"We would have to wait until these poor #animals are almost #extinct before we can start protecting them. That's absurd & heartbreaking," said Stephanie Kurose with the Center for Biological Diversity.

Scientists & government agencies say extinctions are accelerating globally because of #habitat loss & other pressures.

#Trump #law #EnvironmentalLaw #ClimateCrisis #ColonyCollapse #habitats #EndangeredSpecies #wildlife #conservation

The proposed changes include the elimination of the US Fish & #Wildlife Service's "blanket rule" that automatically protects #animals & #plants when they are classified as threatened. Government agencies instead would have to craft species-specific rules for protections, a potentially lengthy process.

#Trump #law #EnvironmentalLaw #ClimateCrisis #ColonyCollapse #habitats #EndangeredSpecies

“Bees have a clear economic pathway to justify—in human terms—their value,” Droege said.

Hollis Woodard, an assoc prof focused on native #bees at the University of California at Riverside, said the lab is “essentially irreplaceable.” She uses its data for her work researching native bees nearly every day. “If we lose this facility & we lose these people, the hit we’re going to take to tracking bees & trying to conserve them would be absolutely devastating,” Woodard said.

#ColonyCollapse #Trump

The lab’s potential closure comes at a tough time for #bees.

Droege studies native bees, the types of #pollinators that only live in the #wild, as opposed to #honeybees, which are farmed & bred for profit. Entomologists stress that honeybees & native bees are different — sort of like farmed chickens & wild birds. But they can be exposed to the same threats, & there are signs that both are in trouble.

#Climate #ClimateCrisis #ClimateChange #ColonyCollapse #Science #Trump

The #Trump admin’s 2026 budget proposal calls for the defunding of the #bee lab & other federally funded #wildlife #research efforts. Bracing for these #cuts, priorities have shifted for the the lab, which has collected & identified more than 1 million specimens of #pollinators, hundreds of thousands of which are slotted away in its modest walls. Active field work is on pause. No new research projects have begun.

#Climate #ClimateCrisis #ClimateChange #ColonyCollapse