Hope for Species Great and Small

Last week the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service declared the ivory-billed woodpecker and 22 other species extinct. What was often missing from the story, as reported, is that several of them disappeared before the Endangered Species Act had a chance to save them. Center for Biological Diversity staffers joined national news programs this week to make sure one key fact cut through the noise: We can still rescue species from extinction.

The Endangered Species Act has saved 99% of the plants and animals under its care despite minimal funding. We have the tools to stop extinction — we just need the political will. Here’s how you and others can help:

Ask your members of Congress to pass the Extinction Prevention Act, which will address decades of underfunding of the Act.

Urge President Biden to declare the extinction crisis a national emergency, which will unlock key presidential powers to protect species in the United States and beyond.

Support the Center’s work to protect species great and small by making a donation to our Saving Life on Earth Fund. With your help we’ve protected 726 species and more than half a billion acres of habitat.

Desert Wildflower Moves Toward Protection

After three years of work by the Center, the Fish and Wildlife Service just proposed to protect a rare Nevada plant, Tiehm’s buckwheat, under the Endangered Species Act.

The little plant, threatened by a planned lithium mine that could destroy 90% of its population, became a high-profile conservation cause in media outlets from London to Sydney after it suffered mysterious damage in summer 2020.

“This vulnerable wildflower has captured the imagination of people around the world,” said the Center’s Nevada director Patrick Donnelly. “The Biden administration made the right call to prevent this special plant from disappearing forever.”

Oil rig off Santa Barbara coast at sunset

Planning Commission Nixes Santa Barbara Oil Plan

In a win for wildlife, the climate, and human health and safety, the Santa Barbara County Planning Commission has voted to deny ExxonMobil’s proposal to restart aging offshore platforms in the Santa Barbara Channel by trucking crude oil up dangerous California highways.

The importance of this vote was tragically underscored by the disastrous spill this week that dumped at least 144,000 gallons of crude oil into the ocean off Orange County.

Thank you to everyone who spoke out over the past few years against ExxonMobil’s plan. You made a difference.

Protection Sought for Tiny Utah Fish

The Center just filed a petition with the Fish and Wildlife Service seeking Endangered Species Act protection for a Utah fish called the least chub. Once widespread in the Bonneville Basin, it now has only seven wild populations — four of which are threatened by groundwater pumping.

“This pipeline is an existential threat to the least chub,” said Center scientist Krista Kemppinen. “The state has worked valiantly to secure a future for this little fish, but only the Endangered Species Act can save it from the Pine Valley water grab.”

Wildflowers in Dinosaur National Monument

Win for Colorado: 58K Acres Saved From Oil, Gas

Responding to a suit by the Center and allies, a federal judge has overturned the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s decision, made under the Trump administration, to lease out 58,000 acres of public lands in western Colorado for oil and gas extraction.

The air and water pollution from fossil fuel development in the area, which includes Dinosaur National Monument, would harm people and wildlife as well as the climate. And endangered Colorado pikeminnows, the alpha predators of the river system, could be hurt by spills traveling downstream to their habitat.

The Reviews Are In! We’re a Great Nonprofit

Since we asked for your comments on the nonprofit-rating site GreatNonprofits.org last month, we've been gratified to see how much you value our work. You helped make the Center one of the site’s most-reviewed organizations, with almost 1,300 raves from the folks who know us best.

“They are so focused, so no-nonsense, so in love with the wildlife they strive to protect,” says one reviewer. “They are a true boots-on-the-ground nonprofit and deserve support from everyone who cares about wildlife, climate change, and the vast extinction that we are now witnessing," says another. And so many of you love our communications — like the newsletter you're reading now.

Thank you. Besides earning us our 2021 five-star rating, your praise helps spread the word and fuels our mission to stick up for wildlife and wildlands across the Earth.

Read all the great reviews — and if you haven’t yet, add your own — at the GreatNonprofits website.

Revelator: 8 Can’t-Miss Positive Stories

Phew. September was a hard month. But it also saw some great successes for wildlife and the climate — all made possible by decades of action and perseverance.

Take a break from the battle to read the good news and, if you haven’t already, sign up for The Revelator’s weekly e-newsletter.

That’s Wild: Monsoons Summon Prehistoric Creatures

Tucked between the Painted Desert and the forested highlands of Flagstaff, ancient ruins — including the remnants of a 100-room dwelling and ceremonial ball court — bake in the sun at northern Arizona’s Wupatki National Monument.

Rain is incredibly scarce in this arid environment. But this year’s heavy summer monsoon, setting records in parts of the state, allowed an even more ancient entity to surface from the depths of the desert crust: a posse of prehistoric three-eyed crustaceans called Triops.

Triops eggs can stay in the dry ground for decades or more waiting for rain. When the monstrous monsoon brought seldom-seen rain to Wupatki, it flooded the ancient ball court, creating the conditions for a rare emergence of the tiny critters.