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Defenders of Wildlife Applauds Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission for Tightening Protections for Listed Species
Defenders of Wildlife welcomes today’s action by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to end open permitting for the capture of ESA-threatened marine species in Florida waters for public display and exhibition purposes.
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Legal Intervention Aims to Protect North Atlantic Right Whales From Deadly Ship Strikes
Conservation groups today filed a motion to intervene to help fight a lawsuit aimed at overturning a seasonal speed rule protecting North Atlantic right whales from deadly vessel strikes. The groups want to defend the rule against a lawsuit brought by a New York vessel owner fined for violating seasonal speed limits. The suit alleges that NOAA Fisheries lacked the statutory authority to issue the rule.
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Final Rescission of Public Lands Rule Reverses Modern Land Management, Threatens Wildlife Habitat
The Bureau of Land Management today announced a decision to roll back the Conservation and Landscape Health Rule, commonly referred to as the Public Lands Rule. The policy modernized how BLM manages our national public lands and represented the critical incorporation of ecological resilience into management alongside traditional resource extraction.
Press Releases
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Defenders Supports New Bill Expanding Investments in Soil Health and Wildlife Habitat on Private Land
Defenders of Wildlife today announced its support for H.R. 8754 introduced by Rep. Julia Brownley (D-CA). If passed, the Saving Our Interconnected Lives (SOIL) Act will amend the Farm Bill to encourage agricultural producers to voluntarily conserve soil and wildlife habitat on their land by prioritizing applications for projects that would address both concerns under the Department of Agriculture’s Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP).
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Defenders Opposes “Breathtakingly Awful” Attempt to Gut Endangered Species Act with Appalling Rewrite
Defenders of Wildlife opposes one of the worst-ever attempts to gut the Endangered Species Act, the “ESA Amendments Act of 2024.” Sponsored by Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-AR) chair of the U.S. House of Representatives Natural Resources Committee, the draft bill being heard today in the Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries demolishes many of the core tenets of the landmark conservation bill, warps its foundational reliance on best available science and increases the potential for political interference.
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Right Whale Vessel Strike Protections Sought by Nov. 1
Conservation groups this week asked a federal judge to set a Nov. 1 deadline for long-delayed federal action to finalize expanded vessel strike protections for
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National Park Service Restores Protection for Predators in Alaska National Preserves
The National Park Service released new regulations that restore protections for predators on national preserves in Alaska. This is a reversal of a Trump administration
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Defenders Statement on ‘Hatchet Job’ House Interior Appropriations Bill
The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations’ Interior and Environment Subcommittee today released its appropriations bill for the upcoming fiscal year. The bill is riddled with an immense number of riders that severely undermine the lifesaving protections of the Endangered Species Act. It also rolls back key advances made during the Biden administration towards addressing the biodiversity and climate crises.
jcovey@defenders.org
