissa, India, in the month of January. Their preliminary estimate is a figure of about 5,000 dead turtles. They expect a significant fall in the numbers of turtles coming ashore to lay eggs at Gahimatha, Devi river mouth and Rushikulya river mouth.
The coastline of Orissa, in eastern India, hosts one of the world's last great arribada sites for the olive ridley sea turtle -- when tens of thousands of these turtles leave the sea and nest en masse -- and includes the critical Bhitar Kanika olive ridley nesting beach. The Wildlife Society of Orissa attributes the casualties to increased use of several kilometer long gill nets which trap the turtles. The State Government is ineffective in enforcing the fishing ban that is in place off the coast of Orissa during the olive ridley breeding season since the state fisheries and forest departments have no patrol facilities in in place. The Coast guard is the only agency patrolling the seas in the area. However, their movement is severely restricted due to the deep draught vessels they use which makes it difficult for them to come close to the shore. The fisheries department, the official agency for enforcing the fishing ban order, has one officer posted at Kujang for the entire coast. Even when caught, offending vessels are not being prosecuted fully.
Please contact the following government authorities in India urging them to make patrol boats available to the Fisheries Department to use off the coast of Orissa to protect these endangered turtles. In particular, it is very important that fax messages be sent to the Chief Wildlife Warden and Chief Secretary, Government of Orissa State.
Chief Wildlife Warden, Government of Orissa, Bhubeneswar Fax No.: Int+ 91-674-512502
Chief Secretary, Goverment of Orissa, Bhubeneswar Fax No.: Int+ 91-674-400244
Minister of Environment & Forests, Government of India, New Delhi
Fax No.: Int+91.11.436-2222 & 436-0678
Email: mosef@envfor.delhi.nic.in
Conservation Groups Oppose So Called Forage Improvement Act
1/25/98 The Forage Improvement Act (H.R. 2493) which passed the House in 1997, and has been introduced in the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, represents yet another attempt by special interest groups (in this case grazers on the public lands) to control public lands in such a way as to ensure the perpetuity of their own livelihood, and to diminish the power of other interests and that of the general public which may oppose them. Specifically, the Act decreases the ability of regulators to monitor grazing operations by requiring a minimum of 48 hour notice to the grazers before such monitoring could occur, excludes as monitors professionals who are not government personnel or grazing personnel (e.g. environmental experts who could take a dispassionate look at ecosystem damage) and moreover has the effect of making it less costly to graze sheep and goats and also creates a new bureaucracy of "Cooperative Allotment Management Plans."
This is a continuation of the tradition of massive federal subsidies for the exploitation of natural resources, and a taxpayer-furnished entitlement program for the grazers.
The National Resources Defense Council has written a letter to the California Senators, Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, urging their opposition to this Act. Because this could impact on desert tortoise habitat, CTTC is one of many organizations which has agreed to sign on to this letter. You can help defeat this legislation by letting your own Senators know how you feel.
TO WRITE YOUR SENATOR: addresss correspondence to:
The Honorable (full name)
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510The standard salutation is : Dear Senator (last name)
TO PHONE YOUR SENATOR: The U.S. Capitol switchboard is (202)-224-3121
TO E-MAIL YOUR SENATOR: E-mail addresses are available at the Senate web site
Chrysler-Jeep Television Ad Detrimental to the Desert Tortoise
1/23/98 We have received many complaints about the Chrysler-Jeep television ad that depicts a desert tortoise being dropped out of a sports utility vehicle onto a paved road. Chrysler Corporation has been contacted by representatives from CTTC, the Desert Tortoise Preserve Committee and others. They have shown little response other than to state that a real tortoise was not dropped, and that it was created by animatronics. They don't seem concerned by the irresponsible attitude fostered by this ad, nor the possible harm this could do to an animal that is listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Suggesting that desert tortoises can be dropped out of vehicles, sustain a 1 to 3 foot drop, and suffer no harm, or that they can be transported around the desert by just anyone shows both a lack of humanity and an ignorance of the law.
According to their September 15, 1997 Press Release promoting their 1998 advertising campaign this piece of "award-winning Jeep advertising humor and wit"... "is created by Bozell Worldwide in partnership with Chrysler Corporation. Bozell Worldwide, a subsidiary of Bozell, Jacobs, Kenyon & Eckhardt, is the 11th largest U.S. advertising agency. It has more than 90 offices in over 50 countries."
If you have seen this ad and are offended by their award winning humor and wit please write to the Chrysler Corporation and Bozell Worldwide expressing your view.
Chrysler Corporate Headquarters Telephone: 313-956-5741
Chrysler Corporate Offices
Mr. Jamie Jameson, Advertising Manager
Corporate Marketing Department
Chrysler Corporation
1000 Chrysler Drive, Code: 485-05-73
Auburn Hills, Michigan 48326
(Telephone 248-576-7541)and in California
Mr. Kyle Lentz, District Manager
Chrysler Corporation
7700 Irvine Center Drive, Suite 300
Irvine, CA 92618
(Telephone 714-450-5100)
For more information read Tortoise Tracks 17(3): 3-4, 1997, newsletter of the Desert Tortoise Preserve Committee.
Proposed Rule on Humane and Healthful Transport of Live Reptiles and Amphibians
1/14/98 The USFWS is proposing to enhance the regulations governing the importation of reptiles and amphibians into the US by imposing more humane shipping requirements. We have all heard about or witnessed directly the results of the often unsanitary and inhumane transport conditions in current use, and the resulting very poor condition of many imported turtles and tortoises. The regulations would basically adapt the current IATA (International Air Transport Association) regulations, set minimum standards for the materials used in the shipping containers, and require that all shipments of reptiles be accompanied by a veterinary certificate from the source. The new regulations would significantly enhance the enforcement powers of USFWS Officers. California Turtle & Tortoise Club supports the adoption of these standards by USFWS and has suggested that they be improved by requiring that all turtles and tortoises be packed individually to reduce the risk of spreading disease. USFWS have reopened the comment period in the face of opposition to the regulations by some dealers and traders. You can help to counter the opposition to the proposed improvements in the humane transport of turtles and tortoises by sending an e-mail, writing a letter, or attending one of the scheduled USFWS hearings in Los Angeles or New York. The mailing addresses follow the Office of Management Authority/USFWS announcement below.
ANNOUNCEMENT - Office of Management Authority
Public Meeting and Reopening of Comment Period:
Proposed Rule on Humane and Healthful Transport of Live Reptiles and AmphibiansThe U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will reopen the comment period on the proposed rule (62 FR 31044) regarding humane and healthful transport of live reptiles and amphibians (50 CFR Part 14), and has scheduled two public meetings to receive oral and written information and comments from the general public on the Service's proposed rule, and to provide the public the opportunity to communicate with the Service on this issue. The initial comment period on the proposed rule was extended to, and closed on October 6, 1997 (62 FR 42091), and will now be reopened from January 17 - February 17, 1998, during which time the Service will receive comments in writing from interested parties. (Written comments should be directed to the Office of Management Authority). In addition, public meetings have been scheduled for both New York City and Los Angeles. The New York public meeting will be held on January 17, 1998 from 1:00pm - 5:00pm at St. John's University, Bent Hall Seminar Room, 8000 Utopia Parkway, Jamaica, NY 11439. The Los Angeles public meeting will be held on January 27, 1998 from 1:00pm - 5:00pm at the Westin Hotel (Los Angeles Airport), 5400 West Century Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90045.
Interested members of the general public are strongly encouraged to attend. The meeting venues are handicapped accessible.
Mr. Kenneth Stansell, Chief / Office of Management Authority
Office of Management Authority U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
4401 North Fairfax Drive, Rm. 700
Arlington, VA 22203
Tel: (703) 358-1917
Fax: (703) 358-2298
E-mail: Mr. Kenneth Stansell, Chief, Office of Management Authority.