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brown bear
ANCHORAGE, ALASKA

Trump Administration Opens Door to Bear Baiting, Den Hunting in Alaska Preserves

The National Park Service finalized a regulation that abdicates the agency's responsibility to manage wildlife in Alaska's national preserves, deferring instead to state regulations. Defenders of Wildlife condemns the rule, which mirrors a 2020 regulation promulgated by the first Trump administration that was later withdrawn and replaced in 2024.
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Washington, DC

BLM Prepares Illegal Move to Open Ouray National Wildlife Refuge to Oil & Gas, a Dangerous Precedent for Wildlife

Defenders of Wildlife is calling on BLM to withdrawal an unprecedented proposal to open Ouray National Wildlife Refuge in Utah to new oil and gas leasing.
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Jake Li Testimony at EPW
WASHINGTON, D.C.

A Much-Needed Win for Wildlife: Senate Introduces Bill to Improve Endangered Species Act Implementation

Senators Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Pete Rickets (R-NE) today introduced the Improving Species Recovery Act, an important bipartisan bill that would improve implementation of the Endangered Species Act.

Press Releases

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Sun through grasses
Washington, D.C.

Defenders of Wildlife Statement on Chauvin Trial

Defenders of Wildlife’s President & CEO Jamie Rappaport Clark released a statement in reaction to a Minnesota jury finding former police officer Derek Chauvin guilty on all three counts in the death of George Floyd.
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Grizzly Bear on the Bridger-Teton National Forest
Missoula, MT

Federal Court Halts Proposed Rock Creek Mine in Montana’s Cabinet Mountains

The federal district court in Montana on Tuesday invalidated the federal government’s approval of the first phase of the Rock Creek Mine, a major copper and silver mine proposed beneath the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness in northwest Montana.
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Chinook Salmon make their way up ship creek to spawn.
Olympia, Wash.

Billy Frank Jr. Legacy Established in National Statutory Hall

This week Governor Jay Inslee signed HB 1372 into law, which would honor the late Billy Frank Jr. with a statue in National Statuary Hall in Washington, D.C. Frank was an environmental and civil rights hero in Washington State.
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California Condor Hopper Mountain National Wildlife Refuge, CA
Washington, DC

Conservation Groups Call on Congress to Fund Imperiled Species

146 organizations called on Congress today to fund specific programs administered by U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) that conserve and recover species headed for extinction.
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Golden-cheeked warbler
Washington, DC

No Place to Nest: Protecting the Ever-shrinking Habitat of the Golden-Cheeked Warbler

The beautiful, brightly colored golden-cheeked warbler has returned to Texas from Central America to breed and start a new generation. Unfortunately, these songbirds may not have a home to return to if their woodland habitat continues to disappear at the current rate.
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
kirby@defenders.org
(202) 772-3268
Communications Specialist
estern@defenders.org
202-772-0243