No. 1322, November 6, 2025

Court Win for Montana Grizzly Bears

The grizzlies of the stunning Yaak Valley, in Montana, got a welcome reprieve last week. In response to a 2022 lawsuit filed by the Center for Biological Diversity and allies, a federal court ruled that the U.S. government had broken multiple laws in approving the 7,000-acre Knotty Pine logging project deep in the grizzly bear recovery zone in Kootenai National Forest.

There, an isolated population of grizzlies struggles to survive.

“For decades federal agencies have turned a blind eye while roads carved up bear country, and grizzly bears have paid the price,” said Kristine Akland, the Center’s northern Rockies director. “The court’s ruling sends a clear message that the government can’t ignore facts or the law when it comes to protecting grizzlies.”

Suit Defends California Whales From Ship Strikes

Ship strikes are a leading cause of death for gray, blue, fin, and humpback whales off California’s coast. In the Bay Area alone, ships have likely killed at least 10 gray whales this year, and research shows that strikes kill about 80 whales off the West Coast annually (possibly a lot more).

These deaths are no coincidence, considering that shipping lanes route traffic through several hotspots where whales congregate.

So the Center and Friends of the Earth just sued the Trump administration for failing to study how California shipping-lane designations hurt whales (and sea turtles too).

“The administration is legally required to consider minimizing harm to whales and sea turtles, and officials need to take this problem seriously,” said Center attorney David Derrick.

Help us fight for whales with a gift to our Future for the Wild Fund. 

New Podcast Episode: Can We Co-Exist with Whales?

Whales may be the biggest animals on the planet, but they’re also some of the most vulnerable. Although whaling is no longer the threat it once was, these giants of the sea are forced to contend with offshore drilling, industrial noise, and fast-moving ships traveling through their home waters.

In the newest episode of the Center’s Sounds Wild podcast, host Vanessa Barchfield talks with Kristen Monsell, litigation director of our Oceans program, about threats to whales and what it’ll take to secure them a future that’s truly safe.

Listen to the latest episode on our website (or find it on Apple or Spotify). {{if not --[[Alaska Webinar RSVPS]] SavedSearch_501927}}

Standing Up for Alaska’s Wild Ecosystems

Extractive industries are working with the Trump administration to secure backdoor deals, regulatory rollbacks, and fake emergency declarations to desecrate public lands in Alaska for profit. The Center is fighting in the courts to stop logging, fossil fuel, mining, and industrial fishing interests from accelerating the extinction and climate crises in the heart of the largest intact habitats left in North America.

Join us Thursday, Nov. 13, at noon PT / 3 p.m. ET for a special inside look at the Center’s powerful campaigns to save wildlife and wild places in Alaska. This webinar is your opportunity to hear from our Alaska director on how we’re leveraging cutting-edge litigation, science, and strong relationships with Alaska Native Tribes and local partners to save wildlife — and the tundra, old-growth forests, rivers, and wild seas they need for survival.

Register now to learn how your support is making a difference and ways you can strengthen us for the fights to come — in the Arctic and beyond. 

Hope for Horseshoe Crabs

Horseshoe crabs have survived five planetary mass extinctions. These 10-eyed, spiky-tailed arthropods have evolved some nifty tricks, including massive beach orgies and blue blood that detects invading bacteria. Today they face their greatest threat yet: people. Commercial fisheries chop them up for bait, and pharmaceutical companies drain their blood for medical testing. Their population is plummeting.

But thanks to advocacy by the Center, our allies, and you supporters, the U.S. Pharmacopeia has officially recognized synthetic alternatives to horseshoe crab blood as an option for testing vaccines. So far 11 major biomedical companies have reported a shift or intent to shift to these safer, more reliable alternatives. And states like Connecticut and New Jersey have banned horseshoe crab collection.

“Horseshoe crabs have saved countless human lives,” said Center Southeast Director Will Harlan. “It’s time to return the favor.”

Watch horseshoe crabs in action on Facebook.

Then take action: Tell New York’s governor to sign the Horseshoe Crab Protection Act now.

AI Boom Threatens U.S. Climate Goals, Environment

Is it happening near you? To serve the artificial intelligence boom, fossil-fueled data centers are popping up across the United States. That could sabotage the country’s already faltering climate goals, as we detail in our new report Data Crunch.

We also just led 200-plus other groups in urging Congress to reject efforts to block federal or state rules to regulate the AI industry, including the data centers, water-depletion risks, and dirty energy infrastructure powering it.

“We need meaningful guardrails to ward off this huge threat to our air, water, wildlife, and climate — and energy price spikes for consumers,” said the Center’s Energy Justice Director Jean Su.

Revelator: Birds vs. Climate Change

Rapid declines in worldwide bird populations are often blamed on habitat loss, but two new studies link some birds’ disappearances to extreme weather caused by climate change. This isn’t an “either/or” threat, though.

As one scientist explains in The Revelator, climate change is the Great Multiplier, making other stresses worse, and all the dangers combine into a “threat cocktail.”

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

That’s Wild: Petite Poison Dart Frog Found in Peru

In the Peruvian Amazon researchers have recently identified a new, tiny species of poison dart frog — the smallest in their whole genus, at just over half an inch (or 1.5 centimeters) long.

Ranitomeya hwata have bright yellow stripes on their backs and a black band on their throats. They live in bamboo groves from which they got their name — after the word used by the area’s Indigenous people for the native Guadua bamboo. Interestingly, the males seem to amass multiple females in one place at mating time.

See pictures of these beautiful little animals.

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Photo credits: Grizzly bear by Gregory "Slobirdr" Smith/Wikimedia Commons; gray whales by Dave Weller/NOAA and Merrill Gosho/NOAA;  humpback whale by Kaitlin Thoresen/NPS; {{if not --[[Alaska Webinar RSVPS]] SavedSearch_501927}} brown bear mother and cub by K. Jalone/NPS; horseshoe crab courtesy BlackBox/Canva; green sea turtle by Seasidesaltlife/Wikimedia; Google data centers in The Dalles, Oregon, and Council Bluffs, Iowa, by Visitor7 and chaddavis.photography/Wikimedia; bird by diwakar bhardwaj/Unsplash; ranitomeya hwata frog by Juan C. Chaparro-Auza/Museo de Biodiversidad de Perú.

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