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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.
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Defenders Joins Conservationists In Blasting Federal Proposal to Bulldoze Forestlands
Conservation groups today called a plan by the Trump administration to rescind the U.S. Forest Service’s Roadless Area Conversation Rule an alarming threat to national forests that are overwhelmingly loved by Americans.
Press Releases
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International Conferences Canceled, Leaving Species with Less Protections
As with many events worldwide in 2020, the conferences that create stronger international wildlife policies have been canceled too. These cancelations mean that imperiled wildlife will have to wait another year for new recommendations, measures, and decisions when a million species are already under threat of extinction and have yet to receive protection.
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Groups Praise Army Corps Denial of Pebble Mine Permit, Call for Lasting Protections
Groups advocating for the protection of Bristol Bay waterways, salmon, and communities applaud the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers decision today to deny a Clean Water Act permit for the proposed Pebble mine.
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Prancing in the Moonlight: Photos Capture Colorado Wolves Playing at Night
Two gray wolves were captured on film as they played last month in Northwest Colorado, the first documentation in several months of Colorado’s first wolf pack in more than 75 years. These rare images were captured by a trail camera set up by Defenders of Wildlife in Moffat County.
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To Prevent Pandemics We Need Stronger Wildlife Laws
As nations worldwide struggle to protect human health during the COVID-19 pandemic, wildlife experts are calling for lawmakers to address the link between human and wildlife health. In a paper published last month in Trends in Ecology and Evolution, scientists make the case that addressing the human-wildlife relationship is critical to keeping all communities and ecosystems safe from disease.
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Court Rules State of California Lacks Authority to Protect Imperiled Bumble Bee Species Under the California Endangered Species Act
This week, in a blow to imperiled bee and insect populations, the Sacramento County Superior Court issued a ruling in Almond Alliance v. California Fish and Game Commission (the Commission), deeming the State of California lacks authority to list four threatened bumble bee species as Endangered under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA).
jcovey@defenders.org
