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Senate Votes to Prioritize Oil Over Arctic Conservation
The United States Senate today approved resolutions under the Congressional Review Act to overturn previous Biden administration protections for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, clearing the way for expanded oil and gas drilling.
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Trump Proposal Puts America’s Most Vulnerable and Valuable Coastal Resources in the Crosshairs
Protected areas across United States coasts are in the sights of a new oil and gas drilling proposal released on Thursday by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.
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Trump Administration Seeks ESA Regulatory Rollbacks, Risks Accelerating Extinction for America’s Most Vulnerable Wildlife
In a move that could accelerate the extinction crisis we face today, the Trump administration today proposed significant changes to the regulations implementing the Endangered Species Act, which, for more than 50 years, has served as the backstop to America’s most imperiled wildlife.
Press Releases
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Five Ways to Make Every Vote Count for Wildlife and Us
It's the day after the election and as the votes are tallied—perhaps for days ahead—Americans continue to face increasingly heated rhetoric, political polarization, COVID-19-related anxiety, protests against racism in our society and a growing concern for personal and public safety. The stakes are high and pressure even higher.
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Right Whale Consortium: Only 356 North Atlantic Right Whales Survive
An already-dire situation became dramatically more alarming Monday, as the federal agency responsible for protecting the North Atlantic right whale substantially reduced its past population estimates for this critically endangered species. Although the National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries) originally estimated that there were 412 right whales alive as of January 2018, it has now reduced that number to 383 based on new scientific analysis of an unprecedented number of right whale deaths. Even more alarmingly, it announced an estimate of only 366 right whales alive as of January 2019.
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Members of Congress Urge Negotiators to Keep Sage-Grouse Rider out of FY21 Bill
Congress has continuously passed annual appropriations riders blocking FWS from carrying out its responsibilities under the ESA to assure the viability of the greater sage-grouse since 2014. If the rider is included in this year’s final language, it would mean FWS would not be able to act on protecting the grouse until October 2021.
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U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Strips Federal Protections from Gray Wolves
Today, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced its final plan to delist the gray wolf from federal Endangered Species Act protections in the Lower
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McEachin Letter Urges FWS to Take Action to Save Critically Endangered American Red Wolf
Congressman A. Donald McEachin (VA-04) today announced his letter to U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary David Bernhardt, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Aurelia Skipwith, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Southeast Regional Director Leopoldo Miranda urging the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to immediately take the action necessary to conserve the wild population of the critically endangered American Red Wolf.
jcovey@defenders.org
