Relief From Fishing Gear for Right Whales

After the Center for Biological Diversity and our allies went to court, some of the world’s rarest whales have been granted a reprieve from the torment of getting tangled up — and often killed — in fishing gear. A judge has reinstated federal restrictions on lobstering in 997 square miles of the Gulf of Maine to save North Atlantic right whales from buoy lines.

“We’re thrilled the court recognized that entanglements pose an existential threat to right whales,” said Kristen Monsell, the Center’s oceans legal director. “But with only 336 of these whales left on Earth, the National Marine Fisheries Service needs to do more.”

The Center has been defending North Atlantic right whales for almost two decades; our lawyers are already on the case.

We’re Grateful for ... You

This Thanksgiving, as on every day, we give thanks for you. Thank you for reading this newsletter, sharing our social posts, taking action online and IRL, donating, and collaborating with us for a better future.

These are tough times of climate change, extinction crisis, backsliding democracy and white supremacy. But together we’re winning decisive victories that give hope and show the way.

Here are just a few of our wins this year: In June we ended large-scale old-growth logging in Alaska’s Tongass National Forest. In October, Bears Ears National Monument — home to ancient cliff dwellings, sacred Indigenous sites, and iconic wildlife like bears and bighorns — was restored with our help. We scored victories for Sierra Nevada red foxes, Southern Resident orcas and many other species, and we won our decades-long battle to ban the highly toxic pesticide chlorpyrifos.

Let’s keep working together to save species, land and life.

Reckoning With Thanksgiving

Four centuries after the “First Thanksgiving,” many of us are finally starting to uncover the truth about this historic event: The pleasant story we learned in elementary school of a friendly feast was anything but. Thanksgiving grafts values of gratitude, generosity and community onto a sanitized myth that upholds the violent colonization of this land.

Learn about the ecology of the first Thanksgiving and what really happened in 1621.

Biden Urged to Consult Tribes on Wolves

During the White House Tribal Nations Summit last week, President Biden announced new steps toward respecting tribal sovereignty and protecting the rights of Indigenous communities. This week the Center and other conservation groups called on his administration to immediately give federal protection back to gray wolves across the country and consult with tribal nations on wolf management and protection.

“In the face of ongoing wolf slaughter under new state management policies, the Biden administration must immediately restore federal Endangered Species Act protection to wolves and start the tribal consultation that should have occurred from the beginning,” said the Center’s Amaroq Weiss.

Help us save wolves and other species with a matched gift to our Saving Life on Earth Fund.

Relief for Washington Bears: No 2022 Spring Hunt

Washington state’s Fish and Wildlife Commission just voted 4-4 to suspend a proposed 2022 spring bear-hunting season. Putting the hunt on hold is a big win for wildlife, said the Center’s Sophia Ressler: It will let the state better study the risks of hunting bears in spring.

“I hope the commission listens to the majority of folks in the state, who want these cruel spring hunts to finally come to an end,” said Sophia.

Our New Lawsuits for Endangered Species

The Center has just launched three lawsuits to help endangered species.

Last Tuesday we filed two notices of intent to sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for denying or delaying Endangered Species Act protection for 10 species, including dunes sagebrush lizards of Texas and New Mexico.

And on Friday we sued the Service to force it to protect seven foreign species that have been parked on its “candidate” waitlist for years — some even for three decades. These species include Brazil’s beautiful Fluminense swallowtail butterfly.

Remembrance Day for Lost Species: Join Our Webinar

Join our next Saving Life on Earth webinar on Tuesday, Nov. 30 for Remembrance Day for Lost Species. We’ll pay tribute to the 23 species that were recently declared extinct and resolve not to lose any more to extinction.

The webinar will feature Executive Director Kierán Suckling, Senior Scientist Tierra Curry, and Center staffer and award-winning author Lydia Millet, who will read from her new work.

You have to register, so sign up and then check your email for a link to join the free webinar at 4 p.m. PT / 7 p.m. ET.

California’s Lone Pine Ranch Becomes a Preserve

After a multiyear effort supported by the Center and other allies, the magnificent 29,600-acre Lone Pine Ranch — previously belonging to the family of Dean Witter — has been set aside for conservation. It will be run by The Wildlands Conservancy and known as the Eel River Canyon Preserve.

The property has 18 miles of river frontage, numerous endangered species, extensive forests, herds of Roosevelt elk and rich wetlands.

“Protecting the heart of the Eel River corridor will ensure permanent protection of one of the most wild and scenic river stretches in the western United States,” said Center cofounder Peter Galvin.

Thanks to all of you who took action through our recent alert for Eel River. You made a difference.

The Revelator: Living With Jaguars

People and jaguars can coexist in peace, even in areas with livestock, writes veteran biologist John Polisar at The Revelator. These great cats used to roam the country from California to Texas at least — and experience in other countries shows we can welcome them back without much pain or fuss.

That’s Wild: Comedy Wildlife Photography

The winners of this year’s seventh annual Comedy Wildlife Photography competition have been announced, and the photos — capturing the often less-than-majestic, ridiculous and downright hilarious side of wild critters — may be exactly what you need to see today.

Read more and check out award-winning photos of an elephant's mud bath, dancing bears, a ninja prairie dog and more.

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Photo credits: North Atlantic right whale courtesy NOAA; Southern Resident orcas courtesy NOAA; Thanksgiving at Plymouth painting by Jennie Augusta Brownscombe/Wikipedia; wolves by klengel/Flickr; black bear courtesy USFWS; dunes sagebrush lizard courtesy USFWS; ivory-billed woodpecker by Arthur A. Allen/Macauly Library; Eel River Canyon Preserve by Jack Thompson/The Wildlands Conservancy; jaguar by Bernard DuPont; elephant's eye by Arno Meintjes/Flickr.

Center for Biological Diversity
P.O. Box 710
Tucson, AZ 85702
United States