Image
Defenders of Wildlife Submits Technical Comments and Over 8,400 Public Comments in Efforts to Stop Harmful ESA Proposals
Defenders of Wildlife today submitted its technical comments opposing the Trump administration’s proposals to weaken the Endangered Species Act’s implementing regulations.
Image
Defenders Slams SPEED Act as it Speeds Toward Habitat Destruction
Defenders of Wildlife condemns Rep. Bruce Westerman’s (R-AR) SPEED ACT, H.R. 4776 the Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economic Development Act, ahead of Thursday’s expected floor vote in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Image
ESA Amendments Act Poses a Historic Threat to America’s Wildlife
Defenders of Wildlife remains on high alert as it braces for the House Natural Resources Committee’s full markup of Rep. Bruce Westerman’s (R-AR) Endangered Species Amendments Act of 2025. More aptly labeled the Extinction Act, the bill seeks to eviscerate the Endangered Species Act, stripping away decades of crucial protections for America’s wildlife and their habitats.
Press Releases
Image
Gulf of Maine Lobster Fishery Loses ‘Sustainable’ Label Over Concerns About North Atlantic Right Whale Entanglements
The Marine Stewardship Council and Seafood Watch decided to revoke the sustainability label for Gulf of Maine lobster, citing concerns over endangered North Atlantic right whales becoming entangled in fishing gear. The decision comes after Defenders of Wildlife and other conservation groups acted in June 2022 to protect the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale by formally objecting to a determination that the fishery should be recertified. MSC certification is widely recognized in grocery stores with a “blue fish tick” ecolabel.
Image
Judge Allows Biden Administration to Delay Restoring Critical Endangered Species Act Protections
In a major setback for wildlife protection and conservation, a federal district court today sided with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and NOAA Fisheries, delaying the restoration of comprehensive Endangered Species Act protections for hundreds of species and the places they call home.
Image
Lawsuit Challenges Army Corps Decision Imperiling Wetlands Near Okefenokee Swamp
On behalf of Defenders of Wildlife and three other conservation groups, the Southern Environmental Law Center today challenged in federal court a decision by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to unlawfully reinstate jurisdictional determinations that removed Clean Water Act protections from almost 600 acres of wetlands on the doorstep of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge.
Image
Preserving Vital Habitat in Alaska's Western Arctic
Alaska's western Arctic encompasses a vast, wild stretch of land called the National Petroleum Reserve – Alaska. At 23 million acres it is the largest single unit of public land in the nation. That's about the same size as the entire state of Indiana! Learn more from our new ArcGIS StoryMap.
Image
Defenders of Wildlife Calls for Countries to Support CITES Protections for Wildlife Amidst Biodiversity Crisis
Defenders of Wildlife’s team of international lawyers are attending the 19th Conference of the Parties (COP 19) of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) to support countries seeking increased trade regulations for imperiled species.
jcovey@defenders.org
