Image
Legal Intervention Aims to Protect North Atlantic Right Whales From Deadly Ship Strikes
Conservation groups today filed a motion to intervene to help fight a lawsuit aimed at overturning a seasonal speed rule protecting North Atlantic right whales from deadly vessel strikes. The groups want to defend the rule against a lawsuit brought by a New York vessel owner fined for violating seasonal speed limits. The suit alleges that NOAA Fisheries lacked the statutory authority to issue the rule.
Image
Final Rescission of Public Lands Rule Reverses Modern Land Management, Threatens Wildlife Habitat
The Bureau of Land Management today announced a decision to roll back the Conservation and Landscape Health Rule, commonly referred to as the Public Lands Rule. The policy modernized how BLM manages our national public lands and represented the critical incorporation of ecological resilience into management alongside traditional resource extraction. The rule required science-based decision-making, conservation considerations within multiple land uses and a focus on sustaining public lands for the long-term benefit of wildlife and the American people.
Image
Trump Administration Cancels Critical Offshore Wind Projects and Increases Costs for Taxpayers
The Department of Interior this week announced that two offshore wind companies, Bluepoint Wind and Golden State Wind, have abandoned their developments. According to reports, the companies received some $900 million to walk away from the projects.
Press Releases
Image
Glass Frog Proposal Moves Forward To Full Adoption at CITES After Overwhelming Support
Today, in a late-night session the proposal to list all 158 species of glass frogs on Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora was adopted by consensus after the European Union decided it would not block the proposal in the face of overwhelming support. The proposal was led by fourteen countries, including the host country Panama, Costa Rica, and the U.S.
Image
CITES Proposals for Endangered Sharks Pass First Hurdle at COP19
In a monumental step for marine conservation, two proposals to protect 60 sharks passed the first hurdle towards protection by the 19th Conference of the Parties (CoP19) of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
Image
Lesser Prairie-Chicken Gets Federal Protections
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is listing the lesser prairie-chicken under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The Southern DPS of the lesser prairie-chicken is being listed as endangered. The Northern DPS of the lesser prairie-chicken is being listed as threatened, although Defenders petitioned for it to be endangered, which would provide it stronger protections.
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.
jcovey@defenders.org
