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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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SJRWMD Survey Results Demonstrate Strong Support for Ocklawaha River Restoration
The recent month-long, online public survey launched by St. Johns River Water Management District (SJRWMD) regarding the future of the Kirkpatrick Dam and Rodman Reservoir resulted in 10,482 responses.
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Revised Mexican Gray Wolf Management Rule Fails to Satisfy Court Order and Scientists
Last week, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) announced its proposed changes to the management regulations for Mexican gray wolves in the Mexican Wolf Experimental Population Area (MWEPA) in Arizona and New Mexico.
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Conservation Groups Unite to Protect Threatened Species in Colorado
Today, Defenders of Wildlife, The Wilderness Society, the San Luis Valley Ecosystem Council, San Juan Citizens Alliance, WildEarth Guardians and the Western Environmental Law Center
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Mountaintop Removal Worse for Endangered Species Than Initially Thought
The researchers from Defenders of Wildlife’s Center for Conservation Innovation (CCI), and conservation technology nonprofit SkyTruth, combined water-quality data with satellite imagery of mountaintop removal mining activity to estimate the full extent of water-quality degradation attributable to the practice at the landscape level.
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State-sanctioned Horseshoe Crab Confinement Threatens Shorebirds
Defenders of Wildlife and a group of conservation organizations are preparing to sue the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources and Charles River Laboratories for penning horseshoe crabs in manmade ponds during spawning season, a practice that imperils a threatened migratory shorebird, the red knot, which feeds on the eggs.
jcovey@defenders.org
