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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.
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Construction on Gateway to Road through Izembek Continues
The Ninth Circuit today denied Defenders of Wildlife’s emergency motion to halt construction on King Cove Corp.’s 2.8-mile road segment leading to the doorstep of Izembek National Wildlife Refuge and Wilderness. Defenders’ request for immediate injunctive relief marks the latest stage in its larger effort to block a damaging and precedent-setting road from King Cove to Cold Bay, Alaska, that would plow through the heart of Izembek.
Press Releases
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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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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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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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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.
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Defenders of Wildlife named recipient of Nature's Path 2010 EnviroKidz giving back award
Defenders of Wildlife has announced it was named a recipient of Nature’s Path Organic Foods’ 2010 EnviroKidz Giving Back Award.
jcovey@defenders.org
