No. 1188, April 13, 2023

After Waiting 48 Years, Texas Flower Protected

Thanks to a Center for Biological Diversity lawsuit, a beautiful Texas plant with an awesome name — the bracted twistflower — has finally won protection under the Endangered Species Act. The flower, first pegged as needing federal help in 1975, is in the path of expanding development along Interstate 35. Also known as the bracted jewelflower, it has bell-shaped flowers with vibrant lavender petals, and it’s in the mustard family.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service also protected about 1,600 acres as critical habitat for the plant. That doesn’t make up for the delay in protection, but it will help: Species with federally protected habitat are more than twice as likely to be moving toward recovery than species without it.

“I’m thankful the bracted twistflower still lures bees to its purple petals and that it’s not too late to stave off extinction,” said the Center’s Michael Robinson.

Take Action: Build Back Fossil Free in Puerto Rico 

The climate emergency is here. And in Puerto Rico, that’s all too obvious.

Warming oceans are causing more intense Caribbean storms. When record-breaking hurricanes hit Puerto Rico, millions of families lose electricity, clean water, and internet — and many lose their homes. It’s happening over and over, and it’s getting worse fast.

At the root of this crisis is a centralized, fossil fuel utility system that’s highly vulnerable to storm damage. But instead of investing in resilient, rational solutions like rooftop and community solar, the Federal Emergency Management Agency is spending billions on reconstructing the old, failing system.

Urge FEMA to fix this destructive cycle of injustice — not feed it — by bringing distributed renewable energy to Puerto Rico.

One Pesticide Threatens 63 Endangered Species  

Forced by a lawsuit from the Center and allies, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency just released a study showing that a single chemical, the bee-killing insecticide sulfoxaflor, threatens to wipe out 63 endangered plants and animals — and probably harms 462 others.  

“In spite of efforts to lessen its harm, this one insecticide is likely to drive the Miami tiger beetle, Dakota skipper, rusty patched bumblebee and 60 other endangered species to extinction,” said the Center’s Lori Ann Burd. “The EPA needs to prohibit sulfoxaflor’s use immediately in the places where these species live.” 

Help us make that happen: Give to our Saving Life on Earth Fund now, and your donation will be matched.

The Southwest Is Jaguar Country

In December 2022 the Center petitioned the Fish and Wildlife Service to reintroduce jaguars to the U.S. Southwest. Once revered as deities by the Maya, these agile hunters lost habitat and were killed off to near-extinction north of the U.S.-Mexico border.

Our visuals specialist Dipika Kadaba just made an animation to help you understand the history of jaguars in the region, the areas where they’re currently protected, and where science shows they can be — and should be — restored. Check it out on Instagram, TikTok or YouTube.

Get answers to frequently asked questions about bringing jaguars home and take action to help.

Saving Wolves in the Northern Rockies 

Thanks to a lawsuit by the Center and allies, vulnerable gray wolves in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming are moving closer to Endangered Species Act protection. Without the Act to protect these animals in the northern Rocky Mountains, hunters and trappers have been allowed to kill hundreds every year. 

In 2021 we petitioned the Fish and Wildlife Service to restore the protection these carnivores lost in 2011. But the agency missed its deadline to decide — so we sued. Now the Service has agreed to make up its mind by Feb. 2, 2024. 

You’ve been with us along the way, and over the years Center supporters have spoken up again and again backing our fight for these wolves. Let’s keep the pressure on: Tell the feds to protect these wolves as soon as possible — before many more die.

Reviving Extinct Species With Dungeons & Dragons

In the midst of an unprecedented human-caused extinction crisis, the Center is part of an exciting new project to celebrate lost species: through the popular roleplaying game Dungeons & Dragons.

We’re partnering with creator Lucas Zellers and Mage Hand Press to release The Book of Extinction, a game manual telling the stranger-than-fiction true stories of departed animals and giving them new life as fantasy monsters. The extinct Carolina parakeet, for one, appears as a fantasized demigod with glowing blue eyes.

Said the Center’s Tierra Curry, who’s been working with Zellers: “We know things are bad, but science isn’t going to get us out of this mess that we’ve created. We have to win people’s hearts and minds.”

The Revelator: 3 Billion Birds Lost 

One study shows that North America lost 3 billion birds between 1970 and 2019. Floored by that number, a retired couple — journalists and avid birders — wanted to know what could be done to stop birds’ staggering decline. So they took off on a cross-country trip, meeting with 300 experts and others working to recover birds.  

Now they’ve now chronicled their journey in a new book A Wing and a Prayer: The Race to Save Our Vanishing Birds. 

Learn more in The Revelator, and if you haven’t yet, sign up for the e-newsletter bringing you each week’s best environmental articles and essays.  

That's Wild: Freshwater Turtles Bask in Moonlight

New research reveals that — like tides, witches and werewolves — some freshwater turtles have a strong connection to the moon.

Noticing local freshwater turtles moonbathing, Australian biologist Dr. Donald McKnight wondered if the behavior is widespread, inspiring an international team to study turtles from 29 species in places around the world. They observed “nocturnal basking,” as this behavior is called, in a wide range of turtle species from the tropics and subtropics.

Why do turtles do it, and why only in the tropics and subtropics? McKnight thinks nocturnal basking may have to do with water temperature.

But like many things related to the moon, it’s still a mystery.

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Photo credits: Bracted twistflower by Alison Northup/iNaturalist; Hurricane Maria damage in Puerto Rico courtesy USCBP; gray wolf by Jacob W. Frank/NPS; jaguar video by Dipika Kadaba/Center for Biological Diversity; rusty patched bumble bee courtesy USFWS; Carolina parakeet art by Lucas Ferreira CM/Mage Hand Press; Florida grasshopper sparrow by Anders Gyllenhaal; turtles basking at night by Dr. Eric Nordberg/University of New England.

Center for Biological Diversity
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Tucson, AZ 85702
United States