No. 1294, April 24, 2025

Suit Seeks Sunshine on Trump Anti-Environment Plans

The Center for Biological Diversity has just sued four Cabinet-level agencies to make them release information on Trump “action plans” aimed at boosting oil, gas, and other fossil fuel industries by slashing and burning environmental protections.

Along with Elon Musk’s DOGE, these agencies — the Interior and Commerce departments, Environmental Protection Agency, and USDA Forest Service — have fired thousands of key civil servants and moved to gut rules that protect human health and save imperiled wildlife, from Florida manatees to black-footed ferrets.

“It seems obvious that polluters and other special interests are completely in the driver’s seat and probably ghostwriting all Trump’s pro-fossil fuel directives,” said Brett Hartl, our government affairs director. “Why else would Trump officials be so defiant about illegally keeping the public in the dark?”

If you live in the United States, you can take action: Tell your representative and senators to reverse DOGE’s harmful staff cuts in the upcoming government-spending deal.

10 Species Threatened by Trump’s Habitat Proposal

The Center just released a report on 10 endangered animals — including Florida panthers, eastern hellbenders, and spotted owls — especially at risk from the Trump administration’s proposal to strip nearly all habitat safeguards from federally protected species.

The Endangered Species Act prohibits “take” (basically, the harm or killing) of protected species. Take has long been defined to include harms via “significant habitat modification or degradation.” Now President Donald Trump plans to remove that part of the definition, as if harming a species’ habitat won’t harm the species. But in fact, habitat destruction is the biggest cause of extinction.

“The Endangered Species Act is one of the world’s most effective conservation laws, but Trump is threatening to cut it off at the knees,” said the Center's Noah Greenwald.

We’ll keep fighting for these 10 species (and the hundreds of others) that will be harmed by this cruel and short-sighted proposal.

Help now by giving to our Future for the Wild Fund.

New York Protects Frog, Lizard, Salamander Species

Welcome news on the state level: After five years of working with the Center, the New York Department of Environmental Conservation just added Atlantic Coast leopard frogs, eastern fence lizards, and eastern tiger salamanders to its list of protected threatened and endangered species — its first update to the list since 1999.

The department didn’t protect several other imperiled local species, including eastern hellbenders, so we’ll keep pushing to change that.

“I’m thrilled that New York is giving these three precious animals a better chance at survival,” said the Center’s Tara Zuardo.

Trump OKs Industry Slaughter of Migratory Birds

This month Trump’s Interior Department issued a new legal opinion on the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, reinstating an opinion from Trump’s first term on protecting migratory birds from “incidental” harm and killing. The move — found illegal by a federal court in 2020 — lets industries off the hook for almost all migratory bird deaths they cause, from raptors shocked by power lines to pelicans poisoned by oil spills.

“Trump is breaking the law and flouting a court order by handing the fossil fuel industry and polluters this blank check to kill millions of migratory birds,” said the Center’s Tara Zuardo. “No one voted to slaughter hummingbirds, cranes, and raptors, but this is the reality of Trump’s illegal actions today.”

In Court to Save Brook Floater Mussels

In defense of an obscure but important species, last week the Center sued the Trump administration for denying Endangered Species Act protection to brook floater mussels.

Once widespread across the U.S. East Coast, these mussels have been decimated by pollution and habitat destruction and now live only in a few scattered streams. Following a Center petition, in 2019 the first Trump administration wrongly withheld safeguards.

“Brook floaters work tirelessly day after day to clean the waters we all rely on, but they desperately need protections,” said the Center’s Tierra Curry. “The Center successfully sued over several other species similarly denied protections — including wolverines, eastern hellbenders, and Kirtland’s snakes — and we’ll keep fighting for these mussels until we win.”

Books and Beauty in Crested Butte

Looking for something to keep you engaged and educated over Memorial Day Weekend? Join us in Crested Butte for the Mountain Words Festival, a fun-for-all-ages literary festival featuring acclaimed authors and presenters.

On Saturday, May 24, the Center is sponsoring a free wildlife-themed series, or track, with panels and readings on grizzly bears, wolf reintroduction, and more. Saturday and Sunday check out a free environmental track covering several other topics, from planet-healthy foods to water in the West.

Learn more about the festival's free events and get inspired to help keep Colorado wild and wonderful.

Revelator: Climate Silence

Do you ever find yourself not talking about climate change because you’re afraid your friends or neighbors will get angry or otherwise react poorly? Well, here’s a secret: They probably think you don’t want to talk about it. New research encourages us to break that “climate silence” and start a conversation.

Read more in The Revelator.

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

That’s Wild: Colossal Squid Kid Vid

A one-of-a-kind video was recently captured by a remotely operated submersible near the Atlantic Ocean’s South Sandwich Islands. It reveals a living colossal squid swimming many leagues under the sea — and it’s a juvenile, likely under a foot long. Adults, who have never been filmed alive, are believed to grow up to 23 feet long and weigh over 1,000 pounds. They generally live in Antarctic waters at depths of more than 3,200 feet.

With graceful movement, a transparent body, and glowing eyes, this baby is a beauty.

Watch the footage on YouTube or Instagram.

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Photo credits: Black-footed ferret courtesy USFWS; Florida panther by Rodney Cammauf/NPS, spotted owl by Alan Dyck/USFWS; eastern fence lizard by Grayson Smith/USFWS; white pelican by Steve Degenhardt/USFWS; brook floater mussel by Michael Perkins/North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission; gray wolves via Shutterstock; candid shot by Metin Ozer/Unsplash; screenshot of colossal squid video courtesy Schmidt Ocean Institute.

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