Endangered Earth: As Bulldozers Roll, We Fight for These Tiny Toads

Agreement on Dixie Valley Toads Will Speed Decision

Thanks to a Center for Biological Diversity lawsuit, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service just agreed to decide by April 4 whether to protect rare Dixie Valley toads. The toads are under acute threat from a geothermal power plant that broke ground last week and could dry up hot springs the toads need to survive.

These big-eyed, black-freckled amphibians are one of the smallest species in the “true toad” family. Unfortunately their range is tiny, too — they live in only four spring-fed wetlands on about 1,500 acres.

“Bulldozers are already destroying these toads’ habitat,” said Patrick Donnelly, Great Basin director at the Center. “Dixie Valley toads are facing extinction if this plant is built, and federal protections are their only hope.”

Vast Pesticide Volume Used to Feed Factory Farms

A study just released by the Center and our partner reveals that one-fifth of pesticides used in the United States every year go on corn and soy crops grown to feed factory-farmed animals.

About 235 million pounds of herbicides and insecticides doused those crops in 2018 alone, according to our new report Collateral Damage — all of them known to hurt wildlife.

“This is the cost of cheap meat,” said Lori Ann Burd, the Center’s environmental health director. “Monarch butterflies, San Joaquin kit foxes and whooping cranes are threatened by these pesticides every day just to fuel the cruel and unsustainable factory farm industry.”

Help us save these species and many others with a gift to our Saving Life on Earth Fund.

A Good Month for Wildlife Connections in California

Two innovative ordinances in Ventura County aimed at helping wild creatures safely move around prevailed in court in February. The rules, which had been challenged by business and construction interests, set standards for development and require environmental review of projects that could hinder wildlife connectivity.

Also in California, with the support of the Center, a state bill was just introduced that would prioritize effective wildlife crossings so that species like mountain lions and California tiger salamanders can roam and find mates.

Pacific newts also desperately need help to survive our roads; check out this story on volunteers rescuing newts from becoming roadkill in the Bay Area.

Save Marine Mammals, Celebrate a Lifesaving Law

After people across the United States took action, in October 1972 Congress passed the Marine Mammal Protection Act — the first federal law to protect marine mammals in U.S. waters.

The Act has helped save countless whales, seals, dolphins, polar bears and other ocean creatures from being killed by unregulated hunting and pollution. But they’re still at risk from climate change, fishing gear, oil and gas, and more. We need to make sure this law is fully implemented and enforced.

Now through October, join us in celebrating its 50th anniversary. We’ll share stories, host events, and give you chances to take action. In the meantime, share this video on Facebook with the hashtag #MMPA50. You can also check it out on YouTube.

Reward Offered for Info on Oregon Wolf-Killing

On Feb. 15, outside the town of Cove, Oregon, state troopers found a collared wolf lying dead in a field — a black female wolf they believe to be OR-109, who'd been shot and killed that morning.

So on Wednesday the Center and partners announced a combined $22,500 reward for information leading to a conviction in her killing, which follows another wolf’s shooting in January and eight fatal poisonings — making it the area’s 10th wolf-killing just this year.

“This onslaught of wolf killings is deeply upsetting,” said the Center’s Sophia Ressler. “Oregon officials must take strong action."

People's Climate March in Washington, D.C.

Rally to Defend Clean Air and the Climate

On Monday, Feb. 28, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear from fossil fuel interests trying to block the Environmental Protection Agency from wielding the Clean Air Act against the climate emergency. The Center and our partners are defending the agency’s authority to use the landmark law to set emissions standards for coal-fired power plants.

Join us outside the Supreme Court building on Monday from 9 to 11 a.m. for a rally to support the EPA’s ability to protect people, wildlife, and the climate. Email the Center’s Ben Goloff to let us know you’re coming.

Stay In the Know With Texts From the Center

Life on Earth is threatened by an extinction crisis and climate emergency — but it’s not too late to save it. In 30 years the Center has protected 720 species and half a billion acres of habitat.

We need your help to keep the success going, and we want to make it easy for you. Sign up to get texts on the most urgent Center issues (four to six messages per month), and you’ll be the first to know about breaking news and actions you can take to make a difference. You can unsubscribe anytime, and we won’t share your number.

Change is a text away.

Brutus, a sea turtle fitted with a PIT tag

Revelator: 7 New Tools That Help Save Wildlife

GPS collars saving endangered pronghorns from development. Acoustic recorders finding the best habitat for koalas. At a critical time, these and other emergent technologies are helping researchers better study animals that are few in number, far-ranging or hard to find.

Feds Must Stop Utilities Misusing Customer Money

The Center and more than 300 other environmental, energy justice and community groups just urged the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to prevent utility companies from funneling their customers’ money to anti-environment trade groups.

“The commission needs to stop this sneaky practice of forcing utility customers to bankroll trade associations pushing harmful, fossil-fuel friendly policies,” said Gaby Sarri-Tobar with the Center’s Energy Justice program. "It’s despicable that utilities also use customers’ money to prop up trade groups that are stifling the renewable energy transition.”

That’s Wild: The Seafloor Is Alive

According to a study just published in Science Advances, samples taken from the seafloor around the world have revealed an enormous biodiversity of tiny marine critters new to science, many representing novel families of undescribed life forms.

Something else amazing? Many of these newly discovered organisms sequester carbon on the ocean floor — which means they may help fight climate change.