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Salt Marsh - Cumberland Island
ST. MARYS, GEORGIA

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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2019.08.07 - Florida Panther looking straight at camera - MS 45 - fStop Foundation
WASHINGTON, D.C.

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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A close up of the face of a Sierra Nevada Red Fox at the edge of a forest in Deschutes County, Oregon.
Washington, D.C.

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

Kerry-Lieberman bill a welcome step forward in addressing climate change

Defenders of Wildlife expresses concerns about offshore oil provisions (05/12/2010) - Summary: The need to advance comprehensive climate & energy legislation is more urgent than
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Polar Bear
Washington, DC

Defenders' Statement on the Continued Support for Offshore Drilling by Members of Congress

Today, Sen. Lisa Murkowski said at an Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing that, "The production of energy will never be without risk or environmental consequence." She was joined by others in voicing a continued need for oil and gas drilling off of U.S. shores, despite the ongoing Gulf oil spill disaster.
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Pacific walrus
Washington, DC

Offshore Arctic drilling still scheduled in less than 60 days

Suspending Arctic offshore drilling this summer is the first real test of whether this administration is going to be serious about addressing oil spill response capacity and learning something from the Gulf spill.
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Polar Bear
Portland, OR

Time out on Arctic offshore oil drilling needed

Thirteen Alaska Native and conservation groups represented by Earthjustice are heading to federal court today to argue a legal challenge against the federal government’s October and December 2009 approvals of exploratory oil drilling plans for the Shell Oil Company in the Arctic Ocean’s Chukchi and Beaufort seas.
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Polar Bear
Washington, DC

Sec. Salazar Urged to Reconsider Shell Oil’s Exploratory Drilling Planned for the Arctic Ocean in Less Than 60 Days

In light of the ongoing Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, Alaska Native communities and conservation groups sent a letter to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar today urging him to reconsider his approval of exploratory drilling by Shell Oil due to begin in Alaska’s Arctic Ocean in less than 60 days.
Senior Vice President, External Affairs
lsheehan@defenders.org
(202) 772-3244
Communications Director
mdewane@defenders.org
(202) 772-0217
Communications Specialist
jcovey@defenders.org
Communications Specialist
kirby@defenders.org
(202) 772-3268
Communications Specialist
estern@defenders.org
202-772-0243