Jaguar
Center for     Biological     Diversity   

Trump's First Days: Pipelines, Censorship, Wall and More

How bad has Trump been his first week in office? Atrocious. Among other awful acts, he's revived the dangerous Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines, scrubbed any mention of climate change from the White House website, pushed ahead the border wall (bad for people and wildlife like jaguars and ocelots), and put a gag on the Environmental Protection Agency.

Oh, and his response to millions of women and allies who marched Saturday? Making it harder for women worldwide to access reproductive healthcare.

Trump is just getting started -- but so is the Center for Biological Diversity. We're still energized from the amazing #Earth2Trump tour that galvanized thousands of activists across the country in the resistance movement. We'll fight every one of Trump's attacks.

Stay tuned for how to help -- and check out our Trump Action Toolkit to take action today to protect people, wildlife and the planet.

Gray wolf

Tell Congress: Don't Mess With Wolf Recovery

U.S. Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) have introduced a new bill to strip federal protection from wolves in Wyoming and the Great Lakes region -- and we need your help to stop it. The bill is an ugly political ploy that will end with thousands of dead wolves and do serious damage to one of America's most important endangered species success stories.

After the Center and allies sued, federal judges overturned a series of bad decisions to prematurely remove Endangered Species Act protection from wolves. But with language explicitly preventing further judicial review, the new bill would reverse these court orders, end federal wolf protections, and undermine the basic rule of law and rights of citizens to challenge illegal government actions.

Act now to demand that Congress let science and law govern wolf recovery -- not politics.

Two Pesticides Threaten 97 Percent of Endangered Species

California red-legged frog

A new report from the EPA says 97 percent of the 1,800 species that are protected under the Endangered Species Act -- from bears to birds to frogs -- are likely to be harmed by two of the most common pesticides, malathion and chlorpyrifos. The pesticide diazinon is likely to hurt another 78 percent.

"We're now getting a far better picture of the risks pesticides pose to endangered wildlife," said Center scientist Nathan Donley. "The next step should be protecting them -- and public health."

Read more in The Guardian.

Isidro Baldenegro López

Mexican Activist Isidro Baldenegro López Murdered

Isidro Baldenegro López (top right), an indigenous activist and subsistence farmer who fought to protect ancient forests from illegal logging in Mexico's Sierra Madre region, was shot and killed last week.

López's murder is the most recent tragedy in a staggering series of killings of environmental activists around the world. In 2015 at least 185 people struggling against mining, agribusiness, dam and lumber projects in their communities met violent deaths, according to a nonprofit called Global Witness.

"The murder of Isidro Baldenegro López is outrageous and deeply troubling," said Center cofounder Peter Galvin. "We're calling on the Mexican government to commit all the resources at their disposal to bring these killers to justice."

Read more in The New York Times.

Grizzly bear

New Plan: Recovery of Grizzly Bears in North Cascades

Grizzly bear numbers in the Cascades are dismal -- fewer than 10 bears likely live in the whole region. So it's good news that the National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are considering increasing the North Cascades grizzly population in Washington by moving in bears from other populations.

In the draft plan, the federal agencies propose bringing bears from Montana or British Columbia to increase the Cascades population to 200.

"We're happy to see the agencies taking a step in the right direction to restore grizzly bears to the North Cascades," said Andrea Santarsiere, a senior attorney with the Center. "Without a helping hand, grizzly bears are likely to disappear from the Pacific Northwest."

Get more from CBS News.

Save the Weirdos logo

#SaveTheWeirdos

Desert Pupfish: Every Move They Make, All the Rules They Break

Canada lynx

Suit Launched to Save Wolves, Lynx From Copper Mine

The Center and Earthworks have filed a notice of intent to sue the Fish and Wildlife Service and Forest Service for their approval of the PolyMet open-pit copper mine on Minnesota's Superior National Forest, in violation of the Endangered Species Act. The mine would destroy nearly 4,000 acres of habitat for federally protected gray wolves and Canada lynx -- as well as hundreds of acres of high-quality wetlands -- and risk long-term, toxic water pollution in the Lake Superior watershed.

"A century of iron ore mining has already fragmented habitat for wolves and lynx in this region, so they can't tolerate a new wave of open-pit copper mining," said Center attorney Marc Fink. "The impacts are just too severe to let this proceed."

Read more in the Duluth News Tribune.

Burrowing owl

San Diego Agreement Helps Burrowing Owls, Solar Energy

The Center and allies secured an agreement with private developers Monday that will protect imperiled burrowing owls and unique vernal pool species, increase renewable solar energy, and conserve wildlife habitat in a billion-dollar redevelopment of San Diego's Brown Field Municipal Airport.

The project, near the Mexico border in Otay Mesa, will include on-site and off-site solar energy and a program with the San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research to help rebuild Otay Mesa's struggling burrowing owl population.

"This agreement provides an innovative strategy for reestablishing burrowing owls throughout San Diego County," said the Center's Jonathan Evans. "It creates an effective tool to allow off-site mitigation of greenhouse gases with rooftop solar in communities most harmed by air pollution from fossil fuels."

Read more in The San Diego Union-Tribune.

Rare Forest Carnivore Belatedly on Track for Protection

Fisher

The Fish and Wildlife Service is considering protecting Northern Rockies fishers -- cat-like members of the weasel family clinging to survival in northern Idaho and Montana -- under the Endangered Species Act. Now the agency, whose decision is due Sept. 30, is seeking public comment to make the call.

Trapping of wolves, bobcats and other species has been on the rise in Idaho and Montana, and fishers caught by accident have suffered. The Center petitioned to protect them in 2013; the Service is now more than two years late in making its determination. Read more.

Lawsuit Launched to Save Endangered Fish From Gold Mining

Steelhead trout

The Center and allies have filed a notice of intent to sue the state of Washington for allowing highly destructive "suction dredge mining," a recreational gold-mining technique, in waterways crucial to endangered salmon and steelhead trout.

Suction dredge mining uses large, gas-powered vacuums to suck up gravel from the bottom of rivers and streams in search of gold flakes, targeting gravel beds critical to salmon reproduction. It pollutes waterways with toxic mercury, clouds streams with sediment, kills endangered fish and destroys cultural resources. Get more.

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Photo credits: Jaguar by quinnanya/Flickr; gray wolf by Jethro Taylor/Flickr; endangered California red-legged frog, public domain; Isidro Baldenegro López with with elders of the Tarahumara community courtesy Goldman Environmental Prize; grizzly bear by mickthompson/Flickr; Save the Weirdos logo courtesy Center for Biological Diversity; Canada lynx by fristle/Flickr; burrowing owl by mickthompson/Flickr; fisher by Bethany Weeks/Flickr; steelhead trout courtesy National Park Service.

Center for Biological Diversity
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