[Shadow_Group] SABINO CANYON MOUNTAIN LION DEFENDER TO BE INDICTED

[shadowgroup-l at lists.resist.ca]

CONTACT: Rod Coronado 520.623.9184
PRESS RELEASE: December 2, 2004
email: rod at resist.ca



SABINO CANYON LION DEFENDER TO BE INDICTED ON FEDERAL CONSPIRACY CHARGES


On December 2nd at 11:00am at the Evo A. DeConcini Federal Courthouse, federal prosecutors will formally indict Chukshon Earth First! (CEF!) activist Rod Coronado on conspiracy charges related to the local environmental group?s interference with the hunt for mountain lions in
Sabino Canyon last March. The indictment comes just seven days before Coronado was to stand trial for three lesser misdemeanor charges filed after his arrest in Sabino Canyon on March 26th. The new charge, Conspiracy to Impede or Injure an Officer? carries a maximum penalty of six years in prison.

Last March when Arizona Game &Fish Department (AZGFD) and US Forest Service officials attempted to remove four-to-five mountain lions from Sabino Canyon, Coronado with Chuk?shon Earth First! organized a campaign of interference that included nonviolent tactics such as the spreading of
false lion urine scent to lead AZGFD hunting hounds away from the real lions. Coronado and a reporter from Esquire magazine were originally charged with violating a federal closure and disabling a steel-cable snare set by AZGFD to capture a lion.

Coronado believes the indictment is in response to his continued organizing against AZGFD controversial policies such as the killing and removal of lions from the Coronado National Forest and the trophy hunting of sandhill cranes and desert bighorn sheep in southern Arizona. In November, Coronado was part of a CEF! investigation team that exposed
AZGFDs annual trophy hunt for sandhill cranes south of Willcox, AZ. Its just an Orwellian attempt to intimidate me for criticizing and drawing attention to AZGFD policies that cater to urban sprawl and trophy hunters. If AZGFD continues controversial programs such as lion eradication, trophy
desert bighorn sheep and sandhill crane hunting, CEF! will continue to document and expose those abuses of public lands and wildlife.

Unless taken into custody, Coronado will be available for interviews following his arraignment. Video documentation of Chukshon Earth First!s efforts to protect mountain lions, black bears, Gunnison?s prairie dogs, mule deer, elk and sandhill cranes from the hunters guns is available
upon request.





++++++++++++++++++++++++++STOP THE WALL++++++++++++++++++++++++++

www.stopthewall.org www.nad-plo.org www.hrw.org www.pal-arc.org www.endtheoccupation.org www.sustaincampaign.org






		
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