Injunction Sought to Halt Trump's Wall in Arizona

In less than two weeks bulldozers could start tearing through some of Arizona's most pristine, wild areas to build Trump's border wall — places like Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument.

That's why this week the Center for Biological Diversity and allies filed an emergency request asking a federal court to block work until a judge rules on our lawsuit from July that challenged Trump's waiver of dozens of environmental and public health laws to speed border-wall construction in Arizona. The border region is home to jaguars, wolves and so many other animals that would be devastated by Trump's wall.

"It's senseless to let bulldozers rip through wildlife refuges and national monuments before the court decides whether the waiver is even legal," said the Center's Jean Su. "Trump's grotesque barrier would destroy some of the border's most spectacular and biologically diverse places. We'll do everything in our power to stop that."

Learn more from Arizona Public Media and consider donating to support our legal battle against Trump's wall.

Tell the Feds: Don't Clearcut 'Almost Heaven, West Virginia'

Nobody ever sang about West Virginia's beautiful logging roads or clearcut forests — and for good reason. It'd ruin everything special about this place.

Yet right now the U.S. Forest Service is proposing to clearcut thousands of acres in West Virginia's magnificent Monongahela National Forest. If approved these timber projects would destroy habitat for many imperiled species, including Indiana and northern long-eared bats. And the subsequent logging roads would pollute local streams and creeks, hurting protected fish like the colorful candy darter.

The Forest Service has offered no alternatives so far, and it's looking to cut down as many trees as possible for timber companies. Send a letter urging the agency to abandon these projects.

In the latest installment in our #BorderViews video series, the Center's Laiken Jordahl brings you through Arizona's Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument — which our latest court action defends. This unique and breathtaking monument, full of species found nowhere else, will be one of the first wild places forever scarred by Trump's border wall if we don't stop it. Watch now on Facebook or YouTube.

Court: Oregon Wrongly Denied Protections for Coastal Bird

We just notched an important win for marbled murrelets. On Tuesday a judge ruled that the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission illegally denied a petition by the Center and allies to classify these beautiful birds as "endangered" under the state's Endangered Species Act.

In February the commission voted to do just that — upgrade the birds' status from "threatened" — but then it reversed course in June after new members joined. We challenged that decision in court, and we're happy to win this week.

The marbled murrelet is a seabird that nests in old-growth forests and forages at sea. Its population has declined dramatically in recent decades due to extensive logging in Oregon's coast range.

Read more in The Oregonian.

New Suit Defends Sharks, Rays From Lethal Fisheries

The Center and allies, represented by Earthjustice, have sued the Trump administration for failing to protect whitetip sharks and giant manta rays from deadly fishing gear in the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico.

Both of these great, majestic sea creatures have suffered dramatic declines because of overfishing. Whitetip populations have declined by up to 88 percent in the Atlantic, while those of giant manta rays — which have wingspans as wide as 29 feet — have plummeted by as much as 95 percent.

"These sharks and rays won federal protection, but they're still being slaughtered by reckless fishing practices," said Center attorney Catherine Kilduff.

Read more in our press release.

Wild & Weird: A Clam That Eats Rocks

The newly identified rock-eating shipworm is a species of freshwater clam found in the Philippines. Plump, translucent and worm-like, it's an odd creature to behold. But what's truly astonishing is the clam's food of choice: rocks.

Find out just how — and why — this clam crams rocks at Live Science.