Judge Blocks Destructive Mine in Southern Arizona

On Wednesday night — just hours before bulldozers were scheduled to break ground — a federal judge blocked construction of the disastrous Rosemont copper mine in southern Arizona's Santa Rita Mountains. The decision tosses out the Trump administration's 2017 approval of the mine.

Although our 12-year-long fight against the foreign-owned mine isn't over, this is a major victory for borderlands jaguars and other endangered wildlife.

This ruling is the result of a lawsuit brought by the Center for Biological Diversity and allies — and we'll keep fighting the mine with everything we've got. You can support this work by making a donation to our Wildlife and Wild Places Defense Fund.

For now we can celebrate the fact that this decision has bought precious time for jaguars, frogs, fish, birds, delicate plants and sparkling streams.

We're Suing to Save Emperor Penguins

In parts of Antarctica where sea ice is disappearing or breaking up early due to climate change, some emperor penguin populations are declining — and some have already been lost. The Trump administration is not only refusing to protect these beloved birds; it's driving them toward extinction by propping up the fossil fuel industry.

So on Wednesday we sued Trump for failing to act on our petition to protect emperor penguins under the Endangered Species Act.

"The climate crisis is inflicting immense suffering and death on emperor penguins," said Center scientist Shaye Wolf. "Without major cuts in carbon pollution, they could decline up to 99 percent by the end of the century."

Learn more and consider supporting our fight for penguins with a donation to our Wildlife and Wild Places Defense Fund.

Last Chance to Take Action on National Forests

Trump's administration has a new plan that would erase the public's role in more than 90 percent of decisions made for our national forests. This is a clear violation of the public trust and major laws like the National Environmental Policy Act. The plan's purpose: to ramp up logging and bulldozing roads across millions of acres of national forest.

But we can protest by sending comments to the U.S. Forest Service. The Aug. 12 deadline is coming fast, so please, speak up now to protect citizens' power to shape the future of our wild places.

Big Win for California's Beavers

Responding to our threat of legal action, the federal wildlife-killing program known as Wildlife Services just agreed to stop shooting and trapping California beavers on more than 4 million acres and 11,000 river miles where beaver deaths could hurt endangered wildlife.

Beavers are critical to the well-being of imperiled species like native salmon and southwestern willow flycatchers, which use the habitats beavers create.

"This agreement will save hundreds of California's beavers," said the Center's Collette Adkins. "Beavers build dams and ponds that help endangered fish and frogs. By protecting them, we'll allow their ponds to be safe havens for other wildlife."

Get more from our press release.

California Court Roundup: Sprawl and Oil Waste

The Center moved forward with two legal actions this week to protect wildlife and wild places in the Golden State. The first suit is aimed at preventing Trump's EPA from ignoring threats to endangered wildlife — including California red-legged frogs — in allowing an oilfield operator to turn an aquifer in San Luis Obispo County into a permanent disposal site for oil-waste fluid.

The second suit, filed with allies, took on San Diego County for approving Otay Ranch Village 14, a sprawl development that will pave over hundreds of acres of habitat for golden eagles and other wildlife and build about 1,100 new homes in one of California's most dangerously fire-prone areas.

Suit Filed to Stop Trump's EPA From Hiding Its Record

In June, without allowing public comment, Trump's Environmental Protection Agency announced a new rule that would give political appointees unprecedented power over whether the agency releases its records.

We can't let this stand: The Freedom of Information Act is critical for a strong American democracy. Its use forced corrupt former EPA head Scott Pruitt to resign from his job — and has exposed numerous dangerous environmental rollbacks under Trump.

So this week the Center and allies sued to stop Trump's lackeys from getting away with it.

Read more in The Hill.

Expanding Plastics Industry Threatens Gulf of Mexico

The Gulf of Mexico is turning into a plastic soup. Yet the petro-plastic industry will soon build or expand 80 facilities — including 48 in Texas. It's determined to turn the United States' oversupply of fracked natural gas into more throwaway plastic.

In addition to producing the plastic for mountains of single-use packaging and products, these facilities will directly pollute the air and water.

Find out what this means for public health and the Gulf Coast's billion-dollar seafood industry in this op-ed by Julie Teel Simmonds, a Center Oceans Program attorney. And take action by sending a letter to the EPA urging it to protect people and wildlife from plastic pollution.

Wild & Weird: Wild Dolphin Mom Adopts Whale Calf

It's a hard-knock life for orphaned whale calves. Without a mother young cetaceans don't live long, and adoption is rare in the wild. But get this: Scientists recently discovered a bottlenose dolphin adopting a month-old melon-headed whale. The only other scientifically documented occurrence of adoption in the wild — not only across species but also across genus — involved a group of capuchins caring for a marmoset in 2016.

Find out more about the bottlenose mama and her adopted whale calf in National Geographic.