Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)

Lawsuit Targets Commercial Wildlife Trapping in California

Every year in California thousands of coyotes, foxes,

badgers and other fur-bearing animals are trapped

so their pelts can be sold overseas. Meanwhile the

state’s commercial trapping program has long

been mismanaged. And since 2013, wildlife

agencies have illegally diverted as much as

half a million dollars to fund it. That’s why

this week the Center and Project Coyote sued

the California Fish and Game Commission

and Department of Fish and Wildlife.

“Commercial trapping is a cruel, destructive

practice that shouldn’t be subsidized by California

taxpayers,” said the Center’s Jean Su. “It’s

wrong that a handful of trappers slaughter

our wildlife for private profit while the state

foots the bill. These animals are far more

valuable as essential species in California’s

web of life than as skinned pelts shipped to

Russia and China.”

Read more in the Los Angeles Times.

We’re Igniting Change — Are You In?

The Center is launching Ignite Change, a massive, volunteer-driven network to challenge Trump,

call out members of Congress, organize and

attend rallies, activate locally, and be a powerful,

visible, sustained voice for the planet. This is

the single-largest grassroots project the Center

has ever undertaken — and we need you to

make it successful. Our first campaign will

focus on saving America’s public lands.

We’ll also be working to save wildlife, the

climate and a livable future for all. Are you in?

Take a moment today to join Ignite Change.

Study Highlights Need for Monarch Protection

More bad news for monarchs: A study published

in the journal Biological Conservation reports

that the butterflies’ population west of the

Rocky Mountains has plunged from 10 million

in the ’80s to just 300,000 today. Backed by

decades of data collected by the Xerces Society

and volunteers, the report estimates there’s

more than a 70 percent chance that western

monarchs will go extinct within 20 years.

While monarchs east of the Rockies migrate

to Mexico for the winter, their western

counterparts cluster on California’s coast.

In 2014 the Center and allies, including the

Xerces Society, petitioned for federal

protections for monarchs throughout their

range. The Trump administration is under

court order to decide on protections in 2019.

Learn more in ZME Science and read the study’s abstract.

Trump OKs Coal Mining in Roadless Colorado Forest

Trump’s Forest Service has given an initial OK

for Arch Coal to expand mining leases into 1,700

acres of roadless wildlands in Colorado’s Gunnison National Forest. The company wants to mine

17 million tons of coal in this pristine forest

— home to black bears, elk, beavers and lynx.

The coal would generate at least 49 million

tons of greenhouse gas pollution.

“The Trump administration is doubling down

on coal and sacrificing our climate and

Colorado’s spectacular high-country forest,”

said the Center’s Michael Saul.

Read more.