Center for Biological Diversity

For Immediate Release, March 30, 2017

Contact: Patrick Donnelly, (702) 483-0449, pdonnelly@biologicaldiversity.org

Center for Biological Diversity Opens New Nevada Office

Conservationist Patrick Donnelly Focuses on Protecting State's Unique Wildlife, Places

LAS VEGAS— The Center for Biological Diversity has opened a new regional office in Nevada to ensure the Silver State's wildlife and critical habitats have a strong voice speaking in their defense.

The Center has had a long-term presence in Nevada. Its new office will be headed by policy analyst and biologist Patrick Donnelly.

 “I'm thrilled to be working to protect Nevada's wildlife and wild places,” said Donnelly. “One of the wildest states in the union, Nevada is blessed with a relatively intact set of habitats and creatures — many of which are under threat from development, inappropriate management and climate change.”

The Center has had many previous successes advocating for the wild places and animals of Nevada.Some of the state's rarest and most vulnerable species, such as the Mt. Charleston Blue Butterfly, were protected under the Endangered Species Act thanks to the Center's work. In 2013 the Center successfully appealed the allocation of groundwater resources for the now-infamous proposed pipeline from White Pine County, dealing the destructive and needless project a potentially fatal blow from which it has not recovered.

And just three days before the Nevada office's opening, the Nevada Department of Wildlife announced a confirmed wolf sighting in the northwest corner of the state, the first such observation in 95 years.

“I'm delighted that a wolf has made it to Nevada for the first time in nearly a century,” Donnelly said. “The ongoing recovery of gray wolves, including one making it to Nevada, is a testament to the Endangered Species Act's success. I look forward to working with the state to develop a wolf management plan that will help wolves recover in their historic Nevada habitat.”

The protection and recovery of carnivores such as wolves will be a key focus of the Center's Nevada program in coming years.

“Bobcats, mountain lions, badgers and other carnivores form the backbone of healthy ecosystems,” said Donnelly. “We know Nevadans treasure these animals and want to see them protected and valued.”

The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.2 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.

www.biologicaldiversity.org

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