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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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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.
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Construction on Gateway to Road through Izembek Continues
The Ninth Circuit today denied Defenders of Wildlife’s emergency motion to halt construction on King Cove Corp.’s 2.8-mile road segment leading to the doorstep of Izembek National Wildlife Refuge and Wilderness. Defenders’ request for immediate injunctive relief marks the latest stage in its larger effort to block a damaging and precedent-setting road from King Cove to Cold Bay, Alaska, that would plow through the heart of Izembek.
Press Releases
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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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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.
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Defenders of Wildlife Encouraged by Photos of Florida Panther at Renewable Energy Project
Newly captured images of a Florida panther, taken by a remote camera set up at the Florida Power & Light Company Sawgrass Solar Energy Center in Hendry Co., show that renewable energy projects can be designed in ways that allow wildlife to continue to share the landscape.
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Energy, Fishing, and Conservation Groups Respond to Washington Lawmakers' Presumptive Plan for Snake River Dam Replacement
Defenders of Wildlife and groups across the Northwest are calling on elected leaders from the region to fulfill their commitment to salmon restoration in the Columbia Basin, including breaching the four lower Snake River dams as soon as possible.
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Defenders of Wildlife Disappointed by Reversal of Okefenokee Oversight
In response to the announcement by the Army Corps of Engineers that they settled a lawsuit filed by the mining company, Twin Pines Minerals, Defenders of Wildlife released the following statement.
jcovey@defenders.org
