Center for Biological Diversity
[link removed]
Endangered Earth
No. 1286, February 27, 2025

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In Court to Save Redwoods — Again
The Center for Biological Diversity and allies have appealed a California court’s dismissal of our legal challenge [[link removed]] to the Richardson Grove Project — an “upgrade” of Highway 101 to accommodate oversized commercial trucks that would cut into the sensitive root networks of old-growth redwoods in Richardson Grove State Park. The park is home to one of the world’s last protected stands of accessible ancient redwoods, some 3,000 years old, as well as wildlife like marbled murrelets and northern spotted owls.
“For nearly two decades Caltrans has been pushing an unpopular project that was never needed and causes a world of harm to California’s famous trees,” said the Center’s Director of Programs Peter Galvin. “It doesn’t make any sense to waste taxpayer money on a project that serves no purpose but causes irreparable harm.”
You can help: Urge decision-makers to save Richardson Grove’s iconic trees. [[link removed]]
Humpback whale coming out of the ocean, with mountains in the background [[link removed]]
Suit Targets Trump Attack on Offshore Protections
The Center and allies just sued the Trump administration [[link removed]] to protect oceans from offshore drilling. We're challenging an illegal Trump order revoking a Biden withdrawal of vulnerable ocean areas from future oil and gas leasing.
“Trump’s putting our oceans, marine wildlife, and coastal communities at risk of devastating oil spills, and we need the courts to rein in his utter contempt for the law,” said the Center’s Kristen Monsell. “Offshore oil drilling is destructive from start to finish. Opening up more public waters to the oil industry for short-term gain and political points is a reprehensible and irresponsible way to manage our precious ocean ecosystems.”
Fuel our work for whales and other wildlife with a gift to the Center’s Future for the Wild Fund . [[link removed]]
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Mount Graham Red Squirrel Numbers Are Up
Hopeful news for endangered squirrels: A recent survey of Mount Graham red squirrels counted 233 individuals in the Pinaleño Mountains of southeast Arizona, their only habitat on Earth. The new number is an exciting jump from just 144 squirrels counted in 2023 — but these tiny mammals are isolated in the area’s last islands of canopied forest, with nowhere else to go. To help save them, last year the Center went to court [[link removed]] to expand the squirrels’ critical habitat.
See one of our cutest clients in action: Head to Facebook [[link removed]] or Instagram [[link removed]] to watch (and share) a video of a Mount Graham red squirrel foraging and face-stuffing.
Two spotted owls looking away from the camera [[link removed]]
Trump Firings and Cuts Could Hurt Spotted Owls
Many years of hard work have gone into saving endangered northern spotted owls [[link removed]] from having their home trees cut down — and the nationwide firing of Forest Service and other workers on public lands could seriously undermine those efforts, the Center’s Noah Greenwald told reporters [[link removed]] .
Without surveyors to get out into the woods and find owls, agencies won’t have the data they need to ensure that ongoing logging doesn’t drive the species closer to extinction.
“As a former spotted owl surveyor myself,” said Noah, “I know firsthand how important keeping track of these inquisitive birds is to their survival. If we can’t do the surveys, the logging may need to stop."
Salmon swimming underwater [[link removed]]
Suit Aims to Help Pacific Northwest Chinook Salmon
Chinook or “king” salmon are the largest of all Pacific salmon — once abundant throughout the river basins of Oregon, Washington, and Northern California but now a smaller and ever-dwindling population. So the Center and our allies have sued the Trump administration [[link removed]] for delaying Endangered Species Act decisions for the region’s spring-run Chinook.
“These iconic fish are at risk of disappearing from our coastal rivers forever if the feds don’t act quickly,” said Jeremiah Scanlan, a legal fellow at the Center. “Spring-run Chinook salmon badly need protection, but the agency has taken the lazy river approach and drifted past its own deadlines.”
Coral in a tank for sale [[link removed]]
Revelator : Capitalism Is Killing Corals
Coral reefs around the world face ever-increasing pressures from climate change and pollution, and capitalism isn’t making things any easier. In this new Revelator article [[link removed]] , Tracy Keeling reports on the growing commercial trade in wild, endangered corals.
If you don’t already, subscribe to The Revelator 's free weekly e-newsletter for more wildlife and conservation news [[link removed]] .
Bat with its wings spread and tongue sticking out [[link removed]]
That’s Wild: Are Chatty Bats Bolder?
The sounds animals make carry meanings that scientists are just beginning to explore — including how those sounds reflect individual personalities. Recently a Berlin-based ecologist published a study of Pallas’s long-tongued bats [[link removed]] , whom she’d tested at an experimental site in Costa Rica using a rubber ball and a feeder lit by flashlight.
Her observations showed that bats who explored more, were bolder at feeding, and were more curious with the ball were more likely to vocalize socially. And the more agitated the animals were, the more sounds they made. Risk-taking bats may be more vocal as a proactive way to confront new challenges.
Be a bold bat: Take action on any of our current action alerts [[link removed]] (and share the page with your friends).
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Center for Biological Diversity
P.O. Box 710
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