To: President Donald Trump
Protect the Sonoran Desert Tortoise from Extinction!
Dear President Trump,
The Sonoran desert tortoise needs legal protection to escape extinction. In 2010, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service found in a preliminary assessment the tortoise was warranted for endangered species protections. Despite yearly studies in the years following that confirmed the same findings, the Service reversed its position in a 2015 assessment. This assessment failed to consider science on climate change and livestock grazing, along with multiple other factors negatively impacting the tortoise. Please reconsider your decision using the best available science and list the Sonoran desert tortoise as a protected species under the Endangered Species Act.
Why is this important?
The Sonoran desert tortoise is a newly recognized species of tortoise found in the desert scrub habitats in Arizona and Mexico, east and south of the Colorado River. In 2010, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service found in a preliminary assessment the tortoise was warranted for endangered species act protections. In 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014 further reviews reaffirmed the warranted finding. Despite the findings, in 2015 the Service reversed its position and denied protections for the Sonoran desert tortoise. These unique desert animals need legal protections to escape extinction.
The Western Environmental Law Center is a nonprofit, public-interest environmental law firm and our expert attorneys will use the full power of the law to take the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to court to force the agency to reconsider its ill-informed decision to not list the Sonoran desert tortoise under the Endangered Species Act.