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New Defenders Report Analyzes Strengths and Gaps in Section 4(d) Protections for Threatened Species
Defenders of Wildlife today released a report assessing how federal wildlife agencies have applied section 4(d) of the Endangered Species Act over the past decade.
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Defenders Presses Forward in Lawsuit Against ESA 4(d) Rescission
Defenders of Wildlife today filed an amended complaint challenging the Trump administration’s rescission of the Endangered Species Act’s blanket 4(d) rule with co-plaintiffs, the Center for Biological Diversity.
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Black-Footed Ferrets Secure Critical Win, Following Public Outcry
A transmission line in Kansas will be modified to avoid impact on the endangered black-footed ferret, a significant win driven by individuals across the Plains.
Press Releases
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Court: Feds Failing to Protect North Atlantic Right Whales From Lobster Gear Entanglements
A federal judge ruled yesterday that the National Marine Fisheries Service’s authorization and management of the American lobster fishery violates the federal Endangered Species Act. The court held that the agency failed to protect critically endangered North Atlantic right whales and that its biological opinion on the fishery violated “straightforward” requirements of the Act, putting the whales at greater risk of entanglement.
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FWS Orders Four Lobos Killed During Lobo Week
Following on the heels of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (FWS) recent news of a record annual increase in the wild population of endangered Mexican gray wolves, the agency issued kill orders which created a deadly month in lobo management.
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Freeing the Ocklawaha River
Between November 2019 and the end of February 2020, those looking over the edge of the Rodman Dam could glimpse a ghostly forest of long-dead cypress trees normally deep beneath the water of the Rodman Reservoir. This haunting sight is a rarity, coming once every few years as the Florida Department of Environmental Protection draws down the reservoir, exposing the historic path of the once-mighty Ocklawaha River.
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Final State Budget Funds Wildlife Projects, Delays Studies for Dam Management
Last week Gov. Jay Inslee finalized the state’s fiscal year 2020 operating budget, allocating urgent funds for the COVID-19 pandemic response.
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Lawsuit Challenging Diversion of Military Funds for Border Construction Moves Forward
In some good news in the fight against the building of the border wall, which would be devastating for wildlife, a District Court Judge ruled Thursday that a key challenge in our lawsuit can move forward: whether President Trump can legally divert $3.6 billion in military funds to build a wall.
jcovey@defenders.org
