Image
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.
Image
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.
Image
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
Image
Proposed rule cuts the public out of oil and gas leasing decisions for National Forests
On September 1, the administration will release its plan to make it easier for companies to drill for oil and gas on U.S. Forest Service lands. The proposed rule is scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on Tuesday.
Defenders Sues to Protect Alaska’s Bears and Wolves
A lawsuit filed today in federal District Court in Alaska charges the Interior Department and National Park Service with violating multiple laws when adopting a rule that would open up national preserves in Alaska to hunting practices like baiting brown bears and killing wolves during the denning season.
Image
New Senate Climate Plan Takes Aim at Fossil Fuel Industry
Today, the Senate Democrats’ Special Committee on the Climate Crisis released its 200-page plan for addressing climate change by accelerating the transition to a clean
Image
Groups sue Trump agency for illegal plan to expand leasing, drilling in the Reserve
Six groups filed a lawsuit Monday, August 24 in U.S. District Court charging the U.S. Bureau of Land Management with breaking the law by advancing a new management plan for Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve that would give the vast majority of the nation’s largest unit of public land to oil companies. This effort to expand fossil fuel exploitation in the western Arctic would increase harmful climate impacts, diminish public health, degrade land, water and air, and encroach on long-protected areas vital to wildlife and people.
Image
California Fish and Game Commission Accepts Recommendation to Strengthen Protections for Desert Tortoise
Today, the California Fish and Game Commission voted unanimously to accept a report from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) that recommends strengthening protections for the Agassiz’s desert tortoise.
jcovey@defenders.org
