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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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Court Reinstates Gulf of Maine Lobstering Restriction to Protect Endangered Right Whales
The First Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday granted an emergency motion to reinstate a seasonal prohibition on lobster fishing with buoy lines in an area roughly 30 nautical miles off the coast of Maine.
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More Than 1,000 Manatees Have Died in 2021
Today, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission announced that 1,003 manatees have died since the start of 2021.
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Biden Signs Infrastructure Bill Into Law with Billions for Wildlife Habitat and Climate Resiliency
Today, President Biden signed the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act into law. The law will make significant investments in wildlife habitat and green infrastructure over the next decade. It is one of the largest infrastructure investments in the nation’s history and garnered bipartisan support in the House and Senate.
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U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Withdraws Flawed Red Wolf Rule
This week, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced they would withdraw a 2018 proposed rule that would have shrunk the North Carolina-based Red Wolf recovery area (NC NEP) by 90 percent, severely hampering recovery efforts.
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Federal Court Hears Arguments for Reinstating Federal Gray Wolf Protections
Defenders of Wildlife and several conservation groups, represented by Earthjustice, argued in court that gray wolves in the Lower 48 states should regain federal Endangered Species Act protections. The hearing took place today in the Northern District Court of California, with Senior U.S. District Court Judge Jeffrey White presiding.
jcovey@defenders.org
