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brown bear
ANCHORAGE, ALASKA

Trump Administration Opens Door to Bear Baiting, Den Hunting in Alaska Preserves

The National Park Service finalized a regulation that abdicates the agency's responsibility to manage wildlife in Alaska's national preserves, deferring instead to state regulations. Defenders of Wildlife condemns the rule, which mirrors a 2020 regulation promulgated by the first Trump administration that was later withdrawn and replaced in 2024.
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Washington, DC

BLM Prepares Illegal Move to Open Ouray National Wildlife Refuge to Oil & Gas, a Dangerous Precedent for Wildlife

Defenders of Wildlife is calling on BLM to withdrawal an unprecedented proposal to open Ouray National Wildlife Refuge in Utah to new oil and gas leasing.
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Jake Li Testimony at EPW
WASHINGTON, D.C.

A Much-Needed Win for Wildlife: Senate Introduces Bill to Improve Endangered Species Act Implementation

Senators Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Pete Rickets (R-NE) today introduced the Improving Species Recovery Act, an important bipartisan bill that would improve implementation of the Endangered Species Act.

Press Releases

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Wild Mexican Gray Wolf Pup - Sheepherders Baseball Park Pack - New Mexico
Phoenix, Ariz.

81,000 Demand Support for Long-term Mexican Gray Wolf Conservation

More than 81,000 people called on the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) this week to establish stronger protections for endangered Mexican gray wolves.
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Lone Horseshoe Crab
Washington, DC

Fisheries Commission Board Advances Horseshoe Crab Proposal That Threatens Red Knot Shorebird

A horseshoe crab management board within the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission accepted a proposal today that poses a significant threat to the red knot, a declining migratory shorebird whose numbers reached a record low in Delaware Bay last spring.
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Bald eagle sitting at the top of an evergreen tree
Madison, WI

Judge Halts Power Line Through Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife Refuge

Defenders of Wildlife and three other conservation groups – the National Wildlife Refuge Association, Driftless Area Land Conservancy, Wisconsin Wildlife Federation – prevailed on January
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Lindsay Rosa headshot
Washington, DC

Defenders of Wildlife Names Dr. Lindsay Rosa as Center for Conservation Innovation Director

Defenders of Wildlife is pleased to announce that Dr. Lindsay Rosa is the new director of Defenders’ Center for Conservation Innovation (CCI). Rosa joined Defenders in 2019 as head of CCI’s science team.
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Horshoe crabs
Washington, DC

Horseshoe Crab Management Proposal Could Further Imperil Threatened Red Knot Shorebird

A coalition of conservation groups has warned regional fishery managers that a proposed change to the rules governing horseshoe crab removal in Delaware Bay threatens the red knot, a declining migratory shorebird whose numbers along the bay reached a record low last spring.
Senior Vice President, External Affairs
lsheehan@defenders.org
(202) 772-3244
Communications Director
mdewane@defenders.org
(202) 772-0217
Communications Specialist
jcovey@defenders.org
Communications Specialist
kirby@defenders.org
(202) 772-3268
Communications Specialist
estern@defenders.org
202-772-0243