| Sage Grouse Habitat Saved From Nevada Oil Auction
In response to a court order prompted by a suit from the Center for Biological Diversity and allies, sage grouse won a reprieve in Nevada last week: The Bureau of Land Management was forced to pull more than 300,000 acres of their habitat from a Nevada oil and gas lease auction.
Despite minimal industry interest in drilling, Trump’s BLM has fueled a speculative frenzy by leasing out hundreds of thousands of acres of sensitive public land in the state, often at rock-bottom prices.
“Leasing Nevada’s public lands out for oil and gas threatens the survival of greater sage grouse,” said the Center’s Patrick Donnelly. “And also our chance at a livable climate.”
Read more in The New York Times and consider donating to our work to protect sage grouse and other endangered wildlife.
Take Action: Slam the Door on Keystone XL
Earlier this year the Trump administration issued a new permit for TransCanada’s Keystone XL pipeline in an attempt to sidestep our latest court victory blocking the project. The fight isn’t over — federal agencies, including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, are still reviewing the project’s environmental harms, and there are many.
Keystone XL would pump more than 35 million gallons of the planet’s dirtiest oil across the country every single day, threatening waterways with spills and leaks. It would exacerbate the climate crisis and threaten a wide range of imperiled species, from American burying beetles to whooping cranes.
Act now to let regulators know: We won’t stand for Keystone XL.
Suit Launched to Save Pangolins
Gentle pangolins are the world’s most trafficked mammals. Poachers kill thousands every week for their scales — erroneously thought to have curative properties in East Asian medicine — and meat.
This poaching puts pangolins in grave danger of extinction, so on Wednesday the Center and allies launched a lawsuit against Trump for failing to propose their protection under the U.S. Endangered Species Act.
“If we don’t halt the massive trafficking of pangolin parts, they could vanish in decades,” said the Center’s Sarah Uhlemann.
Get more from our press release.
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| Proposal to Protect Pacific Fishers Is Riddled With Loopholes |
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Following a petition and lawsuit by the Center and allies, Pacific fishers may finally get Endangered Species Act safeguards. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service just issued a protection proposal — but it’s riddled with loopholes letting logging decimate fishers’ forest habitat. Although these plush-furred mammals are tough enough to kill porcupines, they can’t survive the ongoing loss of their forest homes.
“The exemptions to their protection are fuzzier than fishers themselves,” said the Center’s Tierra Curry. Read more.
Victory: Sprawl Development Defeated Near Joshua Tree
For 15 years community groups and environmental organizations including the Center have fought a destructive development near Joshua Tree National Park named Paradise Valley. Last week we won the battle, when the Riverside County Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to reject plans for the new city of 20,000 residents.
“Paradise Valley would have destroyed rare desert habitat and blocked critical wildlife corridors next to Joshua Tree,” said Center attorney Lisa Belenky. “And it would have undermined Coachella Valley’s carefully crafted conservation plan, which protects 27 endangered and threatened species and 375 square miles of conservation lands.”
Thank you to the more than 7,500 of you who just spoke out against Paradise Valley through a Center action alert. You made a difference.
Great News ! – we covered this campaign recently on this site – Mark
Link – https://worldanimalsvoice.com/2019/10/26/usa-petition-environmental-protect-the-iconic-joshua-tree-from-extinction/
In Colorado, a Win for Forests Over Dirty Coal
A federal judge has blocked the 2,000-acre expansion of a coal mine in the wildlands of Colorado’s Gunnison National Forest, responding to a suit by the Center and other groups. His ruling ordered the Trump administration to consider limiting methane emissions and address potential harm to water and fish.
“Methane pollution is a climate-killer, and we hope this decision will spell the end of unlimited emissions from this coal mine,” said Allison Melton, a Center attorney.
Learn more from Colorado Public Radio.
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World Animals Voice 