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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.
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Communities Push Back on Opening Waters for Oil Drilling
Defenders of Wildlife filed comments this week opposing new offshore oil drilling. More than 44 thousand public comments were submitted to the first comment period
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Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Sells Out Wildlife Along with American Lands and Waters
Defenders of Wildlife strongly condemns the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee for selling out wildlife in its text for the upcoming budget reconciliation bill.
Press Releases
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Commonwealth of Virginia Announces Steps Towards Protecting Migratory Birds
The commonwealth of Virginia announced today that it will take actions to ensure the protection of migratory birds in the face of the Trump administration’s abandonment of enforcement of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA). The state announced that the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (DGIF) will begin a process to promulgate state-wide regulations to establish a permitting process to minimize the incidental take of migratory birds by commercial, industrial and construction projects.
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Presidential Budget Abandons Programs Supportive of Wildlife and Climate Science
Yesterday, President Trump released his proposed federal budget for 2021 that significantly cuts programs that conserve wildlife, support science and address climate change.
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Former Interior Officials Want Secretary Bernhardt to Reconsider Changes to Migratory Bird Treaty Act
Former Interior Officials Want Secretary Bernhardt to Reconsider Changes to Migratory Bird Treaty Act A bipartisan coalition of 15 former Department of the Interior officials
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Twin Pines Withdraws Applications for Mining Project Next to Okefenokee—For Now
Twin Pines Minerals, LLC has withdrawn its application to operate on roughly 2,400 acres of land along the border of the Okefenokee Swamp, announcing they will reduce the size of the permit area before resubmitting their application. The news is a temporary reprieve for the swamp, which contains the nation’s largest national wildlife refuge east of the Mississippi River and attracts over 600,000 visitors annually.
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Endangered Gray Wolf Found Dead in Northern California
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife Service announced a female gray wolf was found dead on February 5 in Shasta County.
jcovey@defenders.org
