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Porcupine caribou making its way through deep snow on the East Fork of the Chandalar River
WASHINGTON, D.C.

Enough is Enough: Senate Blocks Yet Another Attempt to Prioritize Drilling in the Arctic

The Senate today blocked an attempt to pass S. 5438, introduced by Senator Dan Sullivan (R-AK). The bill would have ratified and approved all authorizations, permits, verifications, extensions, biological opinions, incidental take statements and any other approvals or orders issued pursuant to federal law necessary for the establishment and administration of the Coastal Plain oil and gas leasing program, among other purposes.
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Juvenile California Condor
WASHINGTON, D.C.

Senate Permitting Deal Threatens Bedrock Endangered Species Protections

Defenders of Wildlife today strongly condemned Endangered Species Act provisions reportedly included in a Senate permitting package, warning they would weaken critical protections for imperiled wildlife.
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A gray wolf stand and peers at the remote camera. The grass is green and there is a forest of pines behind the wolf.
Sacramento

Gov. Newsom Signs Landmark Legislation Creating California Wildlife Coexistence Program

Governor Gavin Newsom today signed into law Senate Bill 1135, establishing the California Wildlife Coexistence Program within the Department of Fish and Wildlife to better

Press Releases

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Franklin's bumble bee
SACRAMENTO

Court Rules State of California Lacks Authority to Protect Imperiled Bumble Bee Species Under the California Endangered Species Act

This week, in a blow to imperiled bee and insect populations, the Sacramento County Superior Court issued a ruling in Almond Alliance v. California Fish and Game Commission (the Commission), deeming the State of California lacks authority to list four threatened bumble bee species as Endangered under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA).
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Sage-Grouse on a hill
WASHINGTON

Trump Administration Finalizes Dangerous Amendments to Sage-Grouse Plans

The Bureau of Land Management has released its final greater sage-grouse supplemental environmental impact statements for Colorado, Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada/northeastern California and Oregon.
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Tiger cub in Bandhavgarh
Washington, DC

Lawmakers in China Urged to Reduce Demand for Vulnerable Wildlife

Defenders of Wildlife and more than 25 nonprofit organizations from India, Vietnam, United States, United Kingdom, Canada, South Africa and Germany this week published an open letter to lawmakers in China urging them to act to reduce demand for wild animal species threatened with extinction.
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A grove of aspens burst into color near Forest Road 528 on the Rio Grande National Forest in Southern Colorado
Washington, DC

Trump Administration Announces Finalization of Destructive National Forest Rule

The Trump administration is poised to finalize a rule tomorrow that would make it easier to pursue the administration’s goal to ramp up logging and other harmful extractive activities within America’s treasured national forests.
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Grizzly Bears at the confluence of the Russian River and Kenai River, Kenai Peninsula, Chugach National Forest, Alaska
Anchorage, AK

Court upholds prohibition of brown bear baiting in the Kenai Refuge

A coalition of groups hailed a federal court decision last week that upheld a 2016 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service rule that enshrines the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge’s long-standing prohibition on brown bear baiting, along with its decades-long approach of managing the Skilak Wildlife Recreation Area for wildlife viewing and education.
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