Tiny owl halts Arizona school construction

The pygmy owl has virtually been eliminated from Arizona

March 24, 1998
Web posted at: 8:31 p.m. EST (0131 GMT)

By Environmental News Network staff

The possible existence of a tiny owl has halted construction of a Pima County, Arizona, high school.

A hearing on a preliminary injunction scheduled for last Friday to determine if construction can continue has been postponed until April 1.

The Amphitheater School District began construction on the school last Thursday in an area environmental groups claim is critical cactus ferruginous pygmy owl habitat. Defenders of Wildlife managed to obtain a temporary restraining order Thursday through the federal district court in Tucson to halt the project.

Environmental groups, developers and the U.S. government have been battling over the issue for more than a year.

"The main point that needs to be addressed here is that we're not advocating owls before school children," said Defenders of Wildlife Legal Director Bill Snape. "We are not opposed to school construction by any means. But we are opposed to destruction of critically endangered species and their habitat when other reasonable options are available."

Defenders of Wildlife believes that if the district clears the land it will be violating the Endangered Species Act and eliminating the pygmy owl's chances of survival and recovery in Arizona. The owl, in Arizona, gained a federal "endangered" listing under the law in March 1997.

The cactus ferruginous pygmy owl grows to about 6 3/4 inches long; males average about 2.2 ounces and females average 2.6 ounces. It is reddish brown overall, with a cream-colored belly that is streaked with reddish brown. The eyes are yellow, the crown is lightly streaked and there are no ear tufts.

The pygmy owl has virtually been eliminated from Arizona, according to Arizona Game and Fish Department studies. Agency surveys in 1996 indicated that fewer than 20 pygmy owls were living in all of Arizona and only nine were found in 1997.

Its decline has been blamed on habitat destruction through urban and agricultural encroachment, woodcutting, water diversion , channelization, livestock overgrazing, groundwater pumping and hydrological changes resulting from various land-use practices.

The high-quality habitat at the high school site is extraordinarily rare and invaluable to the survival of this species in Arizona, according to Defenders of Wildlife. Since 1993, pygmy owls have been documented each year within one mile of the site. Pygmy owls have been seen extremely close to the tract's boundary.

When the Arizona Game and Fish Department surveyed the tract earlier this year, it concluded that pygmy owls were close enough to the site to consider it important territory and currently "in use" by the owls.

Defenders of Wildlife is lead plaintiff in this matter along with the Tucson-based Southwest Center for Biological Diversity.

Copyright 1998, Environmental News Network, All Rights Reserved

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