Newsroom

St. Petersburg, Fl.

September 23, 2024

Florida Manatees to Receive Nearly 2 Million Acres of Revised Protected Habitat

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Monday proposed a revised critical habitat plan that would protect 1,904,191 acres of critical habitat for the Florida

CHARLESTON, SC

September 18, 2024

Defenders of Wildlife Statement on Dismissal of Challenge to Cape Romain Refuge Management

Defenders of Wildlife celebrates today the dismissal of a challenge by the state of South Carolina to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s authority to

Washington, DC

September 18, 2024

More Than 80 Conservation Groups Call on Members of Congress To Oppose New House Bill Targeting Endangered Species Act

More than 80 conservation groups representing millions of Americans are calling on members of Congress to oppose a new bill (H.R. 9533) targeting the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The “ESA Amendments Act of 2024,” which House Natural Resources Chair Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) is proposing, would dramatically weaken the bedrock environmental law by decreasing protections for threatened and endangered species and rewriting key portions of it.

Press Releases

Charleston, S.C.

April 7, 2023

Limits on Horseshoe Crab Harvest Protect Threatened Shorebirds

Yesterday, the Southern Environmental Law Center, on behalf of Defenders of Wildlife and the Coastal Conservation League, obtained a major win for threatened red knots just as they come to South Carolina to feed on newly spawned horseshoe crab eggs.

Anchorage, AK

April 3, 2023

Federal Judge Allows Construction to Proceed in ConocoPhillips’ Willow Project in Alaska

A federal judge today ruled in favor of oil giant ConocoPhillips by denying a motion for preliminary injunction brought by Defenders of Wildlife (represented by Earthjustice) and other environmental organizations as part of a lawsuit challenging the Willow project in Alaska’s Western Arctic.

Washington, DC

March 30, 2023

New Agency Public Lands Rule Addresses Sustainability and Climate Change

Today, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the federal agency that manages one in 10 acres of land in the U.S., issued a draft rule intended to modernize the agency’s tools and strategies for managing these vast lands.

Washington, DC

March 23, 2023

Pro-Extinction Lawmakers in House Launch New Attack on the Endangered Species Act

Today, the U.S. House of Representatives Natural Resources Committee Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries began their first hearings on three bills that would drastically undermine the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) and efforts to combat the dire climate change and biodiversity crises. The bills under consideration are among the 13 anti-ESA bills that have already been introduced in the House this Congress.