Taylor McKinnon

Lawsuit launched to protect critical habitat for Bartram’s stonecrop.

Each of this canyon-dwelling beauty’s remaining US populations is tiny and at risk of extirpation from mining water use and other threats.

Critical habitat will help secure its future.

biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press...

Mayes sued over funding freeze for wind energy projects. Judge just threw out that order

Judge Patti Saris of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts vacated Trump’s Jan. 20 executive order blocking wind energy projects and declared it unlawful.

@biologicaldiversity.org is suing to wipe Trump's face off the America the Beautiful National Parks pass.

By law, the pass must display the winning photo of a federal #PublicLands picture contest. Instead, Trump plastered his own face on it.

Trump's vanity pass is not American, beautiful, or legal

Pima County wants to limit heavy trucks on dirt roads Huge mine trucks and other heavy trucks may soon face strict limits on how many can travel and how fast they can travel on dirt roads in unincorporated Pima County.

Huge mine trucks and other heavy trucks may soon face strict limits on how many can travel and how fast they can travel on dirt roads in unincorporated Pima County.

YouTube video by Voice of America Nature Man | VOA Connect

My friend Joe has been missing for several days. With each passing day the likelihood that he was just on a long walkabout fades. In 1983 he found a 14K year old mammoth petroglyph, the first found in North America. Here's a short film about him and his sculpture. Brilliant. youtu.be/5t5jU0KzeZs?...

This is the 9th jaguar that we know of in the US in the past 30 years (there have likely been more). There have been several since Macho B, including, most recently before this one, O:ṣhad Ñu:kudam in 2023. biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press...

The Center today released video of detonations underway in the Huachuca Mountains -- in critical habitat for endangered jaguar and Mexican spotted owl -- for a double border wall that will block wildlife (but not people) moving between the U.S. and Mexico.

Link to PR, video tinyurl.com/y752jz55

Endangered Species Protection Sought for New Mexico Flower Threatened by Fossil Fuel Industry TUCSON, Ariz.— The Center for Biological Diversity petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today to protect Allred’s flax under the Endangered Species Act.

The Center for Biological Diversity petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today to protect Allred’s flax under the Endangered Species Act. This rare flowering plant is found only in the Permian Basin in New Mexico and Texas.

biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press...

A new documentary, The Land of Sacrifice: The Burden of New Mexico's Oil and Gas Extraction, explores the oil and gas crisis in NM and its damage to the health of frontline and Indigenous communities and degraded the ecosystem.

The Land of Sacrifice is free for anyone to watch ➡️ bit.ly/4okDhgq

The Wild Cat Research and Conservation Center on Instagram: "BREAKING: NEW JAGUAR IN ARIZONA 🐆 Meet Jaguar #5—a never-before-seen jaguar captured on the University of Arizona Wild Cat Center Project’... wildcatresearch on December 2, 2025: "BREAKING: NEW JAGUAR IN ARIZONA 🐆 Meet Jaguar #5—a never-before-seen jaguar captured on the University of Arizona Wild Cat Center Project’s camera three times in...

www.instagram.com/p/DRybj8JkSB...

Breaking

The University of Arizona Wild Cat Research and Conservation Center (WCC) has tonight confirmed a brand-new jaguar in the United States, Jaguar #5, never before identified, just days after the Trump administration’s new double border wall construction waivers (see below).

ICYMI: Newly issued waivers allow hundreds of miles of new border infrastructure — including double walls, patrol roads, and industrial lighting — in the last open corridors for jaguars, ocelots and dozens of other animals moving between the U.S. and Mexico.

biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press...

Court Filing Seeks End to Industry Challenge to Gila Wilderness Feral Cattle Removal ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— The Center for Biological Diversity today filed a motion to dismiss a New Mexico Cattle Growers’ Association lawsuit challenging the U.S. Forest Service’s removal of illegal feral c...

The Center today moved to end a livestock industry lawsuit that'd tried unsuccessfully to stop the Forest Service from removing feral cows from the Gila Wilderness.

With the removal complete and cows gone, endangered species habitat along the Gila River is recovering beautifully.

A Loophole Allows Ranchers to Renew Grazing Permits With Little Scrutiny of the Environmental Impact With dwindling oversight, cattle are grazing where they’re not supposed to and in greater numbers or for longer periods than permitted. This can spread invasive plants, pushing out native species and ...

“Looks like a sewer…”

Each year the Center surveys ~500 stream miles of endangered species critical habitat on public lands in southwestern riparian areas for livestock grazing damage. We find lots, prompting legal action. As shown here, it can be horrifying.

www.propublica.org/article/graz...

“Data Crunch”: AI Boom Threatens to Entrench Fossil Fuels and Compromise Climate Goals A new report titled “Data Crunch: How the AI Boom Threatens to Entrench Fossil Fuels and Compromise Climate Goals” from the Center for Biological Diversity warns the booming artificial intelligence in...

Here at #COP30, attendees are lauding AI as an antidote to the climate crisis. While AI can deliver benefits, countries must address AI’s grave costs to our climate, water, & planet.

Happy to unpack this w/ @democracynow.org @amygoodman.bsky.social

www.democracynow.org/2025/11/19/j...

The Center for Biological Diversity petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today to protect the Mule Mountains population of the Yarrow’s spiny lizard under the Endangered Species Act.

biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press...

Federal judge resumes Center for Biological Diversity's lawsuit against border wall The federal magistrate judge on the case had granted the Department of Homeland Security to pause the challenge by the Center for Biological Security, citing the government shutdown.

The federal magistrate judge on the case had granted the Department of Homeland Security to pause the challenge by the Center for Biological Security, citing the government shutdown.

In beautiful, powerful prose, a resolution from the San Xavier District of the Tohono O’odham Nation celebrates a deep cultural history with jaguar while calling for its protection and reintroduction to historical US range — reaching northward to the Grand Canyon.

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This is unprecedented partisan politicization of a public land agency website. I admit chuckling at the sinister irony of “three cheers for volunteers” amidst a shutdown. Lack of agency staff - like for endangered species critical habitat enforcement - risks real to harm our most vulnerable species.

Interior unleashes American coal power in bold move to advance Trump administration priorities | Bureau of Land Management The Department of the Interior announced the opening of 13.1 million acres of federal land for coal leasing, tripling the benchmarks set by the landmark One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

This is like IBM launching a model year 2025 typewriter.

www.blm.gov/press-releas...

Enviros criticize Rep. Gosar's renewed attempt to undo protections for Ironwood Forest Nat'l Monument Environmental groups blasted legislation submitted by U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar on Wednesday attempting to nullify two national monuments in Arizona, including Ironwood Forest National Monument just northw...

"Gosar's bills mark a new low in his career of servicing industry's interests over the public's," said Taylor McKinnon, Southwest director with the Center for Biological Diversity.

via @pmingram.tucsonsentinel.com, @tucsonsentinel.com

www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/report...

A new bill in the U.S. House seeks to abolish the Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni–Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument. The monument honors Tribal Nations, protects sacred lands, and reflects the will of the people: thttps://buff.ly/yTVYymT

Here, a new account of C. Hart Merriam's biological survey of the San Francisco Peaks.

May, Roy Jr. 2024. The Merriam Expedition to San Francisco Mountain: Life Zones and the Founding of Ecology. Journal of the Southwest. Vol. 67, No. 4, 391-555.

muse.jhu.edu/article/961009

YouTube video by Association for Fire Ecology Spatial patterns of a ponderosa pine and subsequent regeneration following a moderate severity fire

For those interested in Southwestern forest fire ecology, this presentation on the structural legacies of moderate severity fire in ponderosa pine forests is both informative and worth watching.

youtu.be/kfzRZxorQAU?...

YouTube video by Rewilding Institute Episode 155: Jaguars, Justice, and the Border Wall – Stories from the Frontlines With Russ McSpadden

Biodiversity Battle in the Borderlands: I recently spoke with Russ McSpadden @peccarynotpig.bsky.social from @biologicaldiversity.org. Hear stories about Jaguars, Ocelots, Bears, a huge number of bird species, and what you can do to help protect them. www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ech...

Image of a lush forest with towering trees, featuring a quote by Randi Spivak, Public Lands Policy Director, advocating for the protection of public lands from industrial harm.

The Roadless Rule has protected nearly 60 million acres of roadless national forests since 2001.

But now, the Trump administration wants to strip protections from 45 million of those acres.

The public comment period is only open until Sept. 19th. Please add your voice ➡️ https://bit.ly/3IeiP1D

Lawsuit Launched to End Widespread Cow Grazing Damage to Tonto National Forest’s Endangered Animals TUCSON, Ariz.— The Center for Biological Diversity and Maricopa Bird Alliance today filed a notice of intent to sue the U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to end years of illegal c...

The Center today filed a 671-page notice of intent to sue federal agencies to end chronic, multi-year, and often severe damage from cattle grazing to almost all of the streamside critical habitat for endangered species on the Tonto National Forest.

biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press...

Roadless Rule Under Threat: Speak Up for 45 Million Acres of National Forests — Outdoor Alliance Nearly 45 million acres of backcountry forests are at risk. Before September 19, tell the USDA to keep these landscapes protected.

If you love birds, here's something you can do to protect their habitat.

The US Forest Service is proposing to open 45 million acres of national forests to road bulldozing and commercial logging.

Here's how to fight back. #birds.

www.outdooralliance.org/blog/2025/8/...

Breaking: Trump's DHS waives all enviro laws to wall off premier Texas Wildlife Refuge.

There’s a special cruelty in walling off a wildlife refuge created for conservation. All under the guise of a fake emergency, as border crossings are at record lows.
biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press...

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