No. 1198, June 22, 2023

How You Can Help the Okefenokee

Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge’s tea-colored waters, cypress sanctuaries and longleaf pine uplands are like no other place on Earth. They safeguard one of the world’s largest intact freshwater ecosystems, which in turn supports a great diversity of species. Here you can see gargantuan alligator snapping turtles lurking within dark waters while listening to the barred owl’s stirring call — “Who cooks for you?” — echoing through the treetops.

Okefenokee is so exceptional it’s a candidate for inclusion on the World Heritage List, an international honor reserved for sites with “outstanding universal value.” Now the swamp needs our help winning this designation, which will help protect it for future generations.

Tell the Park Service you support nominating Okefenokee to the World Heritage List.

Speak Up for North Atlantic Right Whales 

The North Atlantic right whale is one of the world’s most endangered whales. With fewer than 350 individual whales remaining, the species is on the brink of extinction.

Vessel strikes are a major threat to these whales, who spend a lot of time near the water’s surface and in harm’s way. For years the Center and allies have been working to establish better vessel-speed limits, which would greatly reduce whale deaths and injuries. 

NOAA Fisheries recently proposed a rule to expand existing protections from deadly vessel strikes. Disastrously, a bill now working its way through Congress would prohibit these lifesaving vessel-speed limits. But the whales can’t afford to wait any longer. We must raise our voices and let our representatives know that efforts to halt protection for North Atlantic right whales are unacceptable.

Urge your members of Congress to oppose this bad legislation.

Lawsuit Launched to Protect Ghost Orchids

This month the Center for Biological Diversity and allies filed a notice of intent to sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to force protection of ghost orchids, one of Florida’s most iconic species.

In January, a year after we petitioned, the Service acknowledged that these specter-like flowers may need safeguards from climate change, development, poaching and other threats. But the agency missed its deadline to take the next step — even with only about 1,500 of the plants left in Florida.

“We’re seeking the protections of the Endangered Species Act to help give this flower a fighting chance,” said Center lawyer Elise Bennett in a recent interview.

Dark Skies Win for Borderlands Wildlife

Light pollution is harmful — even deadly — for a wide range of species, including western yellow-billed cuckoos and lesser long-nosed bats. Recently the Center released a report on how 1,800-plus stadium-bright lights along the Arizona-Mexico border threaten the exceptionally biodiverse Sonoran Desert.

We called on U.S. Customs and Border Protection to remove installed lights and commit to not installing any more. Just two days later, the agency announced it will conduct the required environmental reviews it failed to do earlier.

Thanks to our Southwest team for their hard work — and thank you for supporting our ongoing fight to protect the wild in the borderlands.

Our Work in the Southeast

The Center’s Southeast team protects wildlife, the environment and frontline communities across the region, from Arkansas to the Carolinas.

This news story highlights some important work we’re leading in the Southeast, including a campaign to create North Carolina's first national scenic area and protect the mature and old-growth trees of the Pisgah-Nantahala National Forest from logging.

You can help save big, old trees like these nationwide. The U.S. Forest Service has announced plans for a rule to protect mature and old-growth forests across public lands. Take action to help us make sure the rule is as strong as possible.

Revelator: A Wolverine Mystery

Tom Glass, a University of Montana researcher, was tracking a GPS-collared wolverine named Nimbus in the Alaskan Arctic. Seeing the animal keep returning to the same site, Glass thought he might be visiting a caribou carcass.

But when Glass went to investigate in real life, he found nothing but barren ice. What on Earth was Nimbus doing?

Find out in The Revelator. And if you don’t already, subscribe to the free weekly e-newsletter.

That’s Wild: 40 Million Years of Wanking

“Polishing the pearl”? “Ménage à moi”? “Releasing the kraken”? Whatever you might call it, primates have been doing it for epochs.

That’s right. A new scientific study just traced the origins of masturbation to tens of millions of years before humans existed.

Dr. Matilda Brindle, the study’s lead author, says masturbation is such a common behavior across the animal kingdom, it’s baffling that nobody had researched its evolution sooner. Her team explored several biological benefits of solo sex, including reducing sexually transmitted infections and increasing the chances of impregnation.

These scientists looked at animals of both sexes, seeking to address an imbalance in published science that has focused too much on males. (You may remember us mentioning that imbalance earlier this year when reporting on a different but equally cool study on snake clitorises.)

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Photo credits: Southern cricket frog in Okefenokee Swamp by Troy Alexander/Flickr; North Atlantic right whale with calf courtesy NOAA; ghost orchid by Tony Pernas, with inset image of Elise Bennett courtesy Center for Biological Diversity; lesser long-nosed bat from Wall of Lights Center report; green salamander by Peter Paplanus/Flickr; wolverine courtesy Shutterstock; crab-eating macaque in Tarutao National Marine Park by Rushen/Flickr.

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