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| Dear Friend, |
| Our planet is currently undergoing the sixth mass extinction ever. No one knows exactly how many species are disappearing, but we know we are losing many before they are even discovered. |
| But I’m not writing to you today to inspire fear; I’m writing because I know we have a fighting chance. |
| The Endangered Species Act (ESA) turns 50 years old in 2023, making it only a year and a half younger than Earthjustice. Over the span of these five decades, 99% of species protected under the act have survived — at least 227 species have been saved from extinction. |
| It is the most powerful tool we have to fight the global extinction crisis, so naturally it has undergone relentless attacks by powerful industries and special interests that would rather strip protections for species and communities than harm their profit margins. |
| Our Earth is not and should not be for sale. Earthjustice attorneys, staff, and supporters — people like you — wield the power of the Endangered Species Act to protect not only the estimated one million species at risk of extinction in our lifetimes, but entire ecosystems imperiled by climate change and industrial greed. |
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| Take a look inside our fights to protect five key species. They give me hope that we can and will turn the tide on the extinction crisis: |
- Northern spotted owl: Our legal campaign to secure ESA protections for this bird completely transformed federal forest management in the Pacific Northwest, forcing the US Forest Service to manage forests in the public interest, not just facilitate logging in them.
- Wolverine: After a century of trapping and habitat loss, no more than 300 wolverines remain in the lower 48 states, and their habitat continues to diminish from fossil fuel-driven climate change. We petitioned for this species to receive ESA protections and sued the Fish and Wildlife Service when our petition was denied, winning interim protections in 2022 while we continue to fight for the wolverines’ long-term survival.
- Sea turtle: The ESA protects the Kemp’s ridley and loggerhead sea turtles that swim through the Gulf of Mexico. Earthjustice has fought and won numerous battles to defend these species, including a 2020 lawsuit that challenged the federal government’s failure to protect threatened marine wildlife in the Gulf from harm by the offshore oil industry. Our defense of sea turtles benefits countless other species at risk from Gulf drilling and spills.
- Grizzly Bear: Long protected under the ESA, grizzlies are under constant threat from habitat loss, due to both climate change and logging industries whittling away at their forest homes. We used the ESA to sue the US Fish and Wildlife Service for approving a massive roadbuilding project in Montana’s Flathead National Forest — roads that would displace grizzlies and further harm an already threatened ecosystem.
- California Spotted Owl: Just two months ago, decades after our first owl victory, Earthjustice won a 23-year fight to protect this species under the ESA and preserve mid-elevation old forests in the Sierra Nevada.
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| Our strategy is working, and extractive industries know it. They attempted to weaken regulations through a Trump-era effort to gut the ESA, but Earthjustice fought back with a lawsuit challenging Trump attacks on ESA regulations. Now the Biden administration is planning to propose revised ESA rules this spring. |
| And yet, we are already seeing ESA exemptions being proposed by House Republicans as part of a new energy package, and it is likely that targeted species attacks will continue. |
| So our fight continues as well. We are as relentless as our foes, and we know that we can never rest in our efforts to defend Earth’s species, communities, and climate from the grip of destructive industries. And with your committed support and the support of thousands of advocates and donors, we will succeed. |
| Thank you for being with us through these fights — the fights for our and a million species’ lives. If you are able to, please donate this Earth Month in support of this essential work. |
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In gratitude,
Earthjustice Biodiversity Defense
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