Covering more than 25 million acres — about a fourth of California — the geologically diverse California Desert Conservation Area includes sand dunes, canyons, dry lakes, 90 mountain ranges, and 65 ...

NATURAL HISTORY ANDEAN FLAMINGO } Phoenicoparrus andinus FAMILY: Phoenicopteridae DESCRIPTION: The Andean flamingo is both the most rare and tallest of all six species of flamingo. It has a ...

THE ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT The United States has one of the world's most powerful legal tools for protecting species at risk of extinction: the Endangered Species Act. Since it was passed by Congress ...

PESTICIDES REDUCTION The country has learned a lot since Rachel Carson's 1962 book Silent Spring alerted us to the hazards of poisonous chemicals. But pesticide use still poses major threats to ...

NATURAL HISTORY EASTERN DIAMONDBACK RATTLESNAKE } Crotalus adamanteus FAMILY: Viperidae DESCRIPTION: The eastern diamondback is the largest rattlesnake in the world. Adults are typically four to five ...

Lawmakers From Eight Western States Trying to Open Door to More Oil, Gas Drilling, Logging, Mining WASHINGTON— The Center for Biological Diversity released a report today identifying the top 15 ...

HALTING THE EXTINCTION CRISIS Our planet now faces a global extinction crisis never witnessed by humankind. Scientists predict that more than 1 million species are on track for extinction in the ...

Insects play major roles in keeping ecosystems and humans healthy and functioning. Despite their importance, insects are declining in an extinction crisis across the globe.

A Deadly Toll The Devastating Wildlife Effects of Deepwater Horizon — and the Next Catastrophic Oil Spill The BP Deepwater Horizon catastrophe in 2010 spilled 205.8 million gallons of oil and 225,000 ...

NATURAL HISTORY JAGUAR (in Spanish, el tigre) } Panthera onca FAMILY: Felidae The word jaguar comes from the South American Tupi and Guarani languages. A likely origin is the word yaguareté, meaning ...

SAVING THE SIERRA NEVADA RED FOX The largest of the true foxes, red foxes are also the most widespread, found across the entire northern hemisphere. But secretive Sierra Nevada red foxes — genetically ...

Appetite for Change: A Policy Guide to Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions of U.S. Diets by 2030 Executive Summary Americans consume more meat than almost any other country, and our beef consumption is ...