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Trump Administration Advances Roadless Rule Repeal at the Expense of Wildlife, Clean Water and Public Will
The U.S. Department of Agriculture today released its proposed rule and draft environmental impact statement seeking to rescind the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, a bedrock law that protects 45 million acres of national forests managed by the U.S. Forest Service.
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Judge Vacates Land Exchange, Halts Road Through Izembek National Wildlife Refuge
A federal judge today vacated an illegal closed-door deal between the U.S. Department of the Interior and a for-profit Alaska Native corporation, King Cove Corp., that exchanged a 10.5-mile corridor of Izembek National Wildlife Refuge and Wilderness lands to enable a road connecting King Cove and Cold Bay.
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Defenders Strongly Opposes USDA Proposal to Dismantle Long-Standing Protections for National Forests
The United States Department of Agriculture today announced that the U.S. Forest Service has filed a proposed rule to fully rescind the national 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule — a bedrock conservation policy that has protected nearly 45 million acres of undeveloped backcountry forests for over two decades.
Press Releases
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Salmon Fishers Can Help Save Sea Otters
This weekend marked the beginning of the recreational salmon season in the ocean south of San Francisco, and anglers will flock to harbors along the central California coast to launch their boats and try their luck. This increased fishing activity brings concerns about sea otter safety as more boaters venture into waters where hard-to-spot sea otters forage for food.
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Defenders Applauds Biden’s American Jobs Plan
Today in Pittsburgh, President Biden announced his American Jobs Plan, which will speed up the transition to clean energy, repeal subsidies and foreign tax credits or the fossil fuel industry and tackle social and racial inequities in energy development.
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Biden Administration to Expand Offshore Wind
The Biden administration announced plans today for a significant expansion of the nation’s offshore wind efforts. Officials announced a goal of 30 gigawatts of offshore wind power by the end of the decade, offsetting fossil fuels and creating clean energy jobs.
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Lawsuit Launched Over Federal Project Threatening Desert Tortoises, Other Imperiled Species in California Deserts
Environmental groups filed a formal notice today of their intent to sue the Interior Department, U.S. Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for authorizing activities in the California Desert Conservation Area that are driving desert tortoises and other threatened and endangered species toward extinction.
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Lawsuit Targets Trump Administration’s Last-minute Pipeline Approval for California Desert Water Grab
Conservation groups sued the U.S. Bureau of Land Management today for granting a right-of-way to Cadiz, Inc. to push billions of gallons of water through a mothballed oil-and-gas pipeline that crosses Mojave Trails National Monument and other protected public land in southeastern California.
jcovey@defenders.org
