Time’s up for mink fur farms, incubators of avian influenza and other viral threats
By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
The factory farming of mink for fur is cruel and unnecessary, and it certainly shouldn’t be subsidized by the United States government. Or any government.
Last week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service detected H5N1, avian influenza, on a mink fur farm in Salt Lake County, Utah. This marks the first detection of the contagious virus on a fur factory farm in the U.S.
Bureau of Land Management failures lead to betrayal and slaughter of wild horses, New York Times investigation shows
Congress must save America’s mustangs from cruel death for profit enabled by BLM
Bureau of Land Management failures lead to betrayal and slaughter of wild horses, New York Times investigation shows
Congress must save America’s mustangs from cruel death for profit enabled by BLM
What’s happening with grizzly bears and the Endangered Species Act in the United States?
An explainer about the Endangered Species Act, common misconceptions about human-bear interactions, and why grizzly bears need to be protected in the Lower 48 states
8/6/26 update: The Senate Agriculture Committee did not pass a Farm Bill today, leaving the controversial Save Our Bacon Act out of the legislation as negotiations continue.
By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
Over the last several weeks, the Trump administration has followed through on its November 2025 declaration of war on the Endangered Species Act and other wildlife protection laws.
Trump administration weakens more Endangered Species Act protections
New changes remove the Endangered Species Act’s blanket 4(d) rule, ending automatic protections for future threatened species and weakening long-standing wildlife safeguards.
By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
This week, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed to change Endangered Species Act protections for grizzly bears in the Lower 48 states, while leaving open the door to a future proposal to delist the species from federal protections.
Trump administration signals steps to remove grizzly bear Endangered Species Act protections
Department of Interior announces policy changes are underway, despite fewer than 2,000 remaining in isolated populations across the Lower 48 states
WASHINGTON (July 14, 2026)—Trump administration leaders and some Western state governors appeared to announce a new policy shift aimed at removing Endangered Species Act protections for grizzly bears, another action in the war on wildlife that could jeopardize the recovery of the approximately 2,000 bears remaining in tiny, isolated populations across the Lower 48 states.
