Help make sure dicamba dies

 

No. 1246, May 23, 2024

Take Action for Monarch Butterflies The Center for Biological Diversity and allies recently scored our second straight court win banning the use of the dangerous herbicide dicamba on genetically modified cotton and soybeans. We celebrated for monarch butterflies, whooping cranes and rusty patched bumblebees, all imperiled species harmed by dicamba.    But Bayer (aka Monsanto) won’t stop pushing this poison. The company recently asked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to reapprove the uses of dicamba that a court just struck down, which could see the toxic pesticide sprayed on 100 million acres of farmland. Milkweed, other flowering plants, and anything else in dicamba’s path — where it’s sprayed or where it drifts — won’t stand a chance.     It’s high time for this airborne poison to meet the same end as everything it touches.     Let’s stand up to Bayer. Tell the EPA to deny its dangerous new scheme and protect the health of rural residents, monarch butterflies, and all the other wonderful creatures who call these lands home

House Bill Would Ban Wildlife-Killing Contests  Seventeen members of the U.S. House of Representatives introduced legislation Wednesday that would ban wildlife-killing contests on more than 500 million acres of U.S. public lands. Each year thousands of native carnivores, including coyotes, bobcats, pumas and wolves, suffer and die in these cruel contests.    “Our wild carnivores are so important to maintaining healthy ecosystems,” said the Center’s Stephanie Kurose. “They deserve better.”    Following years of advocacy by the Center and allies, 10 states have already outlawed wildlife-killing contests.    Help us keep defending wild animals from these gruesome gatherings with a gift to the Center’s Saving Life on Earth Fund. Before May 31 your gift will be doubled.

Wins for Southwest Lizard, Southeast Orchid  In the arid West, after decades of work by the Center, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has finally added dunes sagebrush lizards to the endangered species list. In their small corner of the Permian Basin, they’ve lost more than 95% of their habitat, first to agriculture, then to oil development and sand mining for fracking.    And in the humid East, following a lawsuit by the Center and allies, a decision will be made on the fate of the rare ghost orchids of South Florida by June 2025. These elusive swamp denizens are still being poached even as their habitat is lost because of development and climate change.

Colorado to Reintroduce Wolverines  Following advocacy by the Center, allies and supporters, this week Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed into law a bill to reintroduce wolverines — making Colorado the first-ever state to do it.     “This is a first step toward restoring native wolverines to Colorado’s high mountain habitat, righting a century-old wrong,” said the Center’s Southern Rockies Director Alli Henderson.     Trapping and poisoning eliminated wolverines from Colorado by the early 1900s. Now only approximately 300 of these scrappy scavenger-predators live in the continental United States. Thanks to more than a decade of litigation by the Center and partners, wolverines were protected under the Endangered Species Act in November.

Center Op-Ed: Stopping California Oil Spills  Nine years ago a badly corroded pipeline broke open near Refugio State Beach near Santa Barbara, California. What experts now believe to be around 450,000 gallons of oil spilled into the ocean, killing and injuring brown pelicans, sea lions, dolphins and fish, among others.    On the anniversary of this toxic disaster, our Senior Oceans Campaigner Brady Bradshaw writes about that dark day, new oil-spill threats along the beautiful California coast, and what moved him to join the fight against offshore drilling.     Read the op-ed to learn how we can stop the next spill.

The Revelator: Habitat Fragmentation  How does habitat fragmentation hurt wildlife? To understand the problem, a new article in The Revelator looks at three monkey species and how they're responding to the threat in different (and not always successful) ways.    If you don’t already, subscribe to the free weekly Revelator e-newsletter for more wildlife and conservation news.

That’s Wild: Missing the Tasmanian Tiger  Last week new photos and video of a “Tasmanian tiger,” or thylacine, took the internet by storm — even though the last known member of this marsupial species died in a zoo in 1936, and the species was declared extinct in 1982.     The viral footage is almost certainly a hoax, but it’s easy to understand the fascination. For decades people have been searching for evidence that thylacines still exist. After all, the finality of extinction is heartbreaking.     And while thylacines may not be coming back, there are so many other disappearances we can prevent. Thank you for being a part of the Center’s work to save life on Earth.

Follow Us Center for Biological Diversity | Saving Life on Earth     Donate now to support the Center's work.   Photo credits: Monarch butterfly by jjjj56cp/Flickr; coyote by Jay Iwasaki/Flickr; dunes sagebrush lizard courtesy USFWS, ghost orchid courtesy Big Cypress National Preserve; wolverine by Gregor Maclennan/Flickr; Brady Bradshaw used with permission; white-fronted capuchin by Rodgrigo Diaz Lupanow, Venezuelan red howler by Mario Santana Tobar, brown spider monkey courtesy Alianza para Ecosistemas-Criticos; thylacine graphic by Izzi Stein/Center for Biological Diversity.   View our privacy policy. Center for Biological Diversity P.O. Box 710 Tucson, AZ 85702 United States 285299-qgbmb-0-0