Image
Defenders Expands Legal Challenge to Trump Administration’s Assault on Endangered Species Act
Defenders of Wildlife today filed an amended complaint challenging the Trump administration’s escalating effort to dismantle longstanding protections for threatened and endangered wildlife under the Endangered Species Act.
Image
NPS Land Swaps and Visitor Plan Open the Door to Devastating Impacts at Cumberland Island
In advance of a public hearing on proposed land exchanges on Cumberland Island National Seashore, Defenders of Wildlife called on the National Park Service to remedy a host of management issues facing one of the largest undeveloped barrier islands on the East Coast.
Image
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Memo Underscores Trump Administration’s All-Fronts War on Wildlife
Brian Nesvik, director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, issued a memorandum explaining to FWS staff that the Endangered Species Act’s prohibition on unauthorized “take” applies only to affirmative acts intentionally and purposefully directed at a particular animal. This follows the Trump administration’s rescission of the regulatory definitions of “harm” under the ESA, which took effect this week.
Press Releases
Image
DOI Trades Away Alaskan Refuges, Sells Out Public Lands
The Trump administration dealt a blow to the National Wildlife Refuge System by removing protections from the Arctic and Izembek National Wildlife Refuges. During what
Image
Proposed Biodiversity Credit Pilot Program a First for Tribes, Healthy Grasslands
A new conservation pilot program will offer industry leaders the opportunity to contribute to the return of bison to tribal lands, which will in turn
Image
Defenders Offers Reward for Information on Sea Otter Poaching
The U.S Fish and Wildlife Service confirmed that a federally protected sea otter was illegally tortured and killed in February 2025. Both FWS and Defenders
Image
Newsom Signs Bill to Save Native Species from Federal Protections Rollbacks
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into state law Assembly Bill 1319, which was sponsored by Defenders of Wildlife and authored by Assemblymember Nick Schultz (D-Burbank), which
Image
Assault on Endangered Species Protections Continues with New Bill to Delist Gray Wolves
Defenders of Wildlife is sounding the alarm over the latest congressional attack on gray wolves following the introduction of the Pacific Northwest Gray Wolves Relief
jcovey@defenders.org
