No. 1318, October 9, 2025

Endangered Candy Darter Saved From Coal Hauling

A colorful little fish called the candy darter has been spared the ongoing threat of coal hauling in West Virginia’s Cherry River watershed following a lawsuit by the Center for Biological Diversity and allies.

Our legal challenge to a coal-hauling permit in the Monongahela National Forest ended this week after the U.S. Forest Service revoked the permit — which let a private coal company haul oversized loads on gravel roads, threatening water quality (and other local imperiled species, including northern long-eared bats and hellbenders).

“These beautiful fish desperately need clean water and intact stream habitats, so this protects one of the most endangered animals in the country from coal hauling’s many risks,” said the Center’s Meg Townsend.

Trump Wildlife Agency Targets Threatened Species

For years species listed as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act have received maximum federal safeguards, giving animals like Florida manatees, northern spotted owls, and southern sea otters a real chance at recovery.

But now officials at President Donald Trump’s U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, after meeting with oil industry representatives and other anti-wildlife forces, are moving to nix the rule behind that protection — effectively kneecapping the ability of the Act to keep threatened species and their habitat safe from destruction.

The Center will be fighting it in court, but we need support. Give to our Future for the Wild Fund now to help.

Taking Action for Turtles in Georgia

The Center and local allies just petitioned Georgia’s Department of Natural Resources to adopt rules that would protect beautiful diamondback terrapins — the only turtles who live exclusively in coastal estuaries — from drowning in pots set to catch blue crabs.

Across the United States those traps kill tens of thousands of the imperiled animals every year, but a simple excluder device could pretty much solve the problem.

“It’s cheap, it’s simple, and it could save thousands of turtles,” said the Center’s Tara Zuardo.

While we fight for terrapins, you can help save the lives of another kind of turtle in Georgia: loggerhead sea turtles. Tell Glynn County to turn off the bright lights driving females from their nests and diverting hatchlings from the sea.

New Podcast Episode: Hawai‘i’s Wildlife Crisis

Few places on Earth tell the story of the wildlife extinction crisis like Hawai‘i. Dozens of birds, plants, insects, and mollusks have vanished this century, and every day is a fight to provide a foothold for those who are just barely hanging on.

In the newest episode of our Sounds Wild podcast, host Vanessa Barchfield talks with Maxx Phillips, the Center’s Hawai‘i director, about what’s been lost and the incredible on-the-ground work being done to save what’s still living.

Listen to the latest episode on our website (or find it on Apple or Spotify).

Join Us Oct. 18 to Tell Trump: No Kings!

On Saturday, Oct. 18, people will once again march peacefully against authoritarianism and the billionaire takeover. Together we can reject Trump’s gutting of critical government agencies and laws responsible for protecting endangered species, other wildlife, and wild places across the country.

This mobilization is inspired by the success of the last No Kings rallies.

Find an event near you, and learn your rights and how to stay safe when you go.

Revelator: Saving Zimbabwe’s Vultures

As the vultures of Zimbabwe disappear, nature loses its clean-up crew and diseases like anthrax become more prevalent and dangerous.

Head to The Revelator to learn more about why vultures are ecologically essential — and what Zimbabwe is doing to save them.

And if you haven’t yet, subscribe to The Revelator’s free weekly e-newsletter for more wildlife and conservation news.

That’s Wild: New Grue Jays, Climate Change Hybrids

Historically, tropical green jays didn’t range much north of what’s now the U.S.-Mexico border. Blue jays, on the other hand, preferred temperate climes in the eastern United States.

But their ranges are shifting along with the climate, and recently both species have been converging around San Antonio, Texas. In 2022 a University of Texas researcher snagged a wild bird who looked like a mix of blue jay and green jay. After a blood sample was taken and a leg band attached, the bird was released — and subsequent genetic analysis showed he was indeed a hybrid.

Three years later — in June — that same “grue jay” reappeared in his old stomping grounds: the suburban backyard where he’d first been discovered.

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Photo credits: Candy darter by Ryan Hagerty/USFWS; spotted owl by Emily Brouwer/NPS, Florida manatee by Keith Ramos/USFWS; diamondback terrapin by Jeffrey Schultz; Hawaiian petrel by Jim Denny/NPS; Carrizo Plain National Monument courtesy BLM California; Vulture Culture Experience at Victoria Falls Safari Lodge courtesy Victoria Falls Safari Collection; green jay by Chuck Holmer/Focus on Wildlife/Wikimedia; grue jay © Brian Stokes; blue jay by rhododendrites/Wikimedia.

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