Trump Administration Withholding Protection for 78 Species

The Trump administration is dragging its feet on lifesaving protection decisions for 78 endangered animals and plants, including those desperately in need of protection for their last remaining habitat on Earth.

The Center for Biological Diversity's new analysis examines the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's failure to adhere to a plan it developed in 2016. Under Trump the agency has failed to decide whether to protect 57 species under the Endangered Species Act and whether to protect the habitat for another 21 species.

Among those neglected are wolverines, lesser prairie chickens and Hermes copper butterflies.

"The Trump administration's anti-regulatory agenda is turning it into the extinction presidency," said the Center's Noah Greenwald. "The vast majority of Americans want to see endangered species protected, but Trump officials are flushing these vanishing plants and animals down the toilet to hand easier profits to their patrons in polluter industries."

Read more in our press release.

Arkansas Proposes Limits on Wild Turtle Trapping

More than a million wild turtles have been harvested from Arkansas's waters since 2004, so the Center and allies petitioned the state to stop that tragic slaughter. Now the state's Game and Fish Commission has proposed rules and geographic limits to restrict trapping.

The commission will study how trapping affects turtles for three years, during which the sale of commercial harvest and dealer permits will be capped at 150 per year.

"This is a desperately needed step to save Arkansas turtles, but stronger safeguards are critical," said the Center's Elise Bennett. "Tens of thousands of turtles are taken from the wild each year. Arkansas needs to ban commercial turtle trapping."

Read more in the Texarkana Gazette.

In this video the Center's Hawaii State Director Maxx Phillips releases a threatened Newell's shearwater — an "a'o," as the bird is called by native Hawaiians — to its ocean home. When young Newell's shearwaters leave their mountain nests for the sea, they're often disoriented by bright lights. The Save Our Shearwaters program rehabilitates these downed birds for release. Watch the video on Facebook or YouTube.

Suit Filed Over Trump's Texas Border Wall

The Trump administration is sweeping aside environmental laws in Texas to speed-build more than 20 miles of 30-foot-high border walls, cutting through a national wildlife refuge, butterfly conservation center, state park and historic chapel. So the Center and allies have sued to stop it.

"The Trump administration's trashing major environmental laws without regard for human health, wildlife or the law," said Center lawyer Jean Su. "That's disastrous for border communities, and it's unconstitutional. I hope the courts stop Trump's abuse of power before bulldozers destroy some of the most spectacular wildlands in Texas."

Ocelots, jaguarundi and aplomado falcons make their homes in the region, as do hundreds of species of migratory birds and butterflies.

Please consider making a gift to the Center to help fight this wall.

Center Fires Back After Bishop's Bizarre Letters

Recently right-wing Congressman Rob Bishop (R-Utah) has sent letters to the Center bizarrely claiming we're acting as "foreign agents" via our work to save Okinawa dugongs — manatee relatives threatened by a U.S. military base in Japan — from extinction.

We won't indulge his paranoid and ridiculous assertions, but instead just sent a letter requesting that the House Natural Resources committee hold an oversight hearing on dugong protection.

"If Rob Bishop's so concerned about our work to save Okinawa dugongs, we'd love to have a full public hearing about it," said Center Executive Director Kierán Suckling. "But he seems far more interested in trying to bully and harass us with tactics that would've made Joe McCarthy proud."

Read more in our press release.

Freshwater 'Pigtoe' Mussels Proposed for Protection

Good news for freshwater mussels: The Fish and Wildlife Service has finally proposed Endangered Species Act protection for Atlantic pigtoes, natives of North Carolina and Virginia. The creatures were identified as needing protection in 1991, and we filed our protection petition in 2010.

"Most people don't realize freshwater mussels are the most endangered animals in North America," said Tierra Curry, a Center scientist. "They're indicators of water quality and help keep it clean themselves, so protecting their habitat will directly benefit people, too."

Read more in The Washington Post.

Wild & Weird: A Peculiar Parade of Caterpillars

Caterpillars are the tubby, ever-hungry, slightly awkward larval stage of butterflies, skippers and moths. While most human eyes may prefer the aesthetics of their final, winged forms, caterpillars are pretty cool in their own right.

Check out amazing, intimate footage by Samuel Jaffe of The Caterpillar Lab on Facebook or YouTube. The Lab, located in New England, works to highlight these wonderful, strange backyard animals and spark interest in the natural world.