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Monarch butterfly map
Center for     Biological     Diversity   

Toxic Weed Killer to Be Sprayed on 60 Million Monarch Acres

Monarch butterfly populations have fallen by 80 percent in the past two decades due to pesticide use and other threats. The news gets worse: Now we know that more than 60 million acres of their habitat will be sprayed with a pesticide extremely harmful to milkweed plants, monarch caterpillars' only food.

The Center for Biological Diversity's new report A Menace to Monarchs shows that the butterflies face a dangerous new threat from accelerating use of this notoriously drift-prone, highly toxic weed killer — called dicamba — across an area larger than Minnesota.

"America's monarchs are already in serious trouble, and this will push them into absolute crisis," said Center scientist Nathan Donley. "It's appalling that the Environmental Protection Agency approved this spraying without bothering to consider the damage it will do to these butterflies and their migration routes."

Check out this startling animated map and read more in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

African elephants

A New Threat to Elephants — Help Us Fight Back

The Trump administration this week ended any chance of an across-the-board ban on trophy hunting — a critical measure in the fight to halt the steep decline of elephants in Africa.

Instead Trump's wildlife agency wants to make import decisions on a "case by case" basis — in the dark and out of the public's view. That's the last thing Africa's elephants need. These animals are on a fast track toward extinction, and anything short of a complete ban on trophy imports will allow their killing to continue.

The Center has been fighting for years to save elephants, and we're not about to give up. Please make an emergency gift today to our Trump Resistance Fund so we can continue this critical battle.

18 Book Recommendations From The Revelator

Sea otter

We love to read, and we're always grateful to get The Revelator's latest book recommendations. For March, editor John Platt passes along 18 new books coming out this month.

The topics run the gamut, from Rachel Carson and sea otters to monarchs (in a book for kids) — along with the Gold King Mine disaster, poems on urban existence and tips on eating for a better planet.

Check out The Revelator's recommendations.

Wolves

Victory: Feds to Analyze Deadly 'Cyanide Bombs'

Responding to a lawsuit brought last year by the Center, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has agreed to a deadline for analyzing impacts to endangered wildlife from two deadly pesticides used by the USDA's Wildlife Services program against coyotes and other native carnivores.

M-44s, or "cyanide bombs," propel sodium cyanide into the mouths of animals they lure. Compound 1080 is sometimes used in collars strapped to livestock. Both pesticides are dangerous for animals like grizzlies, Canada lynx and wolves. M-44s are also dangerous for people and pets: Last year they temporarily blinded a child and killed three family dogs.

"The government needs to ban these deadly pesticides," said the Center's Collette Adkins. "But until then we're hopeful this analysis will help prevent needless deaths."

Read more in The Washington Post.

Stronger Protection Sought for Northwest Songbird

Streaked-horned lark

The Center has just sued the Fish and Wildlife Service over its inadequate protection for streaked-horned larks. These beautiful songbirds with feathered "horns" are in steep decline across their range in Oregon and Washington.

"The Service has created a loophole in the law letting agribusiness and airports off the hook for killing these ground-nesting birds," said the Center's Noah Greenwald. "That's got to be fixed to save the lark."

Read more in The Oregonian.

California coast

Don't Let Trump Expand Drilling Off Our Coasts

The Trump administration announced its plans in January to dramatically expand offshore drilling in all U.S. oceans. Offshore drilling is a disaster for coastal communities and the planet. It poisons marine wildlife, covers beaches in oil, threatens tourism and fishing jobs, and deepens people's dependence on fossil fuels.

More than 1 million activists have submitted comments in opposition to Trump's plan, and thousands have protested at public meetings across the country over the past two months.

With the comment period on the plans coming to a close, now's the time to #ProtectOurCoasts. Call your members of Congress and demand they oppose Trump's attempts to expand offshore drilling. We need Congress members to push back, but they won't do it if they don't hear from you first.

Snapping turtle

Win for Wild Turtles: Missouri Bans Commercial Trapping

After a petition by the Center and allies, the Missouri Department of Conservation has banned commercial collection of the state's wild freshwater turtles.

Before the ban, which took effect Thursday, commercial collectors could take unlimited numbers of common snapping turtles, spiny softshells and smooth softshells from parts of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers. Thousands of Missouri's turtles were caught and sold in the past decade, which these turtles just can't handle without dangerous population declines.

Missouri's ban will save turtles from trappers seeking to make a quick buck — a big victory for turtles and anyone who cares about the health of the state's wildlife and waterways.

Read more in our press release.

Climate Migrants on the Move in the U.S.

Houston flooding

More than 1 million Americans were displaced last year by extreme weather due to climate change — and some of them will never get back home. Other Americans who have the means are relocating to safer cities ahead of disastrous hurricanes, floods and wildfires.

Climate change is creating migrants and refugees not just in far-flung locales like the Arctic, but within U.S. borders. This gripping Rolling Stone article by Jeff Goodell reveals how the climate is changing where we live — and how we can move into an altered future.

Black Panther and black panther

Wild & Weird: Black Panthers Are a Marvel

Black Panther, Marvel's latest superhero flick featuring a predominantly black cast and a lead character with the attributes of a powerful, big cat — a clear reference to black struggle in the United States — is a blockbuster hit and a pop-culture watershed.

But how much do you know about the real-life felines that fall under the umbrella term "black panther"?

Watch our new video about black panthers on Facebook, YouTube and Instagram.

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Photo credits: Map of pesticides that harm monarchs courtesy Center for Biological Diversity; African elephants by John Schinker/Flickr; sea otter by Laura R/Flickr; wolves by klengel/Flickr; streaked-horned lark by David Maloney/USFWS; California coast by Michael Vito/Flickr; snapping turtle by Andrew DuBois/Flickr; Houston flooding by johnchandler/Flickr; graphic based on images of Black Panther courtesy Disney/Marvel Studios and a black panther by Davidvraju/Wikimedia.

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