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Defenders of Wildlife Challenges Unprecedented “God Squad” Exemption Allowing Unchecked Gulf Oil Drilling
Defenders of Wildlife today announced it is taking legal action to overturn an unprecedented and unlawful decision by the Endangered Species Committee, known as the “God Squad,” to exempt federal authorizations of oil and gas activities in the Gulf of Mexico through a blanket exemption from the Endangered Species Act’s protections.
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Oregon Governor Signs Historic Bill Investing in the Environment
Defenders of Wildlife is celebrating a monumental victory for wildlife, wild places and local economies in Oregon. Passed with bipartisan support and signed yesterday by
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Congress Urged to Fully Fund U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Restore Workforce
The Center for Biological Diversity, Defenders of Wildlife and more than 150 conservation groups today urged Congress to significantly increase the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s budget for endangered species conservation from $299 million to $870 million.
Press Releases
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Bureau of Land Management Releases Ill-Conceived Proposal for the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan
Today the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released a proposed amendment to the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan (DRECP), initially approved under the Obama administration in 2016.
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Statement from Defenders of Wildlife Regarding Impeachment of President Trump
Defenders of Wildlife’s President & CEO Jamie Rappaport Clark released the following statement in reaction to the congressional effort to impeach President Trump for his role in inciting violence and attacking our constitutional framework.
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Feds Sued to Force Them to Protect Endangered North Atlantic Right Whales From Vessel Strikes
Conservation groups sued the National Marine Fisheries Service today for failing to respond to two rulemaking petitions to protect critically endangered right whales from being run over and killed by ships and boats in U.S. waters. The groups are calling for more speed limits to reduce the number of vessel strikes.
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Congress Introduces Roadless Area Conservation Act of 2021
The Roadless Area Conservation Rule was adopted by the U.S. Forest Service on January 12, 2001 to conserve wildlands, watersheds and wildlife habitat within national forest lands by preventing development within areas that had not been touched by road building and logging. Protecting nearly 60 million acres of unroaded areas within the national forest system, the rule is one of America’s most important conservation achievements.
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Eleventh Hour Rule to Further Weaken Laws to Protect Endangered Species
The Trump administration proposed an eleventh-hour rule yesterday that would significantly diminish the strength of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) by allowing federal regulators to ignore new information about the impacts of U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) plans governing actions that have the potential to harm ESA-listed species, such as logging, roadbuilding, oil and gas leasing and other habitat-disturbing activities.
jcovey@defenders.org
