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Defenders Expands Legal Challenge to Trump Administration’s Assault on Endangered Species Act
Defenders of Wildlife today filed an amended complaint challenging the Trump administration’s escalating effort to dismantle longstanding protections for threatened and endangered wildlife under the Endangered Species Act.
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NPS Land Swaps and Visitor Plan Open the Door to Devastating Impacts at Cumberland Island
In advance of a public hearing on proposed land exchanges on Cumberland Island National Seashore, Defenders of Wildlife called on the National Park Service to remedy a host of management issues facing one of the largest undeveloped barrier islands on the East Coast.
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U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Memo Underscores Trump Administration’s All-Fronts War on Wildlife
Brian Nesvik, director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, issued a memorandum explaining to FWS staff that the Endangered Species Act’s prohibition on unauthorized “take” applies only to affirmative acts intentionally and purposefully directed at a particular animal. This follows the Trump administration’s rescission of the regulatory definitions of “harm” under the ESA, which took effect this week.
Press Releases
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New Report Advances Climate Adaptation Plans for Wildlife
This week, the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies announced the release of a new report “ Advancing the National Fish, Wildlife, and Plants Climate
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Court Sides with World’s Most Endangered Wolf
Last week, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina ruled that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service must resume releasing captive Red Wolves into the wild, a major victory for the species. The case, filed on behalf of Defenders of Wildlife, Red Wolf Coalition and Animal Welfare Institute by the Southern Environmental Law Center, will help bolster the wild population which resides in the Red Wolf Recovery Area in Eastern North Carolina.
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Defenders of Wildlife Petitions to Protect Imperiled Shortfin Mako Shark
Defenders of Wildlife today petitioned the National Marine Fisheries Service to protect the shortfin mako shark under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The species has declined dramatically across the world’s oceans because of overfishing and fisheries bycatch. The shortfin mako is the fastest-swimming shark on record.
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Thirteenth Critically Endangered Right Whale Calf of the Season Spotted Near Georgia
Yesterday, NOAA Fisheries announced that a newborn North Atlantic right whale had been spotted near Wassaw Island, Georgia, making it the 13th calf of the 2020-2021 calving season. The newborn was accompanied by its 14-year-old mother. This calf is the mother’s first.
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Inauguration Day Brings Hope for Wildlife
President & CEO Jamie Rappaport Clark on the inauguration of Joe Biden as President of the United States.
jcovey@defenders.org
