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Court Urged to Uphold Ship Strike Protections for North Atlantic Right Whales
Conservation groups today filed a friend of the court brief expressing support for a federal vessel speed limit rule to protect critically endangered North Atlantic
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Fish and Wildlife Service Misguided in Rescinding Vital Strategic Growth Policy for the National Wildlife Refuge System
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service quietly rescinded its Refuge System Strategic Growth Policy in December, bypassing the legally required public comment period for such a change, despite having issued the policy with an accompanying public comment period in 2014.
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Defenders Celebrates Tremendous Step to Restored Florida Rivers
On Monday, the Northeast Florida Rivers, Springs, and Community Investment Act was filed to restore the natural flow of the Ocklawaha River, Silver and St
Press Releases
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Biden To Reverse Two Harmful Trump Rules That Limited Endangered Species Act Protections
The Biden administration announced it is reversing two harmful Trump administration rules that undermine the Endangered Species Act (ESA), the bedrock law that protects our nation’s wildlife from extinction. Broadly, the two rules had altered the way critical habitat is designated.
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Critically Endangered North Atlantic Right Whale Population Drops to Estimated 336
Today, the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium announced that the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale’s population continued its decade-long decline, dropping from 366 in 2019 to 336 in 2020—an 8% decline.
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Former Georgia and Federal Officials Decry Proposed Okefenokee Mining Project
In a full-page letter published in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution yesterday, a bipartisan group of eight former Georgia and federal officials, including two cabinet secretaries, spoke out against a proposed titanium mine on the edge of the Okefenokee Swamp.
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Biden Administration Will Not Appeal Court Decision to Halt Willow Arctic Drilling Project
The Biden administration decided not to appeal a court decision voiding the flawed Trump-era approvals and permits for ConocoPhillips’ Willow Master Development Plan. The court determined in August that the Interior Department violated the National Environmental Policy Act and the Endangered Species Act.
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Harmful Sage-Grouse Rider Dropped from Senate Interior Approps Bill For the First Time Since 2014
Following the release of the Senate Interior Appropriations bill, both House and Senate bills have excluded the rider preventing Endangered Species Act protections for the greater sage-grouse which has been included in bills since 2014.
jcovey@defenders.org
