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In a Gift to Industry, The Trump Administration Eliminates Protections for Threatened Species and Essential Habitat
In a devastating blow to wildlife, the Trump administration today finalized rollbacks of two regulations implementing the Endangered Species Act that will hamstring the protection and recovery of endangered and threatened species.
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More Red Wolf Pups Shows Promising Growth for Critically Endangered Canid
The Red Wolf Recovery Program in North Carolina confirmed the birth of four wild litters of Red Wolf pups in eastern North Carolina, home to the only population of wild Red Wolves in the world.
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Defenders Calls Foul on Latest Bill Seeking to Delay Protections for the Critically Endangered North Atlantic Right Whale
Defenders of Wildlife condemns HR 9436, which would delay right whale protections until 2035, as entanglements push the species toward extinction.
Press Releases
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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
