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Defenders of Wildlife Testifies on Opportunities to Collaborate on Improving the Implementation of the Endangered Species Act
Defenders of Wildlife’s vice president of conservation policy Jake Li today testified before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Fisheries, Water, and Wildlife on opportunities to improve implementation of the Endangered Species Act.
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House Set to Vote on Misleading Bill Blocking Regulation of Lead Ammunition on Federal Lands
The United States House of Representatives is expected this Wednesday to vote on H.R. 556 – Protecting Access for Hunters and Anglers Act of 2025.
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First-of-its-Kind Study Sheds Light on Forest Thinning Impacts on Pinyon Jays
Though the pinyon jay population continues to decline at alarming rates, until now the threats facing it remained largely under-researched. Defenders of Wildlife, along with
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Biden Administration Restores Roadless Area Protections to Tongass National Forest
Today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reinstated the national Roadless Area Conservation Rule in the Tongass National Forest in Southeast Alaska. The move restricts development on roughly 9.3 million acres in North America’s largest temperate rainforest.
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Vessel Strikes to Blame for Series of Whale Deaths?
On a cold winter beach in New Jersey, onlookers huddled around a 30-foot dead humpback whale lying on the sand. This was one of more than a dozen whales that have washed up on beaches along the U.S. East Coast since the beginning of December 2022. Five of these whales washed up in New Jersey, two in New York and others on the coasts of states from Maine to Florida. A total of 178 humpback whales have washed up along East Coast beaches since 2016, leading the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to declare an “unusual mortality event.” An investigation is underway.
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Biden Administration Sinks Emergency Petition to Shield Right Whale Moms, Calves From Vessel Strikes
NOAA Fisheries today denied an emergency petition that sought to protect critically endangered North Atlantic right whales from being struck and killed by vessels in their calving grounds off the coast of the southeast United States. The species is down to about 70 reproductive females.
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Defenders Urges Georgia to Reject Okefenokee Mining Permits as Comment Period Opens
Today, Georgia’s Environmental Protection Division opened a 60-day comment period on Twin Pines Minerals’ application to mine near the Okefenokee Swamp.
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Right Whale Calves Bring Hope for the Species, but They Face an Uncertain Future
The birth of 11 North Atlantic right whale calves this breeding season so far is an encouraging sign for one of the most endangered whale species in the world. However, this time of year is one of the whales' most vulnerable, as ship strikes account for many calf deaths.
jcovey@defenders.org
