Environmental groups are going to court to block the U.S. Forest Service from constructing new roads in Chiricahua National Forest, citing danger to endangered jaguars.
The lawsuit filed Monday in federal court in Tucson contends the agency failed to comply with various laws in approving construction of 2.6 miles of new segments in the Environmental Management Area of the forest southeast of Tucson.
The issue is about more than that segment, however. It would open or reopen 20 miles of roads within the area to “disruptive motorized access,” said attorney Adriane Hofmeyr.
That’s unacceptable, she wrote, because it would affect 11 federally listed species and potentially, one designated critical habitat.
Hofmeyr said the area is also home to — and central to the survival of — one of the last known wild jaguars in the United States, an animal that was given the same Sombra, meaning shadow, by students at Paulo Freiere Freedom School in Tucson. She also said it is the home to threatened Mexican spotted owls.
Male jaguar photographed in the Dos Cabezas Mountains and the Chiricahua Mountains in Southeast Arizona.
That was not properly considered when the agency gave its go-ahead last year, she contends. Hofmeyr represents five environmental groups that are suing, including the Tucson-based Center for Biological Diversity.
There was no immediate response from the Forest Service or the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which also is named as a defendant.
According to the lawsuit, the Forest Service stated that the project’s purpose is to provide “permanent, legal, motorized access’’ to John Long Canyon, the North Fork of Pinery Canyon and Horseshoe Canyon. Hofmeyr said that is unnecessary.
“These canyons can be accessed via non-motorized means, providing opportunity for recreation while maintaining the pristine, wild nature of the area and protecting biodiversity and natural resources,’’ she wrote. “The construction of these proposed roads for motorized access and the resulting increase in human use and activity in these remote areas will cause significant harm and disturbance to protect species and their habitat.’’
There’s also the construction itself. Hofmeyr said the project’s environmental assessment says it will involve “blasting or use of track hoe with hammer or trimmer in some locations due to bedrock’’ as well as “heavy equipment such as bulldozers, track hoes, dump trucks, and motor graders.’’
She said construction of certain roads would involve a “disturbance footprint’’ of about 30 feet in width, require stream crossings, installation of gates and construction of cattle guards.
“Construction will produce dust and noise that will ‘detract from the quiet recreation settings’ in the canyon,’’ she said, quoting from the environmental assessment.
Hofmeyr paid particular attention to John Long Canyon, which she said has been protected from intrusive motorized activity for approximately 37 years. She said the Forest Service itself has said that area “currently provides high quality habitat for jaguars because it is remote with rugged terrain, has permanent water and dense canopy cover, and is not frequently accessed by people.’’
Jaguar prey is abundant due to the current lack of hunting pressure, she said.
“This canyon is home to one of two known jaguars inhabiting the United States,’’ Hofmeyr said, including the one male who has been cited repeatedly within the Chiricahua and Dos Cabezas Mountains areas from November 2016 through at least August 2021.
“Additional sightings in 2023 confirm the jaguar’s continued presence,’’ she wrote.
The failure to take all this into account, Hofmeyr said, runs afoul of the agency’s obligations under the National Environmental Policy Act and the Administrative Procedure Act.
“The agency failed to adequately analyze the impacts of fragmentation of the jaguar’s habitat,’’ she said, calling it “one of the most significant threats to the species, especially considering other current threats to the jaguar’s possible habitat and movement.’’
