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Protesters holding signs at a rally

No. 1290, March 27, 2025

 

Join the National Hands Off! Rallies on April 5

Next Saturday, April 5, Center for Biological Diversity staff and supporters will join other national and local organizations across the United States to turn out for Hands Off! — a national mass activation in defiance of the Trump-Musk billionaire takeover and the Republican assault on the environment and our communities.

President Donald Trump’s anti-environmental onslaught is by far the direst threat to wildlife, wildlands, clean air, clean water, and the climate in U.S. history. Trump, Musk, and congressional Republicans don’t care what they destroy to rake in more money for themselves and their wealthy allies. But the Center is ready to fight back.

Join us on April 5 to demand they get their hands off public lands, endangered species, and the federal agencies and funds that help support all these things and more.

Sign up to attend or host a Hands Off! event in a city or town near you.

And get ready with printable signs and shareable graphics from our website.

See you in the streets.

 
Collage of a scrub jay and marbled murrelet

Filing Defends Threatened Species Nationwide

The Center filed an intervention Wednesday in a lawsuit by Montana-based hunting and property-rights interests trying to take away safeguards from species classified as federally threatened, like Florida scrub jays and marbled murrelets.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s longstanding “blanket rule” gives such species the same protections as endangered ones (unless a specific rule is developed). But in Trump 1.0 the rule was temporarily scrapped, and the plaintiffs in this suit clearly want it gone.

“We’re at risk of losing a million species this century, and yet Trump’s hellbent on stripping wildlife of critical protections,” said the Center’s Noah Greenwald. “In this case, the administration has some help from groups whose actions could have a devastating effect on many imperiled animals.”

Help us stand up for threatened species with a gift to the Future for the Wild Fund. Do it now and your donation will be doubled.

 
Aerial view of a North Atlantic right whale

Stepping in to Save Whales From Deadly Ship Strikes

The Center and allies just moved to intervene in a lawsuit challenging a 2008 federal rule protecting North Atlantic right whales from speeding ships and other vessels. Filed by a vessel captain fined for knowingly violating speed limits, the suit claims that NOAA Fisheries didn’t have the authority to issue the rule — but we know it did.

With a population of just 370 individuals and fewer than 70 reproducing females, North Atlantic right whales are dying too quickly for birth rates to keep up. Vessel strikes — especially deadly for mothers and calves — are one of the species’ two main killers. And when they don’t kill, they often leave whales weakened and painfully scarred.

The other big threat driving these whales toward extinction? Fishing-gear entanglement.

Tell the feds: The widespread adoption of pop-up fishing gear will save the lives of countless whales and other marine animals.

 
Collage of Kierán Suckling, humpback whales, and play button

Biodiversity Briefing: Our Strategy to Save the Wild

The Trump administration wasted no time launching attacks against the species and wild places we all love, so the Center has been challenging it with a new lawsuit every three days. We’ll need constant vigilance to defend the laws and agencies that protect public lands and wildlife, from spotted owls to humpback whales.

In our latest Biodiversity Briefing presentation, Executive Director Kierán Suckling discussed the Center’s strategic imperatives for saving life on Earth in this critical moment.

These briefings, including live Q&A, are open to all members of the Center’s Leadership Circle and Owls Club.

 
Bison mother embracing calf

Colorado Has New Pro-Wildlife Leaders, Thanks to You

Thanks to your advocacy — more than 800 letters you sent to state senators — the Colorado Senate has appointed three strong, science-based leaders to the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Committee. They’ll set regulations and policies for the state’s parks and wildlife programs, playing a crucial role in protecting biodiversity and wildlands.

Among the new commissioners is Jay Tutchton, an expert in environmental law and wildlife restoration. Tutchton has been instrumental in reintroducing native species like endangered black-footed ferrets and bison while working to restore Eastern Plains ecosystems. His leadership will help ensure that Colorado’s land, water, and wildlife — from gray wolves to boreal toads — thrive.

 
David Meyers and the eastern Oregon conservation property in the background

In Memoriam: David Myers

Over the course of his multidecade career in conservation and philanthropy, David Myers, cofounder of the Wildlands Conservancy, saved vast tracts of land from development, including over half a million acres in San Bernardino County, California — the largest purchase of land for preservation in the state. He passed away March 10 at age 73.

An early, longtime supporter of the Center, Myers partnered with us to purchase and preserve more than 100,000 acres in California, Oregon and Utah.

“David Myers was an inspirational and tireless crusader for wild places,” the Center’s Peter Galvin told the Los Angeles Times. “He also worked harder than anyone I know in the conservation movement to introduce low-income kids and their families to natural realms beyond their neighborhoods.”

Myers’ legacy lives on through the places he protected and the many people whose lives he touched.

 
Close-up of a Sumatran orangutan

The Revelator: Save This Species

In the launch of The Revelator’s new column — the next iteration of its previous “Species Spotlight” series — editor John Platt explores why Sumatran orangutans mean so much to him and why people need to protect them.

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

 
Cartoon octopus riding on a shark's back

That’s Wild: Octopus Rides a Shark

Most octopuses live on the seafloor, while sharks cruise closer to the surface — but that didn’t stop one bright-orange cephalopod from hitching a ride on a mako shark in the waters off New Zealand.

A new article by the scientist who caught the strange interaction on a GoPro, back in 2023, highlights the mystery of the octopus-shark rideshare. For the octopus it may have turned into a wild caper indeed: Mako sharks can reach speeds of 45 miles per hour.

Learn more and watch the video.

 

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Photo credits: Protesters by realavivahr/Flickr; Florida scrub jay by James Lyon/USFWS, marbled murrelet by R. Macintosh/USFWS; North Atlantic right whale courtesy NOAA; Kierán Suckling courtesy Center for Biological Diversity, humpback whale and calf courtesy NOAA; bison mother and calf by Kristie Burns/USFWS; David Myers and eastern Oregon conservation property by Peter Galvin/Center for Biological Diversity; Sumatran orangutan by Andrew Watson/USAID; mako shark by Mark Conlin/Wikipedia.

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Center for Biological Diversity
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