Press Releases
Jaguar photo by Tierra Curry/Center for Biological Diversity.
Filter by Program:
Viewing recent news releases in the Trump Response program.
Trump Administration Starts Building Destructive New Arizona Border Wall
TUCSON, Ariz.— Staff from the Center for Biological Diversity documented Monday that construction has begun on a new segment of border wall through the San Rafael Valley in Arizona’s Sky Island region. This biodiversity hotspot includes the most significant wildlife corridor remaining along the Arizona-Mexico border.
Read more.Lawsuit Challenges Trump EPA’s Axing of Protections to Reduce Meat Processing Pollution
SAN FRANCISCO— Community and conservation groups are suing the Trump administration over its recent decision to abandon protections that would have stopped millions of pounds of pollutants from being dumped by slaughterhouses and meat-processing plants into waterways across the U.S.
Read more.Appeal Aims to Restore Lesser Prairie Chicken Endangered Species Protection
WASHINGTON— The Center for Biological Diversity and Texas Campaign for the Environment filed an appeal today challenging a Texas court’s decision to strip federal Endangered Species Act protection from imperiled lesser prairie chicken. The decision came in response to a Trump administration request to strike the birds’ safeguards against oil and gas development and other threats.
Read more.Challenge Vowed After Court Stalls Everglades Detention Center Shutdown
MIAMI— A federal appeals court today paused a lower court order that required the state of Florida and the Trump administration to wind down environmentally destructive activities at a mass detention center in Big Cypress National Preserve known as “Alligator Alcatraz.”
Read more.Trump Administration Waives Dozens of Laws to Bulldoze Border Wall Through Texas National Wildlife Refuge
STARR COUNTY, Texas— The Trump administration today waived 31 environmental and public health laws to speed border wall construction through the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge.
Read more.Federal Appeals Court Blocks Oak Flat Land Exchange in Arizona
PHOENIX— The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued an emergency injunction today blocking the Trump administration from handing Oak Flat over to a private mining company while three lawsuits challenging the land exchange proceed. Without the injunction, the public lands about 40 miles east of Phoenix were expected to be transferred Tuesday to Resolution Copper, a subsidiary of multinational mining companies Rio Tinto and BHP.
Read more.Lawsuit Details Trump EPA’s Illegal Delay of Methane Pollution Limits
WASHINGTON— The Center for Biological Diversity joined environmental and public health groups in a legal motion today asking a federal court to stop President Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency from delaying critical limits on super-polluting methane and other pollution from oil and gas operations.
Read more.Appeal Launched After Federal Judge Greenlights Oak Flat Land Exchange in Arizona
PHOENIX— Conservation groups appealed a federal judge’s ruling today denying their request to pause the Oak Flat land exchange in Arizona. Without an injunction from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the public lands about 40 miles east of Phoenix are expected to be handed over to a private mining company Aug. 19.
Read more.Lawsuit Seeks Records on Trump Energy Order to Gut Environmental Protections
WASHINGTON— The Center for Biological Diversity sued the Trump administration today seeking public records on actions related to the so-called energy emergency.
Read more.Judge Hits Everglades Detention Center With Temporary Restraining Order
MIAMI— A federal judge today sided with conservation groups and granted a temporary restraining order ordering the state of Florida and the Trump administration to stop further construction of the mass detention center in Big Cypress National Preserve known as “Alligator Alcatraz.”
Read more.Hearing on Everglades Immigration Detention Center Set for Wednesday
MIAMI— U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams will hear testimony and arguments Wednesday in Miami on a lawsuit brought by conservation groups seeking an injunction against the state of Florida and the Trump administration over the construction and operation of the massive detention center known as “Alligator Alcatraz” in Big Cypress National Preserve.
Read more.Judge to Consider Motions Wednesday to Block Oak Flat Land Exchange in Arizona
PHOENIX— A federal judge in Arizona will hear arguments Wednesday in two related cases on motions seeking to stop the Oak Flat land exchange until the lawsuits are resolved.
Read more.Trump EPA Sabotages Climate Action With Rollbacks of Tailpipe Rules, Endangerment Finding
WASHINGTON— President Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency today rolled back tailpipe pollution standards and rescinded the landmark scientific finding that planet-heating pollution harms public health and welfare, which is a foundation of federal climate action.
Read more.Trump EPA Announces Plan to Reapprove Dangerous, Drift-Prone Pesticide Dicamba
WASHINGTON— The Environmental Protection Agency announced plans today to reapprove three formulations of the dangerous, drift-prone pesticide dicamba for use on genetically engineered cotton and soybeans.
Read more.Lawsuit Challenges Trump’s Failure to Protect Endangered Animals From Gulf Oil Drilling
WASHINGTON— The Center for Biological Diversity has filed a new legal claim in a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s failure to comply with the Endangered Species Act in assessing harm to endangered and threatened species from offshore oil and gas extraction.
Read more.Lawsuit Seeks Records on Trump Efforts to Weaken Whale Habitat Protections
WASHINGTON— The Center for Biological Diversity sued the Trump administration today to force the release of public records on a proposed rollback of key Endangered Species Act protections for marine wildlife, including the potential political or industry influences behind the change.
Read more.Legal Warning: Everglades ICE Facility Causing More Damaging Environmental Violations
MIAMI— Conservation groups warned government agencies in a legal filing today that they’re breaking the law by failing to protect the Big Cypress National Preserve from the increasingly destructive effects of the mass detention center known as “Alligator Alcatraz.”
Read more.Lawsuit Launched to Stop Trump Administration’s OK of Toad-Killing Energy Project
RENO, Nev.— The Center for Biological Diversity sent a notice today of its intent to sue the Trump administration for its impending authorization of a geothermal project that would put Nevada’s rare Dixie Valley toad on a path to extinction.
Read more.Lawsuit Seeks Records on Trump, DOGE’s Environmental Rollbacks Agenda
WASHINGTON— The Center for Biological Diversity sued the Office of Management and Budget today seeking the lists of agency environmental safeguards targeted for cancellation or modification by Trump’s so-called “Department of Government Efficiency.”
Read more.Lawsuit Challenges Trump Administration’s New Arizona Border Wall Waivers
TUCSON, Ariz.— Conservation groups sued the Trump administration today for unconstitutionally waiving dozens of environmental laws to speed border wall construction through the San Rafael Valley in Arizona’s Sky Island region, a biodiversity hotspot that includes the most significant wildlife corridor remaining along the Arizona-Mexico border.
Read more.Legal Fight Continues Against Everglades I.C.E Detention Facility
MIAMI— Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity filed a legal reply brief on July 3 in support of their motion for a temporary restraining order and injunction to stop activity at so-called “Alligator Alcatraz.” The massive immigration detention center is being constructed at breakneck speed in the middle of Big Cypress National Preserve and threatens the fragile ecosystem of the Everglades.
Read more.Report: Trump’s Arizona Border Wall Construction Would Block Critical Jaguar Movement Corridor
TUCSON, Ariz.— A report published today by the Center for Biological Diversity exposes how the Trump administration’s plans for new border wall construction in southeast Arizona pose dire and immediate threats to the San Rafael Valley — one of the last remaining jaguar corridors between the U.S. and Mexico.
Read more.Trump Administration Uses Bogus ‘Energy Emergency’ to Rubberstamp Expansion of Utah Crude Oil Transport Facility
SALT LAKE CITY— The Bureau of Land Management announced today that it has completed an “accelerated environmental review process” and approved the proposed expansion of the Wildcat Loadout Facility near Helper, Utah.
Read more.Trump Slams Wrecking Ball Into Environmental Reviews
WASHINGTON— The Trump administration today revoked regulations governing environmental reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act. The decision will affect logging, mining, drilling and fracking for oil and gas, highway construction and many other projects that can threaten ecosystems and human health.
Read more.Virtual Press Conference Tuesday on Trump’s Visit to Planned Everglades Detention Center
MIAMI— Environmental groups will host a virtual press conference Tuesday about threats posed by the proposed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center under construction in Florida’s Everglades, and their federal lawsuit filed to halt it. Trump is scheduled to tour the site at 10 a.m. Tuesday.
Read more.Lawsuit Seeks List of Polluters Asking Trump for Clean Air Act Exemptions
TUCSON, Ariz.— The Center for Biological Diversity sued the Trump administration today for failing to release the names of fossil fuel companies and other polluters seeking exemptions from life-saving Clean Air Act safeguards against hazardous pollution.
Read more.‘Denver Post,’ ‘Salt Lake Tribune’ Ads Slam Senate’s Public Lands Sell-Off Attempts
DENVER— The Center for Biological Diversity is running full-page ads in the Denver Post and Salt Lake Tribune today blasting Senate Republican efforts to liquidate millions of acres of public lands across the West.
Read more.Trump Administration Fast-Tracks Dangerous Utah Oil Shipments
SALT LAKE CITY— The Trump administration has launched a 14-day approval process to expand the Wildcat loadout, a fossil fuel facility near Price, Utah. The expansion would quintuple the volume of oil that can be loaded on trains headed along the Colorado River to Gulf Coast refineries.
Read more.State, Federal Officials Urged to Ban Utility Shutoffs, Protect Workers From Deadly Extreme Heat
WASHINGTON— As extreme heat gripped most of the country today, more than 150 social justice, environmental, faith, health and labor groups urged federal, state and local elected officials to ban utility disconnections, tax polluters to finance renewable energy and strengthen worker protections. The “extremely dangerous,” persistent heat dome sitting over the central and eastern U.S. this week will be “a shock to the system,” meteorologists said.
Read more.100-Plus Groups Urge Western Governors to Reject Biggest Public Lands Sell-Off in History
SANTA FE, N.M.— More than 100 nonprofit organizations sent a letter to the Western Governors’ Association today urging the 19 state leaders to oppose Utah Sen. Mike Lee’s proposal to sell off roughly 3 million acres of public lands as part of the Senate Republican budget bill.
Read more.Legal Petition Aims to Protect Marine Life, Pressure Oil Corporations to Plug Offshore Wells
WASHINGTON— Conservation organizations filed a legal petition today calling on the Trump administration to bar oil and gas companies that have failed to plug old wells and remove inactive platforms from obtaining new offshore drilling rights.
Read more.100 Groups Urge Senate Leadership Against Public Lands Sell-off in Budget Bill
WASHINGTON— More than 100 organizations urged senate leadership today to remove the unprecedented sell-off of millions of acres of public lands from the Senate budget bill.
Read more.Lawsuit Seeks Records on Trump’s Efforts to Weaken Habitat Protections for Imperiled Wildlife
WASHINGTON— The Center for Biological Diversity sued the Trump administration today for failing to release public records about its proposal to rescind the long-standing definition of “harm” in the Endangered Species Act’s regulations. The proposed change marks the administrations’ first step toward stripping habitat protections from imperiled plants and animals facing extinction.
Read more.Trump Administration Proposes Ditching Coal Mine Safety Protections
WASHINGTON— The Trump administration’s Department of the Interior has issued a proposal to roll back improvements made in 2024 to a rule that allows the public to request federal inspections of coal mines to address environmental, health and safety issues when states fail to force coal companies to correct violations. The rule is crucial for communities that often find state regulatory enforcement lacking.
Read more.Judge to Hear Arguments on Restoring Wolf Protections in Northern Rockies
MISSOULA, Mont.— Conservation and animal advocates will present oral arguments Wednesday in a federal court case that will decide whether the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service unlawfully refused to restore federal Endangered Species Act protections to gray wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains.
Read more.Zeldin EPA Set to Approve Fourth ‘Forever Chemical’ Pesticide Ingredient
WASHINGTON— The Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday proposed to approve the pesticide trifludimoxazin on soybeans, oranges, apples, peanuts and other crops.
Read more.Trump Signs Illegal Attack on California’s Clean Car Authority
WASHINGTON— President Trump signed illegal congressional resolutions today to use the Congressional Review Act, or CRA, to block California’s clean car waivers from the Environmental Protection Agency. The waivers allow the state to set strong pollution standards to protect people and wildlife.
Read more.Judge Blocks Oak Flat Land Exchange While Lawsuit Proceeds
PHOENIX— A federal judge in Arizona temporarily halted the Oak Flat land exchange today while two lawsuits challenging the exchange proceed. Without today’s injunction, the public lands about 40 miles east of Phoenix would have been handed over to a private mining company as early as June 16.
Read more.Judge to Consider Motions to Block Oak Flat Land Exchange
PHOENIX— A federal judge in Arizona will hear arguments Friday on two motions for a preliminary injunction to stop the Oak Flat land exchange pending further consideration of the lawsuits’ merits.
Read more.Lawsuit Launched Over Manatee Harassment in Crystal River
CRYSTAL RIVER, Fla.— The Center for Biological Diversity warned the Trump administration today that it intends to sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and so-called Department of Government Efficiency for failing to adequately staff the Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge, resulting in unlawful harassment of protected Florida manatees.
Read more.EPA Staff Down 10% as More Trump Firings Loom, Records Show
WASHINGTON— An analysis of staff records at the Environmental Protection Agency shows a loss of 1,560 positions, or about 10% of the workforce, as of the end of April. The Center for Biological Diversity, which received the records after a Freedom of Information Act request, compared the EPA staff directories from 2024 to this year.
Read more.Supreme Court Limits Scope of Nation’s Bedrock Environmental Law
WASHINGTON— The Supreme Court today severely limited the scope of the nation’s landmark environmental law in a case that could give new life to a Utah oil train project.
Read more.Trump’s Plan to Land SpaceX Rockets in Pacific Wildlife Refuge Spurs Lawsuit
HONOLULU— The Center for Biological Diversity has sued the U.S. Air Force and Fish and Wildlife Service for failing to release public records detailing the Trump administration’s plans to build landing pads for SpaceX rockets in sensitive marine habitat in the Pacific Ocean.
Read more.Lawsuit Seeks Protections for Rare Toad Threatened by Trump’s Fossil Fuel Push
LAS VEGAS— The Center for Biological Diversity sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today for failing to finalize Endangered Species Act protections for the critically imperiled Railroad Valley toad.
Read more.Lawsuit Seeks Info on RFK Jr.’s Calendar, Records on Dietary Guidelines
WASHINGTON— The Center for Biological Diversity sued the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services today for failing to release Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s calendar and schedule. The lawsuit also seeks information about the development of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, including related communications with the beef industry.
Read more.Lawsuit Challenges Trump Order Opening Pacific Monument to Commercial Fishing
HONOLULU— Kāpaʻa, the Conservation Council for Hawai‘i and the Center for Biological Diversity, represented by Earthjustice, filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration today challenging its illegal actions to open the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument to commercial fishing.
Read more.Lawsuit Seeks DOGE Plans for Upcoming Mass Firings
WASHINGTON— The Center for Biological Diversity sued Trump’s Office of Personnel Management today seeking the plans required by the so-called Department of Government Efficiency to drastically reshape and downsize key agencies’ workforces.
Read more.Legal Intervention Defends Northern Spotted Owl Habitat
PORTLAND, Ore.— Conservation groups intervened today in a lawsuit brought by the timber industry and counties seeking to strip northern spotted owls of protections for their critical habitat across millions of acres of forests in California, Oregon and Washington.
Read more.100 Organizations Urge House Leadership to Scrap Public Lands Sell-off Proposal
WASHINGTON— More than 100 organizations urged congressional leaders today to drop an amendment from the House budget bill that would force the sale of at least 500,000 acres of public lands in Nevada and more than 11,000 acres in Utah.
Read more.Lawsuit Aims to Protect Critically Endangered Gulf Rice’s Whale From Oil, Gas Dangers
GREENBELT, Md.— Four conservation groups filed suit today in U.S. District Court to challenge a government plan that fails to properly protect rare species, including Rice’s whales and Kemp’s ridley sea turtles, from being harmed or killed by fossil fuel drilling and exploration in the Gulf of Mexico.
Read more.Lawsuit Aims to Protect Cook Inlet, Belugas from Water Pollution, Noise
ANCHORAGE, Alaska— Several groups and an Alaska resident filed suit today to protect endangered Cook Inlet beluga whales and the Johnson River, which flows through Lake Clark National Park before entering Cook Inlet, or Tikahtnu in the Dene language.
Read more.Senate Republicans Launch Illegal Attack on California’s Clean Car Authority
WASHINGTON— Senate Republicans agreed today to override Senate rules and use the Congressional Review Act to block California’s clean car waivers, which allow the state to set stronger standards to protect people and wildlife.
Read more.Lawsuit Challenges Trump Approval of Louisiana LNG Deepwater Export Terminal
CAMERON, La.— The Center for Biological Diversity and the Sierra Club sued the Trump administration today for approving the proposed Delfin LNG deepwater export terminal 40 miles off the Louisiana coast. The project would be the first offshore LNG export project in the United States.
Read more.Scientists, Legal Experts Urge Halt to Trump Assault on Imperiled Wildlife Habitat
WASHINGTON— Three hundred and fifty scientists, 25 law professors and 131 conservation and community organizations spoke out today against a Trump administration proposal intended to weaken habitat protections that could make it much harder to protect threatened and endangered species across the United States.
Read more.Trump Plan to Accelerate National Forest Logging Spurs Lawsuit
WASHINGTON— The Center for Biological Diversity sued the Department of the Interior and the U.S. Forest Service today for failing to release public records about the Trump administration’s plans to rapidly expand logging in the nation’s forests.
Read more.Trump’s Proposed Budget Imperils Pollinators
WASHINGTON— President Trump’s proposed budget would end funding of research for America’s bees coordinated by the U.S. Geological Survey Bee Lab. The budget proposal eliminates all $307 million in funding to the Ecosystem Management Area, a division within the USGS that funds biological research, including the Bee Lab.
Read more.Trump Plans to Kill Crucial Protection for Whales, Dolphins, Sea Otters
WASHINGTON— The Trump administration’s proposed budget released today would cut all funding for the Marine Mammal Commission, a federal agency dedicated to the protection of marine mammals.
Read more.House GOP Plan to Pay for Billionaire Tax Cuts Will Destroy Public Lands, Speed Climate Change
WASHINGTON— The House Natural Resources Committee released its portion of the Republican House reconciliation bill late Thursday. It’s part of a Republican proposal to help fund President Trump’s tax cuts for billionaires.
Read more.Trump’s Use of Emergency Powers to Dismantle Wetlands Protections Spurs Lawsuit
WASHINGTON— The Center for Biological Diversity sued the Trump Army Corps of Engineers today for failing to release information about its plans to rubber-stamp the destruction of wetlands to speed along fossil fuel energy projects.
Read more.Court Orders Trump’s EPA to Reconsider Approval of Unlimited Fracking Air Pollution in Colorado
DENVER— A federal appeals court ruled against Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency today, determining that the agency illegally approved a Colorado rule that allows the oil and gas industry to release unlimited amounts of air pollution from drilling and hydraulic fracturing without a permit.
Read more.Oak Flat Appraisals Reveal Sweetheart Deal to Resolution Copper
TUCSON— Two years after a lawsuit by the Center for Biological Diversity, the U.S. Forest Service this week released the appraisals for the proposed Oak Flat land exchange and mine project in Arizona.
Read more.Report: 10 Endangered Animals Threatened by Trump’s Habitat Proposal
WASHINGTON— The Center for Biological Diversity today issued a report identifying 10 endangered animals at risk from the Trump administration’s proposal to strip nearly all habitat protections from endangered species.
Read more.Lawsuit Seeks Public Records on Harms to Whales, Sea Turtles, Marine Life From NOAA Mass Firings
SILVER SPRING, Md.— The Center for Biological Diversity sued the Trump administration today for failing to release public records about ocean conservation work interrupted by mass firings and layoffs at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Read more.Lawsuit Pushes Trump Administration to Save Brook Floater Mussel
WASHINGTON— The Center for Biological Diversity today sued the Trump administration for denying protections to the brook floater mussel under the Endangered Species Act.
Read more.Trump Cancellation of $3 Billion Climate-Smart Agriculture Program Sparks Public Records Demand
WASHINGTON— The Center for Biological Diversity today filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the U.S. Department of Agriculture demanding information about its Monday cancellation of the Partnerships for Climate Smart Commodities program.
Read more.Lawsuit Launched to Protect Oregon’s Crater Lake Newt From Climate Change, Crayfish
PORTLAND, Ore.— The Center for Biological Diversity notified the Trump administration today that it intends to sue over the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s failure to protect the critically imperiled Crater Lake newt under the Endangered Species Act. The newts live only in Crater Lake, and their population has collapsed in recent years because of the expansion of introduced signal crayfish and warming lake temperatures from climate change.
Read more.Trump Administration Moves to Gut Habitat Protections for Endangered Wildlife
WASHINGTON— The Trump administration issued a proposed rule today that would rescind nearly all habitat protections for endangered species nationwide. These protections for the places where endangered plants and animals live are crucial to ensuring they don’t go extinct.
Read more.Lawsuit Seeks Trump’s Master Plans for Slashing Environmental Protections
WASHINGTON— The Center for Biological Diversity sued four Cabinet-level agencies today for failing to release information on the Trump administration’s “action plans” to boost the oil industry and other fossil fuel producers by rolling back and eliminating environmental safeguards.
Read more.Lawsuit Seeks Info on Trump EPA’s Plan to Reconsider Climate Endangerment Finding
WASHINGTON— The Center for Biological Diversity sued the Environmental Protection Agency today for failing to release information about the agency’s plans to reconsider, and likely undercut, its landmark scientific finding that greenhouse gasses endanger public health and the environment.
Read more.Trump Administration Cuts Threaten Grizzly Bear Research Team
BOZEMAN, Mont.— A key grizzly scientist says the Trump administration appears to be moving toward dismantling the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team — a group of scientists responsible for long-term monitoring and research efforts on grizzly bears in Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks.
Read more.Trump Administration Moves to Scrap Habitat Protections for All Threatened, Endangered Species
WASHINGTON— The Trump administration has launched a process to redefine what it means to “harm” threatened and endangered species, the first step toward stripping habitat protections from rare plants and animals headed toward extinction.
Read more.Lawsuit Challenges Delays by Trump EPA in Cleaning Up Dangerous Smog Pollution in Phoenix, Yosemite National Park Area
OAKLAND, Calif.— Conservation and public-health groups sued Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin today for his failure to take action to reduce smog pollution in the Phoenix metro area and Mariposa County, California, home to Yosemite National Park.
Read more.Analysis: Trump Plan to Sell Public Lands Targets Treasured Places, Protected Wildlife
TUCSON, Ariz.— The Trump administration’s plan to sell federal public land for sprawl development could bulldoze endangered species habitat, canyons and forests across the West — from protected red cliffs in Utah to national monuments in New Mexico — according to a new map analysis from the Center for Biological Diversity.
Read more.Lawsuit Seeks Details on Trump Administration Cuts to Life-Saving Elephant, Rhino Conservation Programs
WASHINGTON— The Center for Biological Diversity sued the Trump administration today over its delay in complying with a public records request seeking information about funding cuts to international wildlife conservation programs.
Read more.Scores of Scientists Urge N.C. Governor to Halt Duke Energy’s Fossil Fuel Buildout
RALEIGH, N.C.— More than 60 U.S. research scientists today urged North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein to use his executive authority to stop Duke Energy Corp.’s fossil-fuel buildout and suppression of renewable energy solutions. These actions are critical to avoiding the worst damages of the climate emergency and to save lives, the scientists said.
Read more.Lawsuit Challenges Outdated Plans for Aging Oil Platforms Off California Coast
LOS ANGELES— The Center for Biological Diversity and the Wishtoyo Chumash Foundation filed a lawsuit today against the Trump administration over the federal failure to require updated development and production plans for oil drilling at the Santa Ynez Unit off the California coast.
Read more.Lawsuit Aims to Protect Nantahala-Pisgah Forest From Destructive Logging Plan
ASHEVILLE, N.C.— A coalition of conservation groups today sued the Trump administration over the U.S. Forest Service’s Nantahala-Pisgah forest plan. The plan allows for a five-fold increase in logging that violates federal law by overlooking harms to forests, water quality and wildlife.
Read more.Trump Administration Sends ‘Get Out of Jail Free’ Invite to Toxic Polluters
WASHINGTON— The Center for Biological Diversity filed a Freedom of Information Act request today seeking more information on a Trump administration plan to let polluters ignore rules limiting emissions of mercury and other hazardous air pollutants.
Read more.Lawsuit Challenges Trump Administration Over Delayed Protections for Two California Salamanders
SACRAMENTO, Calif.— The Center for Biological Diversity today sued the Trump administration for delaying Endangered Species Act protections for the Kern Canyon slender salamander and relictual slender salamander in California.
Read more.Legal Intervention Aims to Defend Lifesaving Protections for Threatened Species
MISSOULA, Mont.— The Center for Biological Diversity filed an intervention today on behalf of imperiled wildlife in a lawsuit seeking to strip protections from species listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The suit was brought by the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and a property rights group called the Property and Environment Research Center.
Read more.Endangered Species Protection Sought for Rare Oregon Flower
PORTLAND, Ore.—The Center for Biological Diversity petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today to protect the Ochoco lomatium under the Endangered Species Act. These rare flowers in the carrot family are limited to only four populations in central Oregon.
Read more.Lawsuit Launched to Protect Critically Endangered Rice’s Whale From Trump Administration
WASHINGTON— Several conservation groups sent notice today of their intent to sue the Trump administration for stripping away measures aimed at protecting the critically endangered Rice’s whale from deadly ship and boat collisions.
Read more.Lawsuit Challenges Trump Administration Failure to Review Flawed Oil, Gas Industry Air-Pollution Permits in Colorado, New Mexico, Utah
WASHINGTON— The Center for Biological Diversity sued the Trump administration’s Environmental Protection Agency today over its delay in responding to challenges to air-pollution permits for oil and gas processing facilities in Colorado, New Mexico and Utah.
Read more.Lawsuit Launched to Rescue Critically Imperiled Florida Salamanders
TALLAHASSEE, Fla.— The Center for Biological Diversity notified the Trump administration today that it intends to sue over ongoing violations of the Endangered Species Act that are harming federally protected frosted flatwoods salamanders at St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge in north Florida.
Read more.Court Orders Trump Fish and Wildlife Service to Protect Endangered Species From Atrazine, Chlorpyrifos, Three Other Toxic Pesticides
TUCSON, Ariz.— A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to assess what steps are needed to reduce widespread harms some of the nation’s most toxic pesticides are causing to hundreds of endangered plants and animals.
Read more.Lawsuit Seeks to Protect 11 South Florida Species
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.— The Center for Biological Diversity, represented by the Jacobs Public Interest Law Clinic for Democracy and the Environment at Stetson University College of Law, sued the Trump administration today for delaying Endangered Species Act protection for a lizard, two snakes and eight plants found in South Florida.
Read more.Trump Moves to Revoke EPA Endangerment Finding, Threatening Core Basis for Federal Climate Action
WASHINGTON— President Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency moved today to potentially scrap the landmark scientific finding that forms the core basis of federal climate action. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has announced plans to reconsider the agency’s endangerment finding, threatening to batter years of climate policies to protect people and wildlife from runaway global heating.
Read more.Legal Intervention Launched to Protect Dunes Sagebrush Lizard
MIDLAND, Texas— The Center for Biological Diversity filed a request in federal court Tuesday to defend long-overdue Endangered Species Act protections for the dunes sagebrush lizard.
Read more.Lawsuit Challenges Federal Failure to Regulate Dangerous Phosphate Mining Waste
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.— Conservation, public health and environmental justice organizations sued the Trump administration today over the federal failure to respond to a petition requesting stronger oversight of toxic and radioactive waste from phosphate mining and fertilizer production.
Read more.Legal Challenge Prompts Trump Administration to Reconsider Massive Tree-Cutting, Burning Project in Montana’s Bitterroot National Forest
MISSOULA, Mont.— In response to a legal challenge from conservation groups, the U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will reconsider approval of the controversial Eastside project in the Bitterroot National Forest. The decision was announced Friday in a letter from the two agencies.
Read more.Court: Trump Administration Must Explain Agency’s Refusal to Protect Imperiled Corals From Climate Change
HONOLULU— A federal court today struck down the U.S. government’s refusal to grant critical protection to threatened coral species. The U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii held that the government improperly denied these 20 coral species protections from climate change, the primary threat to their survival.
Read more.NOAA Mass Firings Put Endangered Whales, Sharks, Sea Turtles, Protected Marine Areas at Risk
WASHINGTON— The Center for Biological Diversity has filed a Freedom of Information Act request that aims to reveal more about the sea life-saving work impeded by Trump’s mass firings at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Read more.Lawsuit Launched After Trump Freezes Funds for Rhino, Elephant Anti-Poaching Patrols
WASHINGTON— The Center for Biological Diversity sent notice today of its intent to sue the Trump administration for abruptly cutting off funding to fight poaching and other international efforts to protect some of the world’s most beloved wildlife.
Read more.Trump’s Logging Order Unleashes Chainsaws on America’s National Forests
WASHINGTON— President Trump on Saturday signed an executive order aimed at undermining safeguards for endangered wildlife and bypassing other environmental protections to radically increase logging and road building on hundreds of millions of acres of national forests and other public lands.
Read more.Lawsuit Seeks to Prevent DOGE, Musk From Gutting U.S. Environmental Agencies
WASHINGTON— The Center for Biological Diversity sued five cabinet-level agencies today seeking to stop the so-called Department of Government Efficiency and its DOGE teams from taking further actions against multiple environmental agencies until each team fully complies with the Federal Advisory Committee Act. This is the first lawsuit challenging DOGE’s efforts to eviscerate the agencies charged with protecting the environment, natural resources and wildlife.
Read more.Lawsuit Challenges Trump Administration Failure to Protect Gulf of Mexico’s Smalltail Shark
SILVER SPRING, Md.— The Center for Biological Diversity sued the Trump administration today for its failure to decide whether to protect smalltail sharks under the Endangered Species Act. The sharks live in nearshore waters of the western Atlantic Ocean from Brazil to the northern Gulf of Mexico.
Read more.Trump’s Assault on Public Lands Targets Icons, Hidden Gems From Hawaii to Atlantic Ocean
WASHINGTON— The Center for Biological Diversity released profiles today of 10 national monuments and other protected public lands and waters likely to be targeted by the Trump administration for industrial fracking, drilling and mining.
Read more.Lawsuit Seeks Records on DOGE Structure, Musk’s Mission in Trump Administration
WASHINGTON— The Center Biological Diversity today sued the Trump administration, including Elon Musk, to obtain public records on the activities of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency. The lawsuit appears to be the first contending that DOGE itself is an “agency” for purposes of the Freedom of Information Act.
Read more.Lawsuit Seeks Endangered Species Act Protections for Washington’s Sand-Verbena Moth
TACOMA, Wash.— The Center for Biological Diversity sued the Trump administration today seeking Endangered Species Act protections for sand-verbena moths. These highly imperiled moths were denied protections in 2019 when Trump was first in office.
Read more.Legal Intervention Defends Clean Air from Fossil Fuel Industry in Utah’s Uinta Basin
DENVER— Environmental and public health groups filed a motion Thursday to join a federal lawsuit defending the Environmental Protection Agency’s efforts to strengthen clean air safeguards in northeastern Utah’s Uinta Basin.
Read more.President Trump’s Hiring Freeze Stymies Spotted Owl Monitoring
PORTLAND, Ore.— The Center for Biological Diversity learned this week from a project collaborator, Taal Levi, that regional monitoring for northern spotted owls either won’t occur or will be greatly reduced because of the Trump administration’s hiring freeze. This leaves conservation agencies without crucial information needed to prevent the imperiled owls from sliding into extinction.
Read more.Lawsuit Launched to Stop U.S. Army Corps From Nationwide Wetlands Destruction
WASHINGTON— The Center for Biological Diversity sent a notice today of its intent to sue the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for illegally expediting every pending permit to fill or destroy wetlands across the United States. The permits have been fast-tracked under the guise of President Trump’s executive order declaring a national energy emergency.
Read more.Lawsuit Challenges Trump Order to Undo Ocean Protections From Offshore Drilling
ANCHORAGE— Conservation groups today filed the first environmental lawsuit against the Trump administration to protect oceans from offshore drilling. One set of groups is challenging an illegal order by President Trump to revoke former President Biden’s withdrawal of vulnerable areas of the ocean from future oil-and-gas leasing. Another set is asking a court to reinstate a federal court ruling that invalidated an attempt by the first Trump administration to undo Obama-era offshore protections.
Read more.Lawsuit Challenges EPA’s Approval of Radioactive Roads
WASHINGTON— The Center for Biological Diversity sued the Environmental Protection Agency today for approving the use of radioactive phosphogypsum in road construction at Mosaic’s New Wales facility in Mulberry, Florida.
Read more.Legal Action Seeks to Force EPA to Protect People, Wildlife, Waterways From Atrazine Pollution
SAN FRANCISCO— Conservation groups and family farmers asked a federal court today to force the Environmental Protection Agency to take long-overdue action to ensure that the highly controversial and dangerous herbicide atrazine does not continue to pollute the nation’s waters, harming people, wildlife and plants.
Read more.Lawsuit Challenges Massive Idaho Gold Mine Threatening Wildlife, Public Health
MCCALL, Idaho— Local and national conservation groups sued the U.S. Forest Service today to challenge its approval of the Stibnite Gold Project, an open-pit cyanide leach gold mine in Idaho’s Salmon River Mountains. The mine would jeopardize public health and clean water, harm threatened plants and animals, and permanently scar thousands of acres of public land in the headwaters of the South Fork Salmon River.
Read more.Lawsuit Challenges USDA’s Killing of Texas Wildlife
SAN ANTONIO— The Center for Biological Diversity today filed a lawsuit in federal court to stop the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services program from trapping, shooting and poisoning Texas’ wildlife.
Read more.Lawsuit Aims to Protect Spring-Run Chinook Salmon in Pacific Northwest
PORTLAND, Ore. — The Center for Biological Diversity and allies sued the National Marine Fisheries Service today for delaying Endangered Species Act protection decisions for spring-run Chinook salmon in Oregon, Washington and Northern California.
Read more.Trump, Kennedy Petitioned to ‘Make America Healthy Again’ by Eliminating Toxic Pesticides in Food
WASHINGTON— The Center for Biological Diversity sent a petition today urging President Trump, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Environmental Protection Agency to eliminate the use of extraordinarily toxic pesticides on U.S. food.
Read more.Trump Administration Fires Thousands at Department of Interior
WASHINGTON— The Trump administration today fired at least 2,300 federal workers at the Department of the Interior, including 1,000 National Park Service employees, 800 Bureau of Land Management employees and 400 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service employees — or 4% of the agency’s entire workforce. Most of those fired were working through a probationary period and have limited rights to appeal the decision.
Read more.Trump’s Bureau of Land Management Nominee Would Be Disaster for Public Lands
WASHINGTON— President Trump today nominated Kathleen Sgamma to lead the Bureau of Land Management, which manages 245 million acres of public lands, 10% of the nation’s land area, and 700 million acres of subsurface mineral estate.
Read more.‘Wolf-gate’ Killing Dogs Trump’s Fish and Wildlife Nominee
WASHINGTON— President Trump today nominated Brian Nesvik to be the director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Nesvik, the former director of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, has an extreme record on wildlife issues.
Read more.Trump’s Interior Order Threatens to Open Grand Canyon National Monument to New Uranium Mining
GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK, Ariz.— Tribes, conservation organizations and community groups today defended Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni – Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument, which could be at risk under Interior Secretary Doug Burgum’s Monday order to review national monuments and mineral withdrawals.
Read more.Lawsuit Challenges Federal Approvals for New Oil, Gas Drilling on California Public Lands
BAKERSFIELD, Calif.— Health and conservation groups sued the Bureau of Land Management today, challenging its approvals of new oil and gas drilling permits on public lands in California’s San Joaquin Valley. Despite an ongoing legal challenge to its permitting system in the region, the BLM continues to hand over drilling permits to fossil fuel companies at the expense of public health, the environment and the law.
Read more.Lawsuit Demands Records Supporting Finding That Spraying Insecticides Across Millions of Western Acres Harms None of Region’s 201 Endangered Species
WASHINGTON— The Center for Biological Diversity sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today for failing to release records documenting its finding that insecticides sprayed across millions of acres in 17 states do not harm any of the area’s 201 endangered plants and animals.
Read more.Burgum Order Undermines Protections for Nation’s Land, Wildlife
WASHINGTON— Newly confirmed Interior Secretary Doug Burgum issued an order late Monday directing all assistant secretaries to take numerous actions to implement President Trump’s executive order on energy. Taken together, the actions would dramatically weaken protections for endangered species, public lands and climate solutions.
Read more.Trump Urged to Ban Cancer-Linked Atrazine, Kill Biden-Era Plan
WASHINGTON— The Center for Biological Diversity sent a comprehensive analysis to the Trump administration today detailing how a Biden-era plan would greenlight extremely harmful levels of atrazine pollution in 99% of the nation’s 11,249 contaminated watersheds.
Read more.Info on DOGE, Musk Ethics Conflicts Demanded to Avoid Litigation
WASHINGTON— The Center Biological Diversity sent a letter today to President Trump’s Office of Management and Budget and other federal agencies demanding more information on whether the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, complies with the Federal Advisory Committee Act.
Read more.Trump’s L.A. Visit Follows Litany of Lies on Tragic Wildfires
LOS ANGELES— President Trump will visit Los Angeles Friday to see the aftermath of the tragic, climate-fueled wildfires that killed at least 28 people and destroyed more than 15,000 structures. Trump’s visit comes just days after he signed an executive order on water allocation that falsely blamed environmental protections in the Bay Delta for the fires.
Read more.Trump’s Energy Order Will Worsen Real Extinction, Climate Emergencies
PORTLAND, Ore.— President Trump’s executive order declaring a national energy emergency substantially undercuts protections for endangered species in the United States. The order weakens the Endangered Species Act’s prohibition on federal agencies jeopardizing the survival of endangered and threatened species or harming their critical habitat.
Read more.Lawsuit Seeks to Compel EPA to Prevent Dangerous Air Pollution From Mine in Arizona’s Patagonia Mountains
WASHINGTON— Conservation and community groups today sued the Environmental Protection Agency over its delay in responding to objections filed over an Arizona air pollution permit for a new heavy metals mine in the Patagonia Mountains south of Tucson.
Read more.Trump Invokes Authoritarian Powers on Day One to Gut Environmental Protections
WASHINGTON— President Trump ordered federal agencies today to begin unlawfully gutting protections for the climate, clean air and water, and public lands. Following through on his threat to act like a dictator “on day one,” Trump also ordered a massive expansion of oil, gas and coal extraction from public lands and waters — actions that could lead to irreversible climate catastrophe if they go unchallenged.
Read more.Lawsuit Seeks Records on Elon Musk, DOGE’s Role in Trump Transition
WASHINGTON— The Center Biological Diversity sued the Trump administration today to obtain public records showing how people claiming to represent the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, have interacted with the White House since the presidential transition began in November.
Read more.Lawsuit Challenges EPA’s Failure to Protect Freshwater Endangered Species From Pesticides Applied Directly to Water
WASHINGTON— The Center for Biological Diversity has sued the Environmental Protection Agency for issuing a Clean Water Act permit that fails to fully assess the risks posed to freshwater endangered species by pesticides applied directly to water.
Read more.