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sea otter eye contact, CA
SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA

Gov. Newsom Signs Legislation to Help Fund Sea Otter Conservation

Gov. Newsom signed into law the California Sea Otter Voluntary Tax Contribution Fund. Defenders of Wildlife was the sole sponsor of the bill.
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CA Mountains
SACRAMENTO, CA

California Legislature Sends Landmark Wildlife Coexistence Bill to Governor

The California state legislature today passed with bipartisan support a landmark bill to re-establish the statewide Wildlife Coexistence Program within the Department of Fish and Wildlife, which will better manage and reduce human-wildlife conflict through non-lethal and proactive strategies.
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Tongass Nat'l Forest
WASHINGTON, D.C.

Defenders Joins Recreation, Conservation Groups to Unite Against Forest Service Travel Rule Rollback

The U.S. Department of Agriculture launched a process to significantly revise its Travel Management Rule, which guides where motorized vehicles are and are not allowed on almost 200 million acres of national forests and grasslands

Press Releases

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Collared adult male Canada lynx
Washington, DC

New Land Management Legislation Could Harm Imperiled Wildlife

New legislation, introduced today by Sen. Daines (R-Mont.), would allow the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management to skip the important process of reinitiating consultation on the effect of their land management plans, even when new information indicating potential harms to listed species.
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Bison cow and calf Madison River in Yellowstone National Park
Poplar, MT

104 Yellowstone Bison Relocated to Fort Peck Reservation

Today, Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux leaders and Defenders of Wildlife transferred 11 more bison from Yellowstone National Park to the Fort Peck Indian Reservation. After today, 104 bison will have been successfully transferred to the reservation. This is the fourth relocation since April 2019 under a new program that diverts disease-free Yellowstone bison from slaughter to tribal-led restoration efforts.
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Ocelot looking up
Washington, D.C.

New Study Shows Wildlife Trade is a Major Threat to Biodiversity in the Americas

More than 1,500 wildlife species are threatened or near threatened with extinction in Mesoamerica, according to a new study published today in Cambridge University Press.
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Capitol Building
Washington, DC

Infrastructure Package Includes Important Wins for Wildlife

The U.S House of Representatives released today its infrastructure bill, the Moving Forward Act. The plan advances The Invest in America Act, recently approved by the U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
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Juvenile Gopher Tortoise
TALLAHASSEE, FL

Gov. DeSantis Signs Major Property Act into Law, Protecting Families and Endangered Species

Today, Governor Ron DeSantis signed the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act (UPHPA) into law, marking a major victory for Florida’s families. The bill, sponsored by state Senator Randolph Bracy (D-Orlando) and state Representative Loranne Ausley (D-Tallahassee), helps protect the transfer of wealth between generations of families who use a simple will or pass without a will. Because a majority of low-income and minority Floridians don’t have wills, this law will help transfer wealth among many people who need it the most.
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