Suit Filed to Protect Rare Lizard in New Mexico, Texas

Dunes sagebrush lizards live nowhere on Earth but the rolling white sand dunes of southeastern New Mexico and West Texas.

For almost two decades, the Center for Biological Diversity has been fighting to save these lizards from habitat loss and oil and gas operations — and this week we and allies sued the Trump administration to get them the Endangered Species Act protection they deserve.

Responding to a Center petition, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 2010 said the lizards should be protected as endangered. But two years later it back-pedaled, deferring to a bizarre, secretive plan offered by the state of Texas.

In 2018 we petitioned to protect the lizards again — but the agency still hasn't responded. So we sued.

Read more in the Albuquerque Journal.

Victory: Washington's Wolves Get Reprieve From Killing

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee has directed his state's fish and wildlife agency to dramatically rein in its wolf killing. In a letter sent Monday, he told the agency to find nonlethal solutions for conflicts between livestock and wolves.

This move toward real reform comes in a year when Washington's wildlife agency has killed more wolves than ever.

It also comes after years of sustained, intense pressure by the Center, partner groups and supporters like you. Thank you for speaking up for wolves by sending letters, signing petitions, making calls, demonstrating, and donating to our lawsuits on behalf of Washington's wolves. You did it.

Get more from The Seattle Times.

Courtroom Count: Three Fights for a Healthier World

In California this week the Center and allies sued the Trump administration over its attack on the Golden State's air-pollution standards for cars and trucks, which are stricter than federal standards and have served as a model across the country — and even beyond it. Said the Center's Maya Golden-Krasner, a Los Angeles-based Center attorney: "There's no legal basis for Trump to leave Californians choking on smog."

With allies we also challenged the administration's approval of the use of bee-killing "neonic" pesticides in crops grown on national wildlife refuges. "It's astounding that anyone would promote spraying dangerous pesticides on wildlife refuges," said the Center's Hannah Connor. "But if anyone would, it's the pesticide pushers in the Trump administration."

And we notified one of the world's biggest beef-producing companies, JBS, that we plan to sue it over chronic violations of the Clean Air Act from its slaughterhouse in Greeley, Colorado — a slaughter operation we sued earlier this year for discharging filthy and dangerous wastewater into a tributary of the South Platte River.

Protection Won for U.S. Reindeer

Following a lawsuit by the Center and allies, the Fish and Wildlife Service on Tuesday protected mountain caribou as endangered.

Until recently these caribou — a unique, rare population of woodland caribou — straddled the border between British Columbia and Idaho, Washington and Montana. This January the last of these caribou on the U.S. side were transported to Canada for their survival.

Now the herd has a chance to return to its stomping grounds south of the border — but only if its habitat is protected. We'll continue working to keep enough U.S. habitat free of disturbance so these caribou can roam free again in the lower 48 states.

Get more from our press release.

Imperiled Rio Grande Fish Gets Second Chance

Following a Center lawsuit — and years languishing without badly needed safeguards — Rio Grande cutthroat trout may have a new chance at Endangered Species Act protection. Last week a judge ordered the feds to explain their previous decision not to protect the fish.

These splotchy, speckled trout are threatened by non-native species, habitat degradation and climate change.

Said the Center's Michael Robinson: "It's a relief to have Rio Grande cutthroats one step closer to the help they need."

Read more in the Santa Fe New Mexican.

Wild & Weird: Walrus Mom Sinks Russian Navy Boat

In the Arctic Ocean, a walrus recently attacked and sank a small boat belonging to the Russian Navy's Northern Fleet, which was carrying researchers from a larger ship to shore.

The walrus likely struck the boat because she feared for the safety of her calves. No humans or walruses were harmed.

Get more from CNN.