Center for Biological Diversity

Today is #WorldRewildingDay. If you're unfamiliar with the term: Rewilding is the process of protecting an environment and returning it to its natural state, including by bringing back wild animals that used to live there. One major rewilding effort we're working on: restoring grizzly bears to California. The grizzly bear is California’s state animal and the centerpiece of its flag and seal — but a grizzly hasn’t roamed the wilds of the Golden State in 100 years. Decades of persecution — not habitat loss — drove grizzlies off the landscape. Returning these animals to the state’s open spaces is a key step in rewilding California and protecting one of America’s most iconic species. Learn more: https://biodiv.us/3PsWPQU

Legal win!🎉 In response to a legal challenge from the Center and our allies, the U.S. Forest Service + U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service annouced it will will reconsider approval of the controversial Eastside project in the Bitterroot National Forest. The proposed tree-cutting and burning project is in the heart of important habitat for bull trout, wolverines and grizzly bears, all of whom are protected as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. More info: https://bit.ly/3FLu7bW

🔊 Turn your sound on for this one to hear the iconic call of the wild! Listen as a member of the Yowlumni Pack in California howls into the night, captured by a CA Department of Fish and Wildlife trail camera. Wolves are continuing along a sometimes joyous, sometimes tragic path to recovery in the U.S. West. California now has seven known wolf families, down from nine in late 2024, with about 50 known individuals. Wolves belong in this state, and we will do everything we can to ensure they thrive. Learn more: https://bit.ly/4eNLwgP

Did you know? Canada lynx are made for hunting in deep snow, with thick cushions of hair on the soles of their feet that act like built-in snowshoes. Appropriately enough, this adaptation helps them stalk their favorite prey, the snowshoe hare. Though lynx were protected as a threatened species under the federal Endangered Species Act in 2000, trapping, habitat destruction, climate change and other threats continue to harm these felines. We're working to make sure this wild cat and its habitat are as protected as possible. Learn more about these fluffy-footed felines and our work to protect them. ➡️ https://bit.ly/422Qh29

The Northwest Forest Plan was enacted to halt and reverse the devastation caused by past logging and roadbuilding in Pacific Northwest forests. The plan has preserved millions of acres of public lands, improved water quality for people and fisheries, and prevented the extinction of species like northern spotted owls and marbled murrelets. The Biden administration started the process of changing the plan, and now the Trump administration will decide its fate. Not surprisingly the timber industry is pressuring the U.S. Forest Service to weaken the plan's protections and allow more logging. Join us in urging the Forest Service to strengthen and expand the Northwest Forest Plan to preserve forests, wildlife, and watersheds🌲➡️ https://bit.ly/3Frddzh

Yesterday, the Trump administration's USEPA moved to potentially scrap the landmark scientific finding that forms the core basis of federal climate action. “We are driving a dagger through the heart of climate-change religion,’' said EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin. Zeldin has announced plans to reconsider the agency’s endangerment finding, threatening to batter years of climate policies to protect people and wildlife from runaway global heating. We had 27 separate climate disasters costing over a billion dollars last year. Now more than ever the United States needs to step up efforts to cut pollution and protect people from climate change. More info ➡️ https://bit.ly/420f1YJ

Last year was tragic for Florida manatees — 154 calves died before they even turned one. It was the highest total in more than a decade. Now, because of Elon Musk's crusade to tear down wildlife agencies, there are fewer dedicated staff left to tend to these gentle sea creatures. DOGE's unjust firings included two park rangers of only eight full-time staff members at Crystal National Wildlife Refuge, the only refuge created specifically to protect manatees. Now more than ever, Congress needs to do everything it can to stop the wholesale dismantling of our federal government. Tell your representative and senators to reverse these harmful staff cuts to help protect the United States' natural heritage for generations to come. ➡️ https://bit.ly/3FhxAz0

Meet the smallest deer species in North America: Florida key deer. Florida Key deer are delightfully tiny — about the size of a medium dog. And although they look like common white-tailed deer, Key deer are subspecies unique to the lower Florida Keys and are found nowhere else in the world. Key deer once ranged across the lower Florida Keys, but now they primarily live in one area, called Big Pine Key, and surrounding small islands. Unsurprisingly, much of the habitat where this species remains is under immense threat from climate change. Today is #KeyDeerAwarenessDay, a perfect time to more about them: https://bit.ly/4kGGg1R

Have you heard of the vaquita? They're the world's smallest and most endangered porpoise. Only six to eight individuals remain. Vaquitas have suffered decades of decline through entanglement in deadly gillnets in their only home, Mexico's Gulf of California. Despite a legal ban on their use, fishermen continue to use vaquita-killing gillnets. Join us in urging Mexico's government to step up enforcement and permanently remove gillnets in vaquita habitat. ➡️ https://bit.ly/4hj1WhE 📷: Courtesy of NOAA

The marvelous orange and black insect we all know and love, monarch butterflies, are in severe decline. The western monarch population, which winters on the coast of California, has fallen by 95%. Meanwhile, the eastern population, which migrates to Mexico for the winter, was at its second-smallest size ever recorded last year. While they showed improvement in this year's count, doubling in size, their population remains perilously low. But there's hope: A decade after the Center + allies petitioned to protect monarchs under the Endangered Species Act, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has *finally* proposed the iconic butterflies for protection. You can help by helping urge the Service to finalize their protections ASAP. The public comment deadline is March 12th! 🦋➡️ https://biodiv.us/40ZSf2Y