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Defenders of Wildlife Applauds Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission for Tightening Protections for Listed Species
Defenders of Wildlife welcomes today’s action by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to end open permitting for the capture of ESA-threatened marine species in Florida waters for public display and exhibition purposes.
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Legal Intervention Aims to Protect North Atlantic Right Whales From Deadly Ship Strikes
Conservation groups today filed a motion to intervene to help fight a lawsuit aimed at overturning a seasonal speed rule protecting North Atlantic right whales from deadly vessel strikes. The groups want to defend the rule against a lawsuit brought by a New York vessel owner fined for violating seasonal speed limits. The suit alleges that NOAA Fisheries lacked the statutory authority to issue the rule.
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Final Rescission of Public Lands Rule Reverses Modern Land Management, Threatens Wildlife Habitat
The Bureau of Land Management today announced a decision to roll back the Conservation and Landscape Health Rule, commonly referred to as the Public Lands Rule. The policy modernized how BLM manages our national public lands and represented the critical incorporation of ecological resilience into management alongside traditional resource extraction.
Press Releases
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Lawsuit Filed to Protect Imperiled Gulf and Mississippi River Species from Bonnet Carré Spillway Impacts
Defenders of Wildlife and Healthy Gulf (formerly Gulf Restoration Network) filed a federal lawsuit in the Southern District of Mississippi against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Mississippi River Commission for violating the Endangered Species Act by failing to consult with federal wildlife agencies on the consequences of opening the Bonnet Carré Spillway on numerous endangered and threatened species.
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Alexander Archipelago Wolves Need Urgent Help Following Record Killings in Alaska’s Tongass National Forest
Conservation groups today called on the U.S. Forest Service to take immediate steps to protect Alexander Archipelago wolves on Prince of Wales Island in the Tongass National Forest following word that 165 wolves – representing 97% of the most recent population estimate – were killed this past trapping season.
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Lawsuit Launched to Overturn Trump Administration’s Denial of Protection for California Spotted Owl
Today, conservation groups filed a formal notice of intent to sue the Trump administration over its failure to protect the California spotted owl under the Endangered Species Act.
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Trump Administration Issues 28th Border Wall Waiver
As reported in the Federal Register today, the Trump administration has issued another waiver of environmental and public safety laws to expedite border wall construction in Texas. This marks the 28th such waiver issued by this administration and will cover two tracts of the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge, one of the most biologically diverse landscapes in the continental United States.
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Okefenokee Swamp and St. Marys River named Among America’s Most Endangered Rivers of 2020
American Rivers today named the Okefenokee Swamp and St. Marys River among America’s Most Endangered Rivers®, citing the threat titanium mining would pose to the waterways’ clean water, wetlands and wildlife habitat. American Rivers and its partners called on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and other permitting agencies to deny any proposals that risk the long-term protection of the Okefenokee Swamp and St. Marys River.
jcovey@defenders.org
