Center for Biological Diversity

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Endangered Earth

No. 1,242, April 25, 2024


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Ambler Road Blocked, Alaska’s Brooks Range Saved
Following a lawsuit by the Center for Biological Diversity and allies — and nearly 20,000 comments from Center supporters — the U.S. Bureau of Land Management announced it will block an industrial mining road that would’ve devastated millions of acres of wild landscapes along the iconic Brooks Range in northern Alaska.
Hastily rubberstamped under the Trump administration, the 211-mile Ambler Road project would’ve bulldozed through the Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve — home to gray wolves, moose, three of North America’s largest caribou herds, five Pacific salmon species, and birds like golden eagles and willow ptarmigans. It would’ve crossed almost 3,000 rivers and streams, destroyed delicate tundra wetlands, and interrupted traditional Alaska Native ways of life.
The BLM has also announced a rule it says will “ensure maximum protection for significant resource values” in the western Arctic — but that actually leaves more than half of the Western Arctic Reserve open to fossil fuel development and does nothing to stop the massive Willow oil-drilling project. We’ll keep fighting to protect the entire Western Arctic, and we’re in court doing everything we can to make sure no drilling ever happens at Willow.
Help the Center's fight by giving to our Saving Life on Earth Fund . Donate now and your gift will be matched.


Washington’s Wolves Increase, Oregon’s Flatline
In its latest state wolf count, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife reported at least 260 wolves in 2023. While that’s a moderate uptick since 2022, wolves are still far from recovery in the state — yet the department is proposing to reduce their state protection, downgrading wolves’ status from “endangered” to “sensitive.”
Meanwhile, for the first time in 16 years, Oregon’s wolf population didn’t grow at all. According to a new report, the known population is stuck at 178 wolves, and 36 wolves were killed — both illegally and because of state kill orders.
Get up close and personal with an Oregon wolf howling in this video on Facebook or YouTube.


We’re Suing to Save These Endangered Bats
Federally protected bat species that live in North Carolina’s Nantahala-Pisgah national forests are threatened by a new forest-management plan to quintuple logging in their habitat.
The government has a legal responsibility to conserve species listed under the Endangered Species Act. So for northern long-eared bats, Indiana bats, Virginia big-eared bats, gray bats, and their relatives, we’ve sued the U.S. Forest Service to make it do its job of caring for the bats.
We won’t let these amazing species go extinct on our watch.


Protection Sought for Sparrow, Two Snail Species
On Monday the Center filed a petition to protect saltmarsh sparrows under the Endangered Species Act. These small, orange-faced birds have a soft song but raucous social life, with both sexes mating with multiple partners. They breed only in the salt marshes of the U.S. Northeast, which are being inundated by sea-level rise and destroyed by development.
And last week we petitioned to protect ashy pebblesnails and shortface lanx, two tiny gastropods who help sustain waterways in the Northwest’s Columbia River Basin. Both species are threatened by dams, logging, climate change and more.
Of course, protecting species takes money. If y ou live in the United States, help us advocate for a bill giving federal, state and Tribal agencies the funding they need to save snails, sparrows, and so many others.


Op-Ed: Condors’ Bay Area Comeback — and New Threats
Last fall a flock of California condors graced the skies of Contra Costa County for the first time in more than 100 years.
But new threats are already on the horizon, including a sand-and-gravel mine that would destroy more than 400 acres of condor foraging habitat, plus habitat for California red-legged frogs and mountain lions.
Read this op-ed by by Center biologist Tiffany Yap and Amah Mutsun Tribal Band Chair Valentin Lopez to learn more about condors’ past and potential future.


The Revelator : PTSD in Chimpanzees?
Chimpanzees subjected to medical testing often display symptoms of psychological trauma akin to PTSD in humans. Wildlife sanctuaries are helping them recover.
Read more in The Revelator and subscribe to the free weekly e-newsletter for more wildlife and conservation news.


That’s Wild: Chitons’ Eye Evolution
Chitons are small marine mollusks with shells made of overlapping plates, like armor, covered with light-sensitive cells that act as their eyeballs. Some chitons have hundreds of complex "shell eyes,” which have lenses that can distinguish shapes as well as light, embedded in their shells. Other chitons have thousands of smaller, simpler “eyespots” that work together like pixels to form a visual sensor distributed over their shells. According to a new study, both types of eyes evolved twice — independently.
Intriguingly, researchers found, the type of eye evolved was determined by a seemingly unrelated older feature: the number of slits in the chiton’s shell armor. Why? Scientists are working on the answer. That remains to be seen.
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Center for Biological Diversity
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