Center for Biological Diversity
[link removed]
Endangered Earth
No. 1299, May 29, 2025

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Suit Filed Over Toads Found in Only One Place
The Center for Biological Diversity just sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service [[link removed]] for failing to finalize Endangered Species Act protection for critically imperiled Railroad Valley toads.
These toads live in a single spring-fed wetland complex in central Nevada and are threatened by the Trump administration’s push to expand oil drilling, fracking, and mining near their only habitat. Thanks to a 2022 Center petition, last January the Service said they may warrant protection — but missed the deadline to grant it.
“This lawsuit is a final lifeline for Nevada’s embattled Railroad Valley toads,” said Center attorney Megan Ortiz. “Trump’s reckless push to ‘drill, baby, drill,’ could wipe these little creatures off the face of the Earth.”
Collage of a food basket and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. [[link removed]]
Request Made for Info on RFK, Dietary Guidelines
Last week the Center sued the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [[link removed]] for the release of Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s calendar and schedule. Our suit also requests transparency on the upcoming Dietary Guidelines for Americans, developed with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Kennedy has signaled that he doesn’t plan to follow scientific recommendations in putting out the new guidelines.
“Despite criticizing industry influence on our food, the new Make America Healthy Again report reads like it was written by the beef and dairy industry,” said Stephanie Feldstein, the Center’s population and sustainability director. “That raises serious concerns about the upcoming diet guidelines that drive more than $40 billion in government spending. Americans have a right to know if their money’s being spent on industry favors or foods recommended by nutrition scientists.”
Help our fight to hold the Trump administration accountable with a gift to our Future for the Wild Fund . Do it now and get your donation doubled. [[link removed]]
Side profile of an Illinois chorus frog [[link removed]]
MAHA Commission Waters Down Pesticide Report
A much-touted report just released by RFK Jr.’s Make America Healthy Again Commission — which promised bold action on pesticides — mentions that the ultrabad actors atrazine and glyphosate have been linked to health harms. But it doesn’t offer any concrete steps to address the risks.
Predictably, fears of restrictions on pesticides spurred a full-court press [[link removed]] by the chemical industry and commodity growers’ groups, alongside their friends in Congress and the executive branch, to water down the report.
“There are many, many different groups of people very concerned about pesticides in this country,” says Lori Ann Burd, the Center’s environmental health director. “I think the real story is the different ways entrenched industry interests are gearing up to fight this.”
Atrazine is banned in at least 63 countries — for good reason. Take action to help ban it in the United States too. [[link removed]]
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Watch California Mountain Lion Kittens
Did you know mountain lions are more closely related to housecats than to African lions?
But their lives aren’t as easy — especially in the urban wildlands of Central California, where cityscape meets a wilderness fragmented by freeways and development (as Center biologist Tiffany Yap highlighted in a kids’ graphic novel called Tales of the Urban Wild: A Puma’s Journey ).
Watch puma kittens acting just like housecat kittens in this squee-worthy video on Facebook [[link removed]] , Instagram [[link removed]] , and YouTube [[link removed]] . You can even hear Mom purr.
Close-up of a Fish Lake Valley tui chub [[link removed]]
Rare Nevada Fish Proposed for Protection
Thanks to a Center petition and lawsuit, this week the Fish and Wildlife Service proposed protecting Fish Lake Valley tui chubs [[link removed]] under the Endangered Species Act.
These rare, olive-colored fish — a subspecies of Lahontan tui chubs — live in an ultra-dry region of Nevada. They’re primarily threatened by groundwater pumping for agriculture, proposed lithium mining and geothermal energy projects, and invasive species.
“The Fish Lake Valley tui chub is barely clinging to existence,” said the Center’s Great Basin Director Patrick Donnelly. “I’m thrilled these fish are poised to get the lifesaving protection they urgently need.”
A prohibited symbol over a teal LED panel [[link removed]]
Revelator : AI and the Environment
Artificial intelligence consumes too much energy and water and produces too much pollution for any ethical, eco-minded person or organization to use it.
So The Revelator doesn’t. Read more about why. [[link removed]]
And if you haven’t yet, subscribe to The Revelator ’s free weekly e-newsletter for more wildlife and conservation news. [[link removed]]
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That’s Wild: New Zealand Snail Lays Neck Egg
Among the most threatened of New Zealand’s invertebrates, snails of the species Powelliphanta augusta have been bred in captivity since 2006, after mining destroyed their wild home. Recently a park ranger saw one laying an egg for the first time — and even caught it on video.
Just as intriguing? The egg emerged from the gastropod’s neck.
Apparently P. augusta have what’s called a “genital pore” below their heads. Among the largest snails in the world, they’re hermaphroditic and extend their penises out of the neck pores to exchange sperm with each other.
Check out the video. [[link removed]]
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Center for Biological Diversity
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