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Defenders and Partners Urge Oregon State Action on Wildlife Conservation Bill as Two Senators Block Bipartisan Effort
A landmark bill to fund wildlife conservation in Oregon is being held up in the State Senate, despite passing the House with strong bipartisan support and clearing Senate Rules.
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New Assault on Public Lands Betrays Will of American People
Defenders of Wildlife slammed Senator Mike Lee’s (R-UT) most recent attempt to sell off our nation’s public lands through a provision in the Senate’s budget reconciliation bill for what it is – a brazen betrayal of the will of the American people.
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Defenders Celebrates Land Acquisition Deal Protecting Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge from Threat of Mining
Defenders of Wildlife celebrates The Conservation Fund’s acquisition of the properties owned by Twin Pines Minerals, LLC, a company seeking to mine adjacent to the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, the largest refuge east of the Mississippi River.
Press Releases
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Ocklawaha River named among America’s Most Endangered Rivers of 2020
American Rivers today named the Ocklawaha River among America’s Most Endangered Rivers®, citing the Rodman Dam as a threat to clean water, wildlife habitat, and recreation.
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Court: Feds Failing to Protect North Atlantic Right Whales From Lobster Gear Entanglements
A federal judge ruled yesterday that the National Marine Fisheries Service’s authorization and management of the American lobster fishery violates the federal Endangered Species Act. The court held that the agency failed to protect critically endangered North Atlantic right whales and that its biological opinion on the fishery violated “straightforward” requirements of the Act, putting the whales at greater risk of entanglement.
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FWS Orders Four Lobos Killed During Lobo Week
Following on the heels of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (FWS) recent news of a record annual increase in the wild population of endangered Mexican gray wolves, the agency issued kill orders which created a deadly month in lobo management.
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Freeing the Ocklawaha River
Between November 2019 and the end of February 2020, those looking over the edge of the Rodman Dam could glimpse a ghostly forest of long-dead cypress trees normally deep beneath the water of the Rodman Reservoir. This haunting sight is a rarity, coming once every few years as the Florida Department of Environmental Protection draws down the reservoir, exposing the historic path of the once-mighty Ocklawaha River.
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Final State Budget Funds Wildlife Projects, Delays Studies for Dam Management
Last week Gov. Jay Inslee finalized the state’s fiscal year 2020 operating budget, allocating urgent funds for the COVID-19 pandemic response.
jcovey@defenders.org
