Focus on Arts and Ecology

There are nearly 1,300 plants and animals on the endangered species list—but this week, two species were deemed well on their way to recovery and removed from the list.

Give more species a shot at recovery by donating to EDF Action this weekend to fight back against congressional attacks on the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

30 years ago, there were fewer than 1,000 lesser long-nosed bats in existence. Today there are an estimated 200,000 across the southwestern U.S. and Mexico—and we have the ESA to thank.

Like the birds and bees who flit flower-to-flower during the daylight hours, nectar-feeding bats like the lesser long-nosed bat are pollinators, too.

The agave plant—used in the production of tequila—is one of the lesser long-nosed bat’s favorite foods. Unfortunately, tequila producers cut agave stalks before the flowers could bloom—cutting off a major food source and threatening the lesser long-nosed bat’s survival.

So industry leaders teamed up with agave growers and conservation experts to come up with a plan: by allowing just 5% of the agave plants to bloom, agave farms could restore critical feeding habitat for these unique pollinators, and establish a “bat-friendly tequila” certification.

Thanks to their efforts, the bat was declared no longer endangered and removed from the ESA list this week—just in time for Endangered Species Day this past Friday.

Despite overwhelming public support, several Republicans in Congress have circulated proposals that would undermine the ESA and replace science with politics.

The House Committee on Natural Resources and Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works have already hosted multiple hearings aimed at "modernizing" the law—a vague description that could mean disaster for our wildlife.

Utah Rep. Rob Bishop, chair of the House committee, said he would rather scrap the ESA altogether.

Fight back against any attempt to weaken or scrap the ESA by donating to EDF Action this weekend.

Thank you for everything you do to protect wildlife,

Emily Stevenson
Manager, Online Membership

P.S. As part of our We ♥ Nature month celebration, we’ve set a goal of raising $20,000 by this Tuesday, World Biodiversity Day, to defend the ESA in Congress. Because we’ll use your gift to lobby Congress, your gift to EDF Action to save the ESA is not tax-deductible, but is all the more urgently needed.

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