Help Sought for Appalachian Salamanders |
Of the few hundred yellow-spotted woodland salamanders left, most are caught in the crosshairs of the coal industry. So with our partners in Appalachia, the Center for Biological Diversity just petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to protect these slender, distinctly dappled amphibians. Yellow-spotted woodland salamanders don’t have lungs, so they breathe through skin and mouth tissue. They live only in West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee in shale and sandstone outcrops — also prime targets for mountaintop-removal mining, which uses explosives to blast apart mountains for coal. “These salamanders have scampered across Appalachian rock walls for millions of years, but now they’re among the most endangered species on the planet,” said Center scientist Will Harlan. “Without protection, they’ll go extinct.” Help us save salamanders and other species with a gift to our Saving Life on Earth Fund. |
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Win: Court Sends Back Two Gulf of Mexico Oil Sales |
Responding to a suit brought by the Center and our allies, a federal appeals court just ruled that the Trump administration acted illegally when it auctioned off 78 million acres to oil companies in two 2018 Gulf of Mexico lease sales. The ruling sends the sales back to the Interior Department for new analysis of their harms.
“This is great news for our climate, Gulf wildlife like Rice’s whales and sea turtles, and Gulf communities,” said Kristen Monsell, oceans legal director at the Center. “We’re thrilled the court saw the agency’s meager environmental analysis for what it was.” |
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California Senate Passes Wildlife Connectivity Bill |
The future looks brighter for California tiger salamanders, mountain lions and other animals of the urban wild. In a 35-0 vote, this week the California Senate passed the Safe Roads and Wildlife Protection Act, paving the way for more wildlife crossings across the state. The Assembly has already passed the bill — which would require California to prioritize crossings when designing new roads or improving old ones — so all it needs now is the governor’s approval.
“California lawmakers agree that it’s unacceptable for animals to be slaughtered on highways due to a lack of wildlife crossings," said the Center's J.P. Rose. |
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New Wolf Pair in Southwest, New Family in Northwest |
It looks like love is in the air for Mr. Goodbar, an endangered Mexican gray wolf in New Mexico who famously paced the U.S.-Mexico border wall in 2021 — and then survived a gunshot to the leg. GPS data show he’s now traveling with a female named Stella; time will tell if their story lasts and a new wolf pack is established.
Meanwhile, in Oregon, we may be seeing the first known modern-day instance of a California wolf dispersing to Oregon and starting a family. Wildlife officials have shared video footage showing the den site of what could be a relatively new wolf pack headed by an Oregon-born female and a California-born male.
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Explore the United States of Extinction |
It’s easy to forget that wildlife extinctions are all around us. That’s why the Center just launched a groundbreaking interactive map highlighting lost species from all 50 states. Which ones once lived near you?
Explore our United States of Extinction map to learn about pocket gophers in Washington, the mysterious bog lemmings of Kansas, sea minks who used to live in Maine, and some vanished cave-dwellers of Kentucky. Each extinct species has a story to tell — and a warning about the plight of so many others on the brink. |
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Center Op-Ed: The Arizona Mining Menace |
Russ McSpadden, the Center's Southwest public lands advocate, has spent years documenting and pushing back against destructive projects that threaten wildlife and their habitats.
In one such place — the Santa Rita Mountains in Arizona — the beautiful biodiversity feels like a dream. It's home to ocelots, phosphorescent beetles, 20-foot-tall agave flower stalks, and freshwater springs where bears and mountain lions drink. But the threat of copper mining is a harsh wake-up call. Now several peaks in this special mountain range are scheduled to die. Read more in Russ's new op-ed. |
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The Truth About Manchin’s Dirty Deals |
On top of the massive giveaways to fossil fuel industries that Sen. Joe Manchin demanded for his vote on the Inflation Reduction Act, writes the Center’s Brett Hartl, Congress is considering another Manchin machination. The details aren’t public yet, but leaks show the new measure — part of a bargain struck with Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi — would weaken environmental laws and streamline fossil fuel projects like the Mountain Valley Pipeline.
Along with harming the climate, the provisions — likely drafted by the American Petroleum Institute — would hurt a range of native wildlife, including vulnerable fish such as Appalachia's beautiful candy darter. More than 650 groups, including the Center, have called on Congress to oppose Manchin’s destructive deal. |
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In Memoriam: The ‘Man of the Hole’ |
The last of his people — living alone in the Tanaru Indigenous Territory of the Brazilian Amazon — “the man of the hole” was so named by outsiders, observing him from a distance as he dug ditches in his native forest. His death — likely of natural causes, since he apparently decorated the hammock where he was found with colorful feathers — was reported this weekend.
The man of the hole “just wanted to be left alone,” as one advocate put it, to build thatch houses and grow and catch food. He was the last survivor of a decades-long genocide carried out by the hired guns of colonists taking over his ancestral lands. Across the globe human languages and the cultures they embody are dying off even faster than species; 90% may disappear by 2100. The loss of linguistic and cultural diversity is profoundly interwoven with species extinction. |
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Revelator: Action for Antarctica |
The Antarctic Peninsula is one of the fastest-warming places on Earth — bad news for resident wildlife like Adélie penguins, whose populations have declined by up to 90% in some areas. It’s also affecting the Southern Ocean, which plays a large role in the global ocean circulation system on which we all depend.
So Antarctica deserves global action. But how can we save it?
Check out The Revelator for an interview with an expert who has some ideas. And don’t miss the free e-newsletter bringing you each week’s best environmental articles and essays.
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That’s Wild: Sea Sponges Sneeze Slowly |
As filter feeders, sea sponges eat by drawing water through their pores and separating out the nutrients. But how do they get rid of the junk in that water, like sediment, that they can’t use? According to a new study, some “sneeze” it out so it doesn’t clog their pores.
Caribbean tube sponges use mucus to trap unwanted particles and expel that debris-loaded gunk from the same pores they use to absorb water. But unlike humans, sponges do their sneezing slowly and continuously. Later other sea critters, like brittle stars and small crustaceans, eat their unwanted waste.
Watch a sponge sneezing on YouTube and learn more from ScienceNews. |
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Center for Biological Diversity
P.O. Box 710
Tucson, AZ 85702
United States |
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