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2019.08.30 - Red Fox at Izembek Lagoon - Izembek National Wildlife Refuge - Alaska - Lisa Hupp USFWS.jpg
ANCHORAGE, ALASKA

Defenders of Wildlife Challenges Interior’s Secretive Refuge and Wilderness Sellout on Alaskan Peninsula

Defenders of Wildlife today filed suit in federal district court to challenge Interior Secretary Doug Burgum’s unlawful land exchange in Izembek National Wildlife Refuge and
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Bar-tailed Godwits in marsh in NPR-A
Washington, D.C.

Senate Vote Threatens Protections for Alaska’s Western Arctic

The Senate today approved a resolution utilizing the Congressional Review Act to rollback Biden-era protections for the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. This misuse of the CRA
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Horshoe crabs
Dewey Beach, DE

Fisheries Commission Adopts Short-Term Protections for Delaware Bay Ecosystem

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission today set a two-year pause on the bait harvest of female horseshoe crabs in Delaware Bay, declining to adopt

Press Releases

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Rep. Deb Haaland
Washington, DC

Biden Administration Makes Historic Appointment for Interior Secretary Post

The following statement is from Jamie Rappaport Clark, president and CEO of Defenders of Wildlife, on President-elect Biden’s nomination of Rep. Deb Haaland to serve as the first Native American Secretary of the Department of the Interior as reported by The Washington Post.
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Polar Bear family, Churchill, Manitoba
Anchorage, AK

Indigenous, allied groups go to court to stop issuance of Arctic Refuge leases

The Gwich’in Steering Committee and 12 allied groups filed a motion in U.S. District Court today requesting a preliminary injunction to stop the U.S. Bureau of Land Management from issuing any leases sold in the Jan. 6 sale of the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and from authorizing seismic exploration activities.
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A young polar bear walks down the rocky coast towards the water in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska.
Anchorage, AK

Bureau of Land Management Racing to Permit Destructive Seismic Exploration in Arctic Refuge

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) issued a draft environmental assessment (EA) today regarding a seismic exploration project proposed in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge this winter.
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Photo of the White House in Washington, DC
Washington, DC

Trump Administration Finalizes New Rule That Weakens the Endangered Species Act

Tomorrow the Trump administration is slated to finalize a rule that further erodes the Endangered Species Act, the one of the nation’s most effective and most popular laws.
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Sierra Nevada Red Fox
Washington, DC

Interior Finalizes Habitat Definition, Further Undermines the Endangered Species Act

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service finalized a rule today that defines habitat under the Endangered Species Act and allows the government to deny critical habitat protections for endangered plants and animals—a change that could open lands and waterways to more energy development and other activities.
Senior Vice President, External Affairs
lsheehan@defenders.org
(202) 772-3244
Communications Director
mdewane@defenders.org
(202) 772-0217
Communications Specialist
jcovey@defenders.org
Communications Specialist
jpetrequin@defenders.org
(202) 772-0243
Communications Specialist
kirby@defenders.org
(202) 772-3268