No. 1314, September 11, 2025

Join Us in the Fight Against ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ 

Following an appeal by Florida and the Trump administration, federal appeals judges have put the brakes on a lower court’s injunction — won by the Center for Biological Diversity and local allies — requiring the infamous “Alligator Alcatraz” detention center to wind down ecologically harmful activities in delicate Big Cypress National Preserve. 

But our work to save the Everglades from the cruelly named facility is far from over. The Center’s lawyers are preparing for the next round of litigation. 

Join us on Tuesday, Sept. 30, at 11 a.m. PT/2 p.m. ET for a special inside look at our legal fight against this polluting, destructive detention center and what lies ahead in defending the world-famous Everglades ecosystem.  

The webinar’s a chance to dive deeper into this lifesaving campaign and find out how to help drive the next phase. 

Appeal Aims to Claw Back Help for Prairie Chicken 

The Center and allies just appealed a Texas court decision, which came at the behest of the Trump administration, to strip Endangered Species Act protection from imperiled lesser prairie chickens, threatened by oil and gas development. 

“Courts can’t snatch away these birds’ chance at survival just because the Trump administration wants their protection gone,” said the Center’s Jason Rylander. 

The iconic grassland birds, known for their elaborate mating dances, finally got protection in 2022 after nearly 30 years of Center work and federal delay. 

Give to our Future for the Wild Fund to help us defend prairie chickens and other species from this administration’s assault. 

Death-Faking Snake to Get New Lifeline 

When they're scared, harmless southern hognose snakes can engage in dramatic defensive displays, rolling over and sticking out their tongues to play dead.  

Now, thanks to the Center’s legal persistence, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed protecting them under the Endangered Species Act — after wrongly denying protection in 2019. We successfully challenged the denial in 2023. 

But the new proposal exempts logging and pesticides — both hognose threats — from the proposed protections, and it wouldn’t safeguard critical habitat. 

“We’ll keep fighting for these extraordinary snakes and their longleaf pine forests,” said the Center’s Chelsea Stewart-Fusek.  

Puerto Rico Leatherback Habitat May Get Protection 

A win for the world’s largest turtles: Thanks to a petition by the Center and local allies, the Fish and Wildlife Service will consider protecting leatherback sea turtle nesting beaches in Puerto Rico as critical habitat under the Endangered Species Act.  

Leatherbacks lived alongside dinosaurs, can dive nearly 4,000 feet deep, and migrate thousands of miles every year. Right now their only terrestrial critical habitat is one stretch of beach in the U.S. Virgin Islands — but Puerto Rico also has crucial nesting beaches that deserve federal protection.

How MAHA Could Upend U.S. Diets — For the Worse 

The Make America Healthy Again movement’s insistence on unscientific dietary advice threatens public health and nutrition policy, writes Center policy specialist Leah Kelly in her latest blog post. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has pushed saturated fat, ignored the federal Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee’s recommendations, and published an industry-friendly strategy report — released on Tuesday — clearly prioritizing political rhetoric over evidence-based nutrition science and American health.   

Read more in Leah’s latest post on Medium. 

Then follow Rooted in Policy, her monthly blog making the connections between policy, agrifood systems, and biodiversity. 

Join Us to Defend the Endangerment Finding

In 2009 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued a science-backed conclusion — called “the endangerment finding” — clearly stating that greenhouse gas emissions harm the climate and threaten people’s health.  

The finding led to many of crucial climate rules we have today, including emissions limits for cars, trucks, power plants, and airplanes. People benefited, and so did wildlife — especially species threatened by climate change, from beloved American pikas to iconic polar bears. 

Now the Trump administration wants to revoke the EPA’s landmark finding, giving more power to oil and gas billionaires and driving us closer to climate catastrophe.  

Fight back: Join the Center — along with the Climate Action Campaign, Sen. Ed Markey, and several other congressmembers — on Sept. 17 in Washington, D.C., for a climate event discussing the EPA’s plan to revoke its endangerment finding and clean car regulations.

Revelator: Resist the Roadless Rule Rollback 

The Trump administration has announced plans to scrap the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, which protects national forests and wildlife from road-building and logging.  

The Revelator’s recent op-ed explores why this beloved and effective rule needs saving.  

If you haven’t yet, speak up against the proposed changes before the comment period closes. 

(And make sure you're subscribed to The Revelator’s free weekly e-newsletter for more wildlife and conservation news.) 

That's Wild: A Wriggling Tower of Worm 

It’s not for the vermiphobic — but if worms don’t scare you, check out this video of a newly documented tower of nematodes.  

Scientists have found that the microscopic animals come together in formations that can act like “superorganisms” — responding to touch as though each tower is a single biological entity. 

The towers can move over gaps from one surface to the next, reports an article in the journal Science, and even attach themselves to passing insects to hitch a ride. 

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Photo credits: American alligator by Mark Banks/Flickr, Florida panther by Rodney Cammauf/NPS; lesser prairie chicken by Dan Wundrock/USGS; southern hognose snake by Pierson Hill/FWC; leatherback sea turtle hatchling by courtesy NOAA; fork, plate, and knife by Stock Catalogue/Flickr; Entiat and Tyee Ridge, Okanogan Wenatchee National Forest, courtesy USFS; screenshot from nematode tower video courtesy Daniela M. Perez et al.

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