ARIZONA DAILY STAR: Mon., April 2, 2007

Pineapple cactus still protected

By Tony Davis

U.S. agency says endangered plant will stay on list

The endangered Pima pineapple cactus will stay federally protected, meaning that new developments will have to save open space for it in Tucson's fast-growing southern and southeastern suburbs.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decided last week to keep the plant on the endangered list, despite arguments from some private biologists that it is far more common than previously estimated and should be lumped with other, more common pineapple cacti varieties. The decision, made after a review of the species' status, comes nearly 14 years after it made the endangered list.

Since 1993, developers of homes, shopping centers, schools, prisons, mine tailings piles and other projects have set aside about 4,058 acres of cactus habitat in the Tucson area and bladed 4,481 acres, service records show.

Numerous pineapple cacti have been transplanted by builders from bulldozers' paths.

FULL STORY: http://www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/176370