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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.
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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.
Press Releases
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Biden Administration Must Stop Illegal Horseshoe Crab Harvest
Today, Defenders of Wildlife called on President Biden to immediately put a stop to the illegal harvest of horseshoe crabs at Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge in South Carolina.
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Plans for Offshore Wind in California Unveiled
Today, California Governor Gavin Newsom along with Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, White House National Climate Advisor Gina McCarthy, and Under Secretary of Defense for Policy
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New study shows Australia guilty of the world’s largest downgrading of a marine national park
When vast sections of the Coral Sea Marine Park were opened up to commercial fishing in 2018 it was the largest downgrading of a protected area in history, according to a new study.
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Capitol Hill Hearing Examines Biodiversity Loss and Need for National Strategy
On May 19, the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works held a full committee hearing about biodiversity loss and the drivers, impacts and potential solutions. The event featured Defenders of Wildlife Science Advisory, Dr. Leah Gerber, a leading biodiversity scientist.
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Rare Red Wolves Released in North Carolina after Federal Court Ruling
Red wolf captive breeding facilities today announced the release of four rare Red Wolves into eastern North Carolina after conservation groups won a federal court ruling in January that required the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to prepare a plan to release captive Red Wolves into the wild to avoid irreversible harm to the highly endangered population during ongoing litigation.
jcovey@defenders.org
