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Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtle is on his way home after being released from a cold-stun rehab center.
New Orleans, LA

Defenders Celebrates U.S. Appeals Court Ruling to Protect Imperiled Sea Turtles from Drowning in Fishing Nets

A federal appeals court upheld the rule requiring shrimp trawling vessels to use turtle excluder devices so that sea turtles can avoid getting caught in nets.
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pale gray north atlantic right whale swimming in dark blue ocean with an entangled string wrapped around the top of its head and seen underneath it's lower body
Washington, DC

House Gambles with Survival for North Atlantic Right Whales in Latest Vote to Delay Protections

The House of Representatives voted to pass H.R. 9436, a bill that will delay conservation protections for critically endangered North Atlantic right whales.
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 Izembek National Wildlife Refuge - Izembek Volcanoe
ANCHORAGE, ALASKA

District Court Okays Bulldozing a Road to the Doorstep of Izembek Wilderness

A federal district court in Alaska today allowed construction to begin on a 2.8-mile road segment on KCC lands to connect to a 10.5-mile road within Izembek.

Press Releases

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Tricolored bat roosting
Washington, DC

Tricolored Bats Proposed for Endangered Species Act Protection

Citing the ravaging effects of white-nose syndrome, a disease that has killed millions of bats across the country, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) announced it is proposing to list the tricolored bat as endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
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Mojave Desert Tortoise
Los Angeles, Calif.

Judge Vacates Approval of Cadiz’s California Desert Water Grab

A federal judge has vacated a U.S. Bureau of Land Management decision that would have allowed Cadiz Inc. to repurpose a mothballed oil-and-gas pipeline to
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Ocelot #2
Boca Chica, Texas

Defenders of Wildlife Demands In-depth Environmental Review for SpaceX Launch Site After Rocket Fire Burns 68 Acres of Wildlife Refuge

Defenders of Wildlife calls for a more in-depth environmental impact study (EIS) after a fire, caused by a SpaceX rocket, scorched 68 acres of protected refuge surrounding the launch site.
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Right Whale Catalog #3101- Harmonia with her Newborn Calf approx. 7 nautical miles off Cumberland Island, GA
Washington, D.C.

Court Upholds Federal Action to Protect Right Whales From Deadly Entanglements in Lobster Gear

A federal court has rejected a lobster industry attack on the science supporting recent federal efforts to protect critically endangered right whales from deadly entanglements in lobster gear. The industry sued NOAA Fisheries, and Defenders of Wildlife, the Center for Biological Diversity, and Conservation Law Foundation intervened to defend the science.
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golden cheeked warbler
Washington, D.C.

New Study Highlights More Than Three Decades of Suitable Habitat Decline for Golden-Cheeked Warbler

A new study by Defenders of Wildlife's Center for Conservation Innovation, “Spatiotemporal patterns in Golden-cheeked warbler breeding habitat quantity and suitability," was published last week in the scientific journal Avian Conservation and Ecology.
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