Image
NPS Land Swaps and Visitor Plan Open the Door to Devastating Impacts at Cumberland Island
In advance of a public hearing on proposed land exchanges on Cumberland Island National Seashore, Defenders of Wildlife called on the National Park Service to remedy a host of management issues facing one of the largest undeveloped barrier islands on the East Coast.
Image
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.
Image
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.
Press Releases
Image
New Agency Public Lands Rule Addresses Sustainability and Climate Change
Today, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the federal agency that manages one in 10 acres of land in the U.S., issued a draft rule intended to modernize the agency’s tools and strategies for managing these vast lands.
Image
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.
Image
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.
Image
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.
Image
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.
jcovey@defenders.org
