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Salt Marsh - Cumberland Island
ST. MARYS, GEORGIA

NPS Land Swaps and Visitor Plan Open the Door to Devastating Impacts at Cumberland Island

In advance of a public hearing on proposed land exchanges on Cumberland Island National Seashore, Defenders of Wildlife called on the National Park Service to remedy a host of management issues facing one of the largest undeveloped barrier islands on the East Coast.
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2019.08.07 - Florida Panther looking straight at camera - MS 45 - fStop Foundation
WASHINGTON, D.C.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Memo Underscores Trump Administration’s All-Fronts War on Wildlife

Brian Nesvik, director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, issued a memorandum explaining to FWS staff that the Endangered Species Act’s prohibition on unauthorized “take” applies only to affirmative acts intentionally and purposefully directed at a particular animal. This follows the Trump administration’s rescission of the regulatory definitions of “harm” under the ESA, which took effect this week.
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A close up of the face of a Sierra Nevada Red Fox at the edge of a forest in Deschutes County, Oregon.
Washington, D.C.

Court Rules Habitat Must Be Protected After FWS Attempts to Waive Protections for Less Than 40 Sierra Nevada Red Fox

Defenders of Wildlife earned a significant victory for the Endangered Species Act today when a federal district court found that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's decision to not designate critical habitat for the endangered Sierra Nevada red fox was a violation of the law.

Press Releases

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2010.12.30 - Mexican gray wolf standing in snow - gnagel - iStock Photo.jpg
TUSCON, ARIZONA

¡Que vivan los lobos!

Conservationists are celebrating the historic translocation of two families of Mexican gray wolves in Durango, Mexico, almost 50 years after the last wolves were removed
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Beaver in grand teton
Washington, D.C.

Defenders Denounces Administration's Alarming Proposed Budget Cuts to Wildlife Conservation

Defenders of Wildlife today condemned the Trump administration’s reckless FY27 budget proposal that calls on Congress to slash critical funding vital to wildlife conservation.
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View of Pisgah National Forest through the trees
Asheville, N.C.

Federal court rules Forest Service unlawfully relied on flawed analysis to create Nantahala-Pisgah Forest Plan

A federal court ruled the Forest Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service violated the ESA through a flawed analysis used to create North Carolina's Nantahala-Pisgah Forest Plan.
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Rice's Whale
WASHINGTON, D.C.

Defenders Slams Unlawful God Squad Vote to Strip Endangered Species Act Protection from Wildlife in the Gulf

Defenders of Wildlife strongly opposes today’s vote by the Endangered Species Committee, or God Squad, to condemn species to extinction in the name of a fictitious “national security emergency.”
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Merrit Island National Wildlife Refuge at sunset
Washington, D.C.

Court Victory for Florida Wetlands Protection

The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled today that permits to build in wetlands should stay in the hands of
Senior Vice President, External Affairs
lsheehan@defenders.org
(202) 772-3244
Communications Director
mdewane@defenders.org
(202) 772-0217
Communications Specialist
jcovey@defenders.org
Communications Specialist
kirby@defenders.org
(202) 772-3268
Communications Specialist
estern@defenders.org
202-772-0243