Suit Launched to Speed Up Help for 15 Species |
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Grizzly Protection at Risk |
Good Riddance to Ducey’s Junk Wall |
Following weeks of protests, legal work by the Center and allies, and more than 1,000 comments from our supporters, last week saw the removal of the final shipping container in the rogue border wall built by former Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey.
This ugly symbol of anti-immigrant bigotry sliced through a vital wildlife corridor in a national forest, including habitat for endangered jaguars and ocelots.
“This is perhaps the only major border wall to be removed globally since the Berlin Wall,” said the Center’s Russ McSpadden. Unfortunately the public is still stuck paying millions for Ducey’s destructive stunt.
A coyote caught on camera by our friends at the Sky Island Alliance perfectly illustrates our feelings on the matter. Watch the video on YouTube or Twitter.
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EPA Sued Over Ballast That’s Hurting Ocean Species |
This week the Center and allies sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for failing to protect U.S. waterways and marine ecosystems from dangerous ship pollution.
Many ships take on water — called “ballast water” — to add weight. When they dump it later, it can contaminate the ocean and quickly spread invasive species and diseases that threaten human health, along with endangered wildlife like elkhorn and staghorn corals.
“The EPA has delayed for years as ships from all over the world dump disease-causing pathogens and invasive organisms that harm our waters and communities,” said the Center’s Oceans Director Miyoko Sakashita. “We won’t stand for it.” |
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40% of U.S. Wildlife and Ecosystems Are Imperiled |
A 50-year study just revealed that 40% of animals, 34% of plants, and 40% of ecosystems across the United States are at risk. It’s the most comprehensive study ever done on the status of U.S. ecosystems. The study found that 51% of grasslands and 40% of forests and wetlands could soon collapse — yet only 12% of U.S. lands are protected. Nearly half of cactus species are vulnerable, as is 1 in 5 tree species.
“It’s suicidal to pretend business as usual is more important than safeguarding the natural world we all depend on,” said Center Senior Scientist Tierra Curry. “But the good news is, we can work together to stop this. Extinction is a choice.”
You can help: Tell President Biden to take bold action now for U.S. biodiversity. |
Suit Aims to Save Florida Species From Development |
The Center and allies sued the National Park Service Wednesday to make it protect endangered Florida bonneted bats, Miami tiger beetles, and Bartram’s scrub-hairstreak butterflies from a destructive water park and retail development in South Florida.
When the Park Service OK’d a deal paving the way for construction, it shirked its legal duty to work with the Fish and Wildlife Service to make sure the project wouldn’t hurt endangered species.
“Thoughtless development has driven so many rare Florida creatures to the brink of extinction,” said Elise Bennett, the Center’s Florida director. “And now we have to take the Park Service to court to save one of the few precious places that are still wild in urban Miami-Dade.” |
Revelator: Saving California Condors From Lead |
That’s Wild: Dance of the Greater Sage Grouse |
Every spring across sagebrush country in the western United States, the greater sage grouse performs its unique courtship ritual. To attract females, the male bird finds a large open space where he can really stretch out. Then he dances: popping, locking, hooting, head-bobbing, tail-feather-fanning, wing-spreading, and, of course, bouncing his “gular sacs” (aka inflatable neck pouches).
Need some inspiration for dating this Valentine’s Day? Check out our video of the male greater sage grouse doing what he does so well on YouTube or the Center’s new TikTok account.
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Center for Biological Diversity
P.O. Box 710
Tucson, AZ 85702
United States |
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