Center for Biological Diversity
[link removed]
Endangered Earth
No. 1177, January 26, 2025

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We Sue Over Shutout of Public on Forests, Wildlife
The Trump administration has tossed out decades-old rules requiring public participation before approving logging, mining, drilling, and road-building in U.S. national forests — home to a long list of federally protected species, from grizzly bears to Canada lynx. The administration has also shut out the American people on decisions about federal wildlife-killing activities and responses to bird flu outbreaks. So the Center for Biological Diversity and our allies are suing. [[link removed]]
Environmental reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act, one of the nation’s bedrock environmental laws, are often the only way people can get information and give input about the thousands of projects up for federal approval each year on public lands.
“It’s illegal and unjust for Trump to shut out the public while wrecking our national forests so industries can make a quick buck. We’re suing to make sure people have a say in what happens on their public lands, as they have for 50 years,” said Center Senior Attorney Wendy Park. “Federal law gives us the right to know what our government is up to and speak out. Cutting the public out means the Trump administration can rubberstamp destructive projects that’ll devastate our forests and harm nearby communities.”
Those destructive projects will be accelerated if the administration succeeds in dismantling the Roadless Rule, which for decades has saved large parts of our remaining forests.
If you live in the United States, take action to keep our forests roadless and wild. [[link removed]]
Swift fox looking straight at the camera [[link removed]]
Colorado Urged to Halt Native Pelt Sales
Before the doors opened to Colorado’s annual wildlife fur auction on Monday, the Center called on state officials to halt the sale of these pelts [[link removed]] .
Colorado still lets hunters and fur trappers kill and sell the pelts of unlimited numbers of “furbearers,” including beavers, ringtails, pine martens, bobcats, and even imperiled swift foxes.
In March Colorado Parks and Wildlife will review our formal petition (submitted last summer) to end these pelts’ commercial sale.
“Auctioning off piles of pelts from native animals is a relic of an era that drove iconic species like beavers and bison to the brink of extinction,” said the Center’s Samantha Miller.
Help our fight for furbearers with a donation to the Future for the Wild Fund . [[link removed]\\]
Close-up of a green western spadefoot with dark spots [[link removed]]
Western Spadefoots Near California Protection
Thanks to a Center petition, California has taken the first step [[link removed]] toward protecting western spadefoots under the state’s Endangered Species Act. These small, cryptic amphibians spend much of their lives underground, emerging to breed during autumn and winter rains, when their mating calls sound like sheep bleating.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife has recommended that the state wildlife commission reviews the spadefoots’ status. If the commission votes to do that — probably in April — the spadefoots will get temporary protection while the review happens.
We’ve also petitioned for western spadefoots federally, winning proposed protection in 2023. But the Trump administration isn’t likely to finalize it, so state safeguards are especially important.
Two monarch butterflies resting on yellow flowers [[link removed]]
Op-Ed: The MAHA-Washing of Destructive Dicamba
In an op-ed published in The New Lede, Center scientist Nathan Donley has a prediction for the coming days [[link removed]] : The drifting death-spray that is the notorious pesticide dicamba will be reapproved by EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin — but with a bunch of empty verbiage aimed at pacifying the Make America Healthy Again movement.
After making plenty of promises to MAHA about ridding the country of dangerous pesticides, both on the campaign trail and while in office, President Donald Trump and his appointees have delivered exactly zero action on getting scourges like atrazine, chlorpyrifos, and paraquat out of our air, water, or bodies, writes Nate.
Dicamba, which is so volatile it ends up on crops and backyard gardens well beyond its target zone, will likely be the next poisonous pesticide to get a green light — along with some lip service to “gold-standard science” that lets industry off the hook.
Profile of a smalltail shark underwater [[link removed]]
Agreement: Feds Must Move on Shark Protection
The Center just reached a legal agreement [[link removed]] with NOAA Fisheries requiring it to decide — by Aug. 12 — whether smalltail sharks deserve protection under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. The agency has been dragging its feet since announcing the sharks may warrant protection in 2023.
These slim, pointy-snouted sharks give birth to live young and live in nearshore waters of the western Atlantic Ocean, where they’ve declined by more than 80% in the past 27 years due to overfishing, climate change, and more.
“Smalltail sharks need swift action to bring them back from the brink of extinction, and I’m hopeful this agreement makes that happen,” said Center attorney Lauren Parker.
African penguin on top of rocks by the shore [[link removed]]
The Revelator : Animals in Climate Policy
Ever-present banners at the latest United Nations climate conference depicted a variety of cute wildlife photos, but the animals themselves were mostly absent from policy proposals.
As The Revelator ’s latest commentary explores, that left wildlife conservation out of discussions — ignoring how animals are our climate allies. [[link removed]]
Make sure you’re subscribed to the free Revelator weekly e-newsletter for more wildlife and conservation news. [[link removed]]
Cow Veronika scratches herself with a deck scrubbing brush [[link removed]]
That’s Wild: Veronika the Tool-Using Cow
When a pet cow in smalltown Austria got remarkably good at using a broom to scratch herself, her human sent footage to researchers in Vienna — and they decided to check out Veronika’s scratching behavior for themselves [[link removed]] .
While Veronika’s manipulation of the brush isn’t as complex as some animals’ tool use, they found, it’s still pretty sophisticated. She uses different parts of the tool for different body parts, as well as different techniques.
“She faces clear physical constraints, as she must manipulate tools with her mouth,” said Antonio Osuna-Mascaró, one of the researchers. “What is striking is how she compensates for these limitations, anticipating the outcome of her actions and adjusting her grip and movements accordingly.”
Such tool use may be quite widespread among cows, he says — more study is needed — but one thing is certain: We need to seriously reconsider our assumptions about the minds of domestic animals, particularly those we use for meat.
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Center for Biological Diversity
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