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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.
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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.
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Defenders’ Laura Nunes Named to Prestigious ESIIL Working Group
Defenders of Wildlife scientist Laura Nunes has been selected to join the Environmental Data Science Innovation & Impact Lab’s third cohort of working groups.
Press Releases
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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.
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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.
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Court to Revisit Decision to Develop Road Through Izembek National Wildlife Refuge
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals will revisit a decision that upheld a land exchange that would make way for a road that would run through Izembek National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. On November 10, the court threw out the Trump-era decision and ordered a rehearing of the case.
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Shortfin Mako Denied Federal Protections
The highly imperiled shortfin mako shark is being denied federal protection by NOAA Fisheries, which will release its 12-month review of the species this week. In the Federal Register, NOAA Fisheries stated that a listing under the federal Endangered Species Act is ‘not warranted.’ In June 2022, Defenders of Wildlife and the Center for Biological Diversity threatened to sue the agency for failing to meet its statutory deadline to make this decision.
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Fisheries Commission Takes Cautious Approach on Proposal That Threatens Red Knots in Delaware Bay
Conservation groups, including Defenders of Wildlife, commended today’s decision by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission to forego, for now, authorizing a bait harvest of female horseshoe crabs in Delaware Bay, where the crabs’ eggs fuel a globally significant stopover habitat for migratory shorebirds.
jcovey@defenders.org
