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Trump Administration Advances Roadless Rule Repeal at the Expense of Wildlife, Clean Water and Public Will
The U.S. Department of Agriculture today released its proposed rule and draft environmental impact statement seeking to rescind the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, a bedrock law that protects 45 million acres of national forests managed by the U.S. Forest Service.
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Judge Vacates Land Exchange, Halts Road Through Izembek National Wildlife Refuge
A federal judge today vacated an illegal closed-door deal between the U.S. Department of the Interior and a for-profit Alaska Native corporation, King Cove Corp., that exchanged a 10.5-mile corridor of Izembek National Wildlife Refuge and Wilderness lands to enable a road connecting King Cove and Cold Bay.
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Defenders Strongly Opposes USDA Proposal to Dismantle Long-Standing Protections for National Forests
The United States Department of Agriculture today announced that the U.S. Forest Service has filed a proposed rule to fully rescind the national 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule — a bedrock conservation policy that has protected nearly 45 million acres of undeveloped backcountry forests for over two decades.
Press Releases
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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.
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Defenders Applauds Creation of Castner Range National Monument in Texas
Defenders of Wildlife praised President Biden for establishing Castner Range National Monument in El Paso, Texas.
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Defenders Applauds Creation of New National Monument in Nevada
President Biden established Avi Kwa Ame National Monument in southern Nevada today. Also known as “Spirit Mountain,” it protects nearly 380,000 acres of sacred tribal and biologically significant lands in the Mojave Desert, some of which historically has been sought for large-scale energy development. This designation also links key desert tortoise habitat in Nevada and California and creates important wildlife corridors for bighorn sheep.
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Thousands of People Submit Comments Against Mining Near Okefenokee
Nearly 10,000 people submitted comments to Georgia’s Environmental Protection Division (EPD) urging Georgia to reject the proposal from Twin Pines Minerals to mine near Okefenokee Swamp.
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Conservation Groups Sue to Stop the Willow Oil Project in Alaska’s Western Arctic
Defenders of Wildlife and other conservation groups, represented by Earthjustice filed a lawsuit late last night to stop the massive Willow oil-drilling project in Alaska’s Western Arctic, which the Biden administration approved on March 13. This enormous new carbon source undermines President Biden’s promises to slash greenhouse-gas emissions in half by 2030 and transition the United States to clean energy.
jcovey@defenders.org
