Lawsuit Filed to Save 12 Coral Species |
The Center for Biological Diversity just sued NOAA Fisheries to save habitat for pillar coral, mountainous star coral, and 10 other rare corals. Thanks to our petition, all these species won Endangered Species Act protection in 2014, but none have the protected critical habitat they need to survive and recover — even though it’s required by law.
In 2020 Center legal action forced the federal government to propose protection for more than 6,000 square miles off Florida, in the Caribbean, and in the Pacific. But NOAA Fisheries still hasn’t finalized the proposal, and these corals can’t afford to wait.
Corals are declining dramatically because of climate change, pollution and overfishing. Climate change has already killed half of all coral reefs worldwide, and a third of the reef-building corals left are at risk of extinction.
“Coral reefs are the backbones of a healthy ocean,” said Center attorney Emily Jeffers. “We’ll have to address greenhouse gas pollution to truly ensure that corals survive. But designating habitat can improve water quality, which will go a long way toward helping these suffering species.” |
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25 Years of Mexican Gray Wolves Back in the Wild |
This week we’re celebrating the 25th anniversary of the reintroduction of Mexican gray wolves into the wild. Also known as lobos, they’re a gray wolf subspecies.
On March 29, 1998, 11 Mexican gray wolves were released into Arizona’s Apache National Forest. A 1990 Center lawsuit led to that moment, and we’ve worked nonstop since then — with the help of supporters like you — to protect the animals from persecution and other threats.
Today 241 Mexican gray wolves roam through Arizona and New Mexico, with 380 in captive-breeding programs. But they’re still among North America’s most endangered mammals, and we’re fighting for their full recovery.
Watch our video on Facebook or YouTube. And help fund our fight with a gift to the Saving Life on Earth Fund.
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Fighting for the Weelaunee Forest — Take Action |
This month Center staff went to Atlanta City Hall to hand-deliver the first batch of signatures from Center supporters asking to permanently protect the Weelaunee (aka South River) Forest. This large urban forest protects the headwaters of Georgia's most biodiverse watershed, which brings drinking water to millions of people and habitat to more than 175 species. Sadly it’s threatened by a controversial police-training facility dubbed Cop City — and is also the site of the tragic January police killing of 26-year-old protester Tortuguita.
While in Atlanta we joined thousands at the South River Music Festival and took part in a week of action to save the Weelaunee.
Learn what happened there from the Center’s Panagioti Tsolkas on Medium.
We also just released a short film about what’s truly at stake in Weelaunee, in collaboration with the Atlanta-based Stiner Bros. filmmakers. Check it out on Twitter or YouTube.
And if you haven’t signed our petition, join almost 12,000 other signers now. |
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Court Deals Fresh Blow to Tejon Sprawl
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Good news in a suit from the Center and our allies: A judge has ordered Los Angeles County to set aside its approval of Tejon Ranchcorp’s Centennial development. Centennial would bring 57,000 residents (and 75,000 new vehicle trips every day) to wildfire-prone areas. It would also devastate native grasslands and the Antelope Valley’s only pronghorn herd.
“The court got it right by requiring the county to reconsider whether we should really be building a massive sprawl city in a remote place that has burned before and is bound to burn again,” said the Center’s J.P. Rose. |
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Mexico Sanctioned for Neglecting Vaquitas — Take Action |
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Court Win Will Help Imperiled Coho Salmon
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After years of legal work, the Center and allies just scored a legal agreement compelling Oregon to protect coho salmon from logging across more than half a million acres of two state forests.
“For too long the timber industry has treated our state forests like cash cows, without enough protection for fish or water quality,” said Center lawyer Amy Atwood. “The protections provided by this agreement aren’t everything we want, but they’ll go a long way toward recovering coho salmon on Oregon’s North Coast.” |
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The Revelator: A Hidden Threat to Bats |
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That’s Wild: Geckos Can Smell Themselves |
Small, charismatic lizards who live in warm places — and, in one of their many forms, speak Cockney-accented English to sell insurance — geckos use their tongues to detect the odors of others of their kind. But they also, as a new study shows, know their own odor. And, frankly, don’t find it half as interesting.
The findings suggest these cute little skittering creatures are more social, communicative and intelligent than some scientists believed. |
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Center for Biological Diversity
P.O. Box 710
Tucson, AZ 85702
United States
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