Gray wolf
Center for     Biological     Diversity   

Poll: Most Oregonians Oppose Wolf Hunting

A new poll finds that the vast majority of Oregon voters -- from both rural and urban areas -- oppose hunting as a way to manage wolves and believe wildlife officials wrongly removed state protections from wolves last November. The poll also revealed that most Oregonians believe nonlethal methods should be the primary focus in reducing conflicts between wolves and livestock.

The poll was commissioned by the Pacific Wolf Coalition, which includes the Center for Biological Diversity, and comes as the state reviews its wolf-management plan -- and while our court fight continues to reinstate statewide protections.

"Oregonians value wolves and feel that the state should be doing more to protect them, including resolving conflicts with livestock without resorting to guns and traps," said Amaroq Weiss, the Center's West Coast wolf organizer.

Get more from KTVZ News.

Florida Freshwater Mussel Wins Protection

Suwannee mocassinshell

Thanks to a Center settlement, the feds have protected the Suwannee moccasinshell under the Endangered Species Act. This freshwater Florida mussel is most threatened by groundwater withdrawals, toxics exposure and "nutrient loading" within its Suwannee River Basin habitat.

The 2-inch-long mussel has been waiting for protection since 1994 -- when it was last sighted until its fortuitous recent rediscovery. We sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 2013 after it ignored our petition to protect the species.

Learn more from WUFT News.

Black warrior waterdog

Alabama 'Waterdog' Proposed for Federal Safeguards

The Black Warrior waterdog has long been battling extinction, while the Center has long battled to protect this rare salamander and its habitat -- and we've finally won a victory worthy of the species' fierce-sounding name.

Following our landmark 757 species agreement, the Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed to protect Black Warrior waterdogs under the Endangered Species Act, in addition to 669 miles of the rivers and streams they live in. These gilled, aquatic salamanders -- almost 10 inches long and found in only one river basin in Alabama -- are near extinction due to habitat destruction and water pollution from agriculture and industry. Yet until last week's decision to move protection forward, they'd simply been languishing on the "candidate list" since 1982.

Get more from AL.com.

Two Unique Beetles Declared Extinct

Stephan's riffle beetle

The Fish and Wildlife Service has declared Arizona's Stephan's riffle beetles and Kentucky's Tatum Cave beetles officially extinct. The animals were driven out of existence by unchecked development after waiting two decades on the federal list of "candidates" for Endangered Species Act protection -- protection they never received.

The miniscule Stephan's riffle beetle had black dots on its wings and respired through gills; the Tatum Cave beetle was eyeless and reddish-brown.

"Few people ever saw these tiny creatures, and perhaps few will mourn their passing," said the Center's Michael Robinson. "But the extinction of species leaves us all a little poorer, whether we recognize the losses or not."

Read more in our press release.

Toughie

On Sept. 26, 2016, Toughie -- the last Rabbs' fringe-limbed tree frog on Earth -- died at his home in the Atlanta Botanical Garden. Watch our tribute video on Facebook.

Frostpaw Calls for Climate Action Outside Presidential Debate

Frostpaw

The Center's Frostpaw the Polar Bear took his "Climate Action Now" message to the presidential debate on Sunday in St. Louis, where he was a hit with the media, students and hundreds of others attending the event. (Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon and Fox News host Bret Baier even stopped to have their photo taken with Frostpaw.)

Frostpaw has been bird-dogging the presidential and vice-presidential debates this year, calling on all candidates to take significant action to curb the climate crisis.

Check out this photo gallery from St. Louis.

Kentucky arrow darter

Kentucky Fish Protected, With 248 Stream Miles

Under the Center's 757 species agreement, the Fish and Wildlife Service has protected a small fish called the Kentucky arrow darter under the Endangered Species Act, along with 248 miles of streams. The fish has been lost from about half its historical range due primarily to water pollution.

"The Kentucky arrow darter and the streams it depends on -- like Troublesome Creek, where I grew up -- have been absolutely devastated by surface coal mining," said Tierra Curry, a senior scientist at the Center. "Endangered Species Act protection will not only help the darter survive, but also people, who have to live with polluted water and air from coal mining every single day."

In addition to coal mining, the Kentucky arrow darter is threatened by logging, oil and gas well development, agricultural runoff and inadequate sewage treatment.

Read more in the Lexington Herald Dealer.

Pacific Bluefin Tuna a Step Closer to U.S. Protection

Pacific bluefin tuna

Bluefin tuna populations have sunk to dangerously low levels, declining more than 97 percent since fishing began. That's why we were heartened this week that the Obama administration -- responding to a petition from the Center and allies -- said Endangered Species Act protection may be warranted for Pacific bluefin tuna.

"We must find ways to limit overfishing and protect important habitat for this fish," said the Center's Catherine Kilduff. "Otherwise we may see the last Pacific bluefin tuna sold off and the population lost to extinction."

Read more in our press release.

Oil train protest

Oil Train Project Denied in California

Big news in our fight to stop an oil-train facility in California: The San Luis Obispo County Planning Commission has voted to reject Phillips 66's proposed oil train project in Nipomo. More than 20,000 Californians have opposed the project -- plus more than 45 cities, counties and school boards.

"We can all breathe a huge sigh of relief that, at least for now, Phillips 66 will not be allowed to put our communities, water and wildlife at risk from oil train explosions and fires, not to mention toxic air pollution," said the Center's Valerie Love.

Read more in the Santa Barbara Independent.

Stop Fracking

California: Help Ban Fracking in Monterey County

All hands on deck to pass Measure Z this November. 

Suit Filed to Save Plants, Monarchs From New Pesticide

Monarch butterfly

Once again the Environmental Protection Agency has approved a toxic pesticide without fully considering its potential impacts on the environment -- so the Center has filed suit. The potent new plant-killer, halauxifen-methyl, could hurt native plants and monarch butterflies.

As a result of intense pressure and litigation from the Center and others, the EPA is making some slow progress in reforming its flawed pesticide-approval process -- but it still fell short with this decision, failing to obtain all the available information on the chemical ingredients' combined effects and possible harm to wildlife. Read more.

Opossum

Wild & Weird: The Superpowers of Possums

Did you know that opossums, those scraggly, much-maligned marsupials native to the United States, have superpowers?

Here are a few examples:

• One possum can eat 4,000 ticks in a week, cutting down on infectious diseases like Lyme.
• Possums have a near-immunity to rabies.
• They have a total immunity to the poisons of rattlesnakes, cottonmouths and other pit vipers.
• Their kind has been around since Tyrannosaurus rex, and they likely ate dinosaur eggs.

Watch our new video about awesome opossums on Facebook or YouTube.

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Photo credits: Gray wolf by Nature's Pics Online; Suwannee moccasinshell courtesy USFWS; Black Warrior waterdog by Todd Pierson/Flickr; Stephan's riffle beetle illustration courtesy USFWS; Toughie video still courtesy Joel Sartore; Frostpaw courtesy Center for Biological Diversity; Kentucky arrow darter by Matt Thomas, KDFWR; Pacific bluefin tuna by Aziz Saltik/Flickr; oil train protest by Light Brigading/Flickr; stop sign by Mary Crandall/Flickr; monarch butterfly by ShawnKinkade/Flickr; opossum video still by Stuart Jefka.

Center for Biological Diversity
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Tucson, AZ 85702