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Trump Administration Opens Door to Bear Baiting, Den Hunting in Alaska Preserves
The National Park Service finalized a regulation that abdicates the agency's responsibility to manage wildlife in Alaska's national preserves, deferring instead to state regulations. Defenders of Wildlife condemns the rule, which mirrors a 2020 regulation promulgated by the first Trump administration that was later withdrawn and replaced in 2024.
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BLM Prepares Illegal Move to Open Ouray National Wildlife Refuge to Oil & Gas, a Dangerous Precedent for Wildlife
Defenders of Wildlife is calling on BLM to withdrawal an unprecedented proposal to open Ouray National Wildlife Refuge in Utah to new oil and gas leasing.
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A Much-Needed Win for Wildlife: Senate Introduces Bill to Improve Endangered Species Act Implementation
Senators Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Pete Rickets (R-NE) today introduced the Improving Species Recovery Act, an important bipartisan bill that would improve implementation of the Endangered Species Act.
Press Releases
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Defenders of Wildlife and Dozens of Groups Urge Interior Department to Greenlight Okefenokee World Heritage Bid
Dozens of national, state, and local organizations urged Secretary of the Interior Debra Haaland and the U.S. Department of the Interior to formally authorize the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge’s bid for World Heritage listing.
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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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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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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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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.
jcovey@defenders.org
