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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.
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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.
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Court Rules Habitat Must Be Protected After FWS Attempts to Waive Protections for Less Than 40 Sierra Nevada Red Fox
Defenders of Wildlife earned a significant victory for the Endangered Species Act today when a federal district court found that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's decision to not designate critical habitat for the endangered Sierra Nevada red fox was a violation of the law.
Press Releases
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Despite False Claims, Trump’s Environmental Agenda is the Worst in Recent History
Today, President Trump will hold a White House press conference to greenwash his terrible environmental record. The Trump administration has attempted to roll back, undermine and obliterate our nation’s bedrock environmental laws, like the Endangered Species Act, Migratory Bird Treaty Act and National Environmental Policy Act among others in an effort to appease the oil and gas industry and other extractive industries making it easier to develop on our nation’s public lands.
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Lead Ammunition Officially Banned for Hunting Use in California
Today marks the official end of lead ammunition use in hunting in the state of California.
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Pro-Wildlife Package Sails Through House; House Defeats Bad Arctic Refuge, Right Whale Riders
The House has approved key natural resource sections in the Interior-Environment and Commerce-Justice-Science funding bills, of H.R. 3055, the second minibus of fiscal year 2020 appropriations bills. The Interior Appropriations bill provides an extraordinary $37 million increase for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s endangered species program to support recovery efforts for our most vulnerable species.
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Lawsuit Launched Over Trump Administration Failure to Update Outdated Red Wolf Recovery Plan
The Center for Biological Diversity and Defenders of Wildlife today filed a formal notice of intent to sue the Trump administration for failing to prepare an updated recovery plan for the United States’ rapidly dwindling population of endangered Red Wolves.
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Lawsuit Seeks Endangered Species Protections for Lesser Prairie Chickens
Conservation groups today sued the Trump administration for failing to protect severely imperiled lesser prairie chickens under the Endangered Species Act.
jcovey@defenders.org
