Center for Biological Diversity

🚨 Public lands across the United States are under attack: President Trump and his Department of Government Efficiency want to sell them off to private interests. 🚨 For generations nearly one-third of the United States has been federally managed as public lands to sustain our collective natural resources, wildlife habitat, and recreation. These beloved landscapes take many forms — including national monuments, wilderness areas and national forest. And, they include critical habitat for federally protected threatened or endangered plants and animals. Tell your representative and senators to protect public lands and oppose any attempts to sell them off 🌲➡️ https://bit.ly/42P9owX

It's #BatAppreciationDay🦇! Although, we believe bats should be appreciated everyday. Did you know that bats eat 40% of their weight in insects every night? That's billions of dollars' worth of natural, non-toxic pest control. Over the past decade, with white-nose syndrome decimating New England bat populations, more insects have devoured more crops — leading to 30% more insecticide use, particularly harmful to pregnant people and infants. A study published last fall found that infant mortality increased by 8% in counties with bat die-offs, which are using more insecticides. Everything is connected. Wild animals make our lives possible through ecosystem services. We need biodiversity. Read more about the study ➡️ https://bit.ly/3XwmbBO

UPDATE: The Trump administration issued a proposed rule today that would rescind nearly all habitat protections for endangered species nationwide. The Endangered Species Act prohibits “take” of endangered species by any person, including individuals, government entities and corporations. Take has been defined to include actions that “harm” endangered species through “significant habitat modification or degradation.” Today’s proposal would fully rescind this definition, opening the door for industries of all kinds to destroy the natural world and drive species to extinction in the process. Habitat destruction is the biggest cause of extinction. You can't protect animals and plants from extinction without protecting the places they live. Without a prohibition on habitat destruction, many imperiled animals won’t stand a chance. More info: https://bit.ly/42z1giK

Fancy dancing sagegrouse depend on the Sagebrush Sea to survive. But fossil fuel drilling, livestock grazing, climate change and more are degrading their habitat. So we're fighting to protect it. Protecting these sage grouse and their habitat benefits hundreds of other species that depend on the Sagebrush Sea ecosystem including pygmy rabbits, pronghorns, elk, mule deer, golden eagles, native trout, and migratory and resident birds. Learn more ➡️ https://bit.ly/4ji5IKg

The Trump administration is working to severely weaken the Endangered Species Act by attempting to redefine the word "harm" in the Act. Currently, “harm” is defined to include “significant habitat modification or degradation.” But by redefining the word in the Act, the Trump administration could open the floodgates to habitat destruction — which is the primary cause of extinction. To be very clear: Weakening the definition of harm would cut the heart out of the Endangered Species Act and be a death sentence for plants and animals on the brink of extinction. We can't let that happen. Learn more: https://bit.ly/4iXjKk6 📷: Courtesy of Walt Jenkins

As this keystone species' name suggests, the gopher tortoise is an expert at living underground — like a gopher. Gopher tortoises have shovel-like front legs and strong, thick back legs that help them dig deep burrows that more than 360 other species use. Today is #GopherTortoiseDay, a day to increase awarness of these gentle reptiles and all the work they do for their ecosystems. Sadly gopher tortoises are struggling to survive as their habitat is destroyed for urban development. We're working to help protect them. Learn more about them ➡️ https://bit.ly/43HT2as 📹: Courtesy of Tom Mortenson

A Highway 101 expansion project is threatening a majestic grove of 1,000-year-old redwood trees in Northern California. Richardson Grove State Park in Humboldt County shelters one of the last protected stands of accessible old-growth redwood trees in the world. But a plan to widen Highway 101 to make room for oversized trucks would cut into and pave over the root systems of the thousand-year-old trees, causing dieback of the canopy and possible loss of parts of the grove. There's no reason to imperil these majestic trees, as other cost-effective, environmentally sound solutions to improve the movement of goods along the coast exist. You can help ➡️ https://bit.ly/42ox9um

Sad news for wolves in Washington: The state's wolf population has dropped by nearly 10%. This data is according to a newly released report by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, who also reported the number of successful breeding pairs declined by 25% last year. The primary driver of the population decline? Humans. The report report shows that at least 37 wolves died in 2024, 31 of which were human-caused. There were also seven known illegal killings, which remain under investigation. More infomation: https://bit.ly/4jmGOIH

Happy International Beaver Day 🦫! Oh, beloved beavers. While they're exceptionally skilled at chewing wood, their tree climbing skills could use just a liiittle bit more practice! Did you know? Beavers are a keystone species and one of nature's most iconic ecosystem engineers. The habitats they create and maintain improve water quality, reduce the impacts of floods, make landscapes more resilient to wildfire, and restore natural water flows. This benefits humans and a wide variety of fish and wildlife. Check out this article by The Revelator on how citizen scientists are helping restore the beavers to the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument ➡️ https://bit.ly/3YfRyR2 📹 by USFWS [Video description: Video is a nightime trail camera capture of a beaver falling off of a tree.]

On the gulf coast of Texas and Louisana is Sabine Lake: an estuary teeming with life from piping plovers, alligator snapping turtles, manta rays, West Indian manatees, endangered Rice's whales and more. But this fragile ecosystem is at risk from a new offshore crude oil terminal. Construction alone could harm local fisheries and wildlife, but an oil spill would be disastrous — polluting the lake, killing wildlife, and devastating human communities too. Help speak up to protect this ecosystem and all those that live there: https://bit.ly/426c33K