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Center for Biological Diversity

“To secure a future for all species, great and small, hovering on the brink of extinction.”

Home groundTucson, AZ
Founded1989
KindLegal 501(c)(3)

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The origin

How they started

The Center for Biological Diversity is built around relentless litigation, mostly under the Endangered Species Act, to protect species and the habitat they depend on. Founded in 1989 out of the fight over the Mexican spotted owl, it files hundreds of legal actions a year and is a party in dozens of active federal public lands cases at any given moment. Few organizations are more willing to sue the federal government, repeatedly, and win.

Every year they sign one sentence and file it with the federal government: “THE CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY INC, WORKS TO SECURE A FUTURE FOR ALL SPECIES, GREAT AND SMALL, HOVERING ON THE BRINK OF EXTINCTION. WE DO SO THROUGH SCIENCE, LAW AND CREATIVE MEDIA, WITH A FOCUS ON PROTECTING THE LANDS, WATERS AND CLIMATE THAT SPECIES NEED TO SURVIVE.”

Where the money went, FY2024

The work, and what it cost

Reading every lease sale

$18.4M

1. URBAN WILDLANDS PROGRAM- THE CENTER’S URBAN WILDLANDS PROGRAM WORKS TO PROTECT OPEN SPACE AND WILDLIFE FROM INAPPRORPIATE DEVELOPMENT AND DEVELOPMENT-ASSOCIATED IMPACTS, ESPECIALLY IN CALIFORNIA.

Including $217,200 granted onward, most of it $130,000 to The Wildlands Conservancy.

Read it as they filed it
1. URBAN WILDLANDS PROGRAM- THE CENTER'S URBAN WILDLANDS PROGRAM WORKS TO PROTECT OPEN SPACE AND WILDLIFE FROM INAPPRORPIATE DEVELOPMENT AND DEVELOPMENT-ASSOCIATED IMPACTS, ESPECIALLY IN CALIFORNIA. IN 2024 WE ISSUED A REPORT ON THE COST OF SPRAWL AND RESERVOIRS TO HUMANS, WILDLIFE AND OUR CLIMATE, WE WON LEGAL AGREEMENTS AND/OR SUITS TO PROTECT WILDLANDS IN LAKE AND SAN DIEGO COUNTY, WE WON POLICY CHANGE TO IMPROVE WILDLIFE CONNECTIVITY AND LIMIT UNNECESSARY RAT POISONS IN CALIFORNIA. 2. OCEANS PROGRAM- IN 2024, THE CENTER'S OCEANS PROGRAM CONTINUED TO MAKE SIGNIFICANT STRIDES IN MARINE CONSERVATION. OUR ADVOCACY AIMED AT PREVENTING WHALE ENTANGLEMENTS IN FISHING GEAR, PROTECTING THE OCEANS FROM PLASTIC POLLUTION AND OIL SPILLS, AND SECURING ENDANGERED MARINE SPECIES AND THEIR HABITATS' PROTECTIONS. WE USED LAW, SCIENCE, ORGANIZING, AND COMMUNICATIONS TO PROTECT HEALTHY OCEANS AND COASTAL COMMUNITIES. 3. SOUTHWEST PROGRAM- THE CENTER'S SOUTHWEST PROGRAM WORKS TO PROTECT WILDLIFE AND WILD PLACES IN ARIZONA, NEW MEXICO AND NORTHERN MEXICO. 4. POPULATION & SUSTAINABILITY PROGRAM- THE CENTER'S POPULATION AND SUSTAINABILITY PROGRAM EDUCATES THE PUBLIC AND POLICYMAKERS ON THE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN HUMAN POPULATION PRESSURE, UNSUSTAINABLE CONSUMPTION, AND THE CLIMATE AND EXTINCTION CRISES, AND ADVOCATES FOR SOLUTIONS THAT ADVANCE REPRODUCTIVE FREEDOM, GENDER EMPOWERMENT, CONSCIOUS CONSUMPTION, AND JUST, HUMANE AND SUSTAINABLE FOOD SYSTEM. IN 2024, WE RELEASED A GLOBAL WHITE PAPER AND ROADMAP FOR A JUST FOOD TRANSITION, ANALYZED AND ADVOCATED FOR SUSTAINABILITY IN DIETARY GUIDELINES, AND ADVANCED FOOD CODE POLICY TO SUPPORT REUSE AND REDUCE PLASTIC POLLUTION. WE LAUNCHED CAMPAIGNS TO STOP DEFORESTATION IN THE AVOCADO INDUSTRY, DISTRIBUTE KITS TO SUPPORT REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH IN CLIMATE-RELATED DISASTERS, ESTABLISH SUSTAINABLE CONSUMPTION PROGRAMS ON CAMPUSES, AND SUPPORT SECONDHAND RETAILERS. OUR TEAM ALSO ENGAGED ON REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS AND FOOD POLICY ISSUES AT THE LOCAL, STATE, NATIONAL, AND INTERNATIONAL LEVEL, OFTEN WITH THE SUPPORT OF OUR MEMBERS AND SUPPORTERS. 5. INTERNATIONAL PROGRAM- THE CENTER'S INTERNATIONAL PROGRAM SEEKS TO PROTECT GLOBAL BIODIVERSITY THROUGH U.S. AND INTERNATIONAL LAWS. IN 2024, WE SOUGHT U.S. TRADE PROTECTIONS FOR NUMEROUS SPECIES THREATENED BY THE PET AND DECOR TRADE INCLUDING BATS FROM SOUTHEAST ASIA AND SECURED DEADLINES FOR PROTECTIONS FOR CRITICALLY ENDANGERED LIZARDS AND WHALES AND DOLPHINS ENTANGLED IN FISHING NET ABROAD. WE WORKED UNDER SEVERAL TREATIES TO GARNER INTERNATIONAL PROESSURE ON THE MEXICAN GOVERNMENT TO ENFORCE ITS OWN WILDLIFE LAWS TO PROTECT THE GRAVELY IMPERILED VAQUITA, PROTECT WORLD HERITAGE HABITAT IN ECUADOR, BRAZIL, AND MEXICO, AND TIGHTEN TRADE PROTECTIONS UNDER CONVENTION FOR INTERNATIONAL TRADE IN ENDANGERED SPECIES. 6. CARNIVORE CONSERVATION PROGRAM- THE CENTER'S CARNIVORE CONSERVATION PROGRAM WON PROTECTIONS IN 2024 FOR ECOLOGICALLY IMPORTANT CARNIVORES AND THEIR HABITATS INCLUDING GREY WOLVES, RED WOLVES, MOUNTAIN LIONS, GRIZZLY BEARS, AND MARTENS. IT WON THE DESIGNATION AND PROTECTION OF FEDRAL CRITICAL HABITAT AREAS, FOUGHT AGAINST DAMAGING STATE AND FEDERAL POLICIES, AND SUPPORTED PRO-CARNIVORE POLICIES. 9. THE CENTER HAD PROGRAM SERVICE ACCOMPLISHMENTS IN OTHER PROGRAMS INCLUDING: FLORIDA AND THE CARIBBEAN, THE GREAT BASIN, NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN ROCKIES, THE SOUTHEAST, AND HAWAII.

IRS Form 990 Part III, fiscal year 2024, signed under penalty of perjury.

Reading every lease sale

$5.6M

THE CENTER’S CLIMATE PROGRAM WORKS TO REDUCE U.S. GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS AND AIR POLLUTION TO PROTECT BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY, THE ENVIRONMENT, AND HUMAN HEALTH.

Including $72,535 granted onward.

Read it as they filed it
THE CENTER'S CLIMATE PROGRAM WORKS TO REDUCE U.S. GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS AND AIR POLLUTION TO PROTECT BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY, THE ENVIRONMENT, AND HUMAN HEALTH. SOME OF THE PROGRAMS ACCOMPLISHMENTS IN 2024 INCLUDE SECURING PROTECTIONS FOR SPECIES THREATENED BY CLIMATE CHANGE, ENSURING COMPLIANCE WITH APPLICABLE LAW IN ORDER TO REDUCE POLLUTION, ADVOCATING FOR NEW LAWS AND POLICIES TO REDUCE POLLUTION AND SPEED THE ADOPTION OF CLEAN RENEWABLE ENERGY, AND EDUCATING AND MOBILIZING THE PUBLIC ON CLIMATE SCIENCE AND POLICY ISSUES.

IRS Form 990 Part III, fiscal year 2024, signed under penalty of perjury.

Holding the line in court

$4.1M

ENDANGERED SPECIES PROGRAM WORKS TO PROTECT ENDANGERED SPECIES AND THEIR HABITATS ACROSS THE UNITED STATES THROUGH SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH, PUBLIC EDUCATION, ADMINISTRATIVE PROCESSES, AND LITIGATION.

Including $25,995 granted onward.

Read it as they filed it
ENDANGERED SPECIES PROGRAM WORKS TO PROTECT ENDANGERED SPECIES AND THEIR HABITATS ACROSS THE UNITED STATES THROUGH SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH, PUBLIC EDUCATION, ADMINISTRATIVE PROCESSES, AND LITIGATION. IT LEADS MANY PROTECTION CAMPAIGNS AND PROVIDES SUPPORT FOR CAMPAIGNS IN OTHER PROGRAMS.

IRS Form 990 Part III, fiscal year 2024, signed under penalty of perjury.

Watching the machines

$2.4M

THE CENTER’S PUBLIC LANDS LAW CENTER USES LEGAL ANALYSIS AND LITIGATION TO PROTECT AMERICA’S FEDERAL PUBLIC LANDS, MOST OFTEN THROUGH COLLABORATION WITHIN THE CENTER’S REGIONAL PROGRAMS.

Including $13,305 granted onward.

Read it as they filed it
THE CENTER'S PUBLIC LANDS LAW CENTER USES LEGAL ANALYSIS AND LITIGATION TO PROTECT AMERICA'S FEDERAL PUBLIC LANDS, MOST OFTEN THROUGH COLLABORATION WITHIN THE CENTER'S REGIONAL PROGRAMS. IN 2024, OUR UINTA BASIN RAILWAY CASE IN UTAH WAS ARGUED BEFORE THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT IN DECEMBER. WE CONTINUED TO MAKE PROGRESS IN ARIZONA AND NEW MEXICO TO KEEP CATTLE OUT OF SENSITIVE RIPARIAN AND AQUATIC HABITATS. WE WON AN IMPORTANT CASE IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, WITH THE COURT FINDING THAT THE BLM FAILED TO PROPERLY MINIMIZE IMPACTS TO THE DESERT TORTOISE AND OTHER WILDLIFE FROM OFF-ROAD VEHICLES IN THE WESTERN MOJAVE DESERT. WE CHALLENGED A NUMBER OF LOGGING PROJECTS IN THE NORTHERN ROCKIES, INCLUDING THE BLM'S MAJOR PROPOSED PROJECT IN THE CLARK FORK RIVER SUB-BASIN, EAST OF MISSOULA, MONTANA. AND WE MADE CONSIDERABLE PROGRESS IN OUR CAMPAIGNS AGAINST MAJOR PROPOSED MINING PROJECTS ON IMPORTANT FEDERAL LANDS, INCLUDING WITHIN THE BOUNDARY WATERS WATERSHED IN NORTHERN MINNESOTA, AND AT OAK FLAT, ON THE TONTO NATIONAL FOREST IN ARIZONA.

IRS Form 990 Part III, fiscal year 2024, signed under penalty of perjury.

Follow the dollar

88 cents of every dollar goes to the work

88¢
88¢ the work3¢ keeping the lights on9¢ finding the next member

That ratio is a good sign, not a scorecard. Plenty of great groups run leaner and lumpier. What matters is the extremes, and Center for Biological Diversity is nowhere near one.

Backed on the record by Western Conservation Foundation, latest filing FY23.

$30,576,430 programs, $1,128,138 management, $2,925,603 fundraising. Form 990, FY2024.

The people

Who does the work

242paid staff
19volunteers last year
10board members
37years on the ground
Kieran SucklingExecutive DiComp $317,278, FY2024
Paula SimmondsChief Dev. OComp $291,155, FY2024
Peter GalvinDirector OfComp $289,946, FY2024
Marcey OlajosBoard ChairVolunteer, 1 hrs a week, $0

Chairs the 10-member board.

Honesty note: leadership comes from each year’s federal filing, so it can run a year behind. Orgs that claim their page can update it same-day. Work at CBD? Claim this page.

Those 19 volunteers are people who decided this ground was theirs to defend. If CBD is fighting for your place too, the matchmaker will find your way in.

Make it 20

The record

The court record

And 76 more in our case database: a selection we track, not their full docket.

13 years of filings

Total revenue by fiscal year, as filed. Point at the line for any year.

$25M$45.7M FY2420122024
Total revenue by fiscal year
YearRevenue
2012$6,786,706
2013$9,368,271
2014$14,036,639
2015$12,425,883
2016$14,758,498
2017$20,139,563
2018$20,512,577
2019$22,570,922
2020$27,326,157
2021$36,653,414
2022$27,585,235
2023$34,484,948
2024$45,735,714

From $6.8M in 2012 to $45.7M in FY24, with no missed filing in 13 years. The 2024 peak of $45.7M reads like one-time gifts, so trust the line, not the peak.

Fights alongside Sierra Club (27 shared cases), Earthjustice (19 shared cases), Defenders of Wildlife (15 shared cases), Natural Resources Defense Council (13 shared cases) and Friends of the Earth (10 shared cases) and 41 more. Same case, same side, on the federal docket.

The record

On the Hill

Center for Biological Diversity files its own federal lobbying reports: 34 filings from 2019 to 2026, naming 26 bills. The filings, at the Senate.

Most filed on animals, budget/appropriations and natural resources.

Their ground

The places they defend

See every threatened place on one map, and who stands for each.

Where and what
Federal landsFish & Wildlife Service · Bureau of Land Management · U.S. Forest Service · National Park Service · Bureau of Reclamation
The family, on the record

Center for Biological Diversity files one related organization on its return: Center Action Fund (501C4). A related organization shares people or purpose; it does not share the books.

More groups in Arizona

Ways in

How to help

Stand with Center for Biological Diversity

37 years on the ground, 19 volunteers, 14 live lawsuits, 88 cents of every dollar on the line. That is who is holding it. There is room for one more.

Sources and methodFinancials, headcounts, and program text: IRS Form 990, FY2024 and 12 prior filings via ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer, EIN 27-3943866. Leadership and compensation: Form 990 Part VII and the return’s signature block, FY2024 filing. Grantees: Schedule I, same filing. Court record: CourtListener dockets in the MTJP litigation database (18 linked cases: 2 won, 14 active, 2 lost). Related organizations: Schedule R of the same filing, matched to our directory by EIN. Allies: co-litigation edges derived from the same dockets, same case and same side. Funders: the funders’ own returns (Schedule I and 990-PF Part XV) via ProPublica, names and years only. Lobbying: Senate LDA filings naming CBD as client or registrant, read from the MTJP LDA corpus. Place links: MTJP editorial curation with per-link sources. Org-reported figures are always labeled. Data verified as of 2026-09-23. Nothing on this page is pay-to-play.