No. 1226, January 4, 2024

A Year of Big Numbers

With your help, in 2023 the Center for Biological Diversity won over and over again for the wild.

Here we’ll share some of the biggest victories — plus actions you can take to help keep up the winning momentum.

3.8 Million Acres of Habitat Protected

In 2023 we won critical habitat designations protecting 3.8 million acres for 44 species of animals and plants. That includes 739 acres for magnificent ramshorn snails in North Carolina; 6,500 square miles of ocean for threatened corals in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico; and almost 650,000 acres for shorebirds called rufa red knots, who have one of the longest migrations of any bird.

Help us expand critical habitat for jaguars and get them reestablished in the U.S. Southwest.

1.8M Actions Taken by Center Supporters

Last year Center supporters took 1,753,487 online actions to save life on Earth. You helped us with crucial achievements like banning wildlife-killing cyanide bombs on 245 million acres, winning Endangered Species Act protection for wolverines, and getting wolves back in the wild in Colorado.

Want to make 2024 another action-packed year? Dive into our current alerts on a full spectrum of crucial issues that need your voice.

1 Million Acres Designated for a Monument

In August we celebrated the designation of the Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni – Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument in northern Arizona, which stretches across nearly 1 million acres of public land surrounding the iconic national park. Proposed to the Biden administration by the Grand Canyon Tribal Coalition, the monument will permanently safeguard sacred sites, precious waters, and endangered species from uranium mining’s deadly pollution.

Help us expand another national monument — this one in California — for tule elk, threatened yellow-legged frogs, and hundreds of other species.

75,000 People Mobilized in NYC

In September the Center and allies mobilized more than 75,000 frontline, Native and climate justice advocates at the March to End Fossil Fuels in New York City, just in time for the United Nations Climate Ambition Summit.

Missed the march but want to join the movement? Sign our petition urging President Biden to end the expansion of fossil fuels and lead a just transition to renewable energy.

300 Pesticides to Be Targeted for Harm Reduction

After more than 20 years of relentless litigation, the Center reached a historic legal agreement capping the largest Endangered Species Act case ever filed against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The settlement requires the EPA to do a better job of protecting imperiled wildlife when approving more than 300 pesticides.

The same legal victory spurred the EPA to advance an ambitious pilot project to protect 29 species most imperiled by pesticides, including American burying beetles, Attwater’s prairie chickens, and Wyoming toads.

Tell Congress to support legislation to reform the broken pesticide regulatory system for the sake of both wildlife and people.

45 Species Federally Protected

In 2023 the Center’s petitions and lawsuits secured lifesaving Endangered Species Act protection for 45 species, including California spotted owls, northwestern and southwestern pond turtles, and Cumberland moccasinshell mussels.

And all year we honored the 50th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act, humankind’s most successful law for protecting imperiled animals and plants.

Tell Biden to make sure the Act is as strong as possible for its next 50 years and beyond.

1 National Wolf Plan Finalized

We won big for wolves when a court ruled in our favor, pushing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to finally develop a national gray wolf recovery plan. Within two years the Service must draft a plan to recover federally protected gray wolves across the lower 48 states — unless the agency finds that such a plan won’t promote the species’ conservation (which wouldn’t make any sense).

Sadly wolves in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming still aren’t protected under the Endangered Species Act. Help us change that and save them from slaughter.

5 Top Priorities for 2024

Combating the wildlife extinction crisis and the climate emergency — indeed, saving life on Earth — requires the Center to work on multiple fronts constantly. To be truly effective, we have to win in court, produce groundbreaking science, influence the national narrative, shape politics, and ignite a people-powered movement. So much is riding on this work, including the future of wolves, bears, sea turtles, rare plants, manatees, birds and more. 2024 is shaping up to be a crucial year in the fight for the wild. Here are our key goals:

1. Fully engage the Endangered Species Act to halt extinctions.

2. Advance bold conservation initiatives to restore wildlife in more of their native homes.

3. Push the Biden administration to end fossil fuels.

4. Protect lands, waters and ecosystems vital to the survival of the wild.

5. Work at the international level to protect biodiversity, halt plastic pollution, and stem the climate crisis.

We're counting on you to be by our side in this lifesaving work. Help make 2024 another wildly successful year with a gift to our Saving Life on Earth Fund.

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Photo credits: California spotted owl by Rick Kuyper/USFWS; red knot by Felicia Sanders/SCDNR; wolverine by William F. Wood/Wikimedia; California condor by Gregory Slobirdr Smith/Flickr; March to End Fossil Fuels courtesy Center for Biological Diversity; Wyoming toad by wuperruper/Flickr; western pond turtle by Yathin S. Krishnappa/Wikimedia; wolf via Pick Pik; gray wolves by Holly Kuchera/Shutterstock, manatees via Unsplash, and polar bear via Depositphotos.

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