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CA Mountains
SACRAMENTO, CA

California Legislature Sends Landmark Wildlife Coexistence Bill to Governor

The California state legislature today passed with bipartisan support a landmark bill to re-establish the statewide Wildlife Coexistence Program within the Department of Fish and Wildlife, which will better manage and reduce human-wildlife conflict through non-lethal and proactive strategies.
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Tongass Nat'l Forest
WASHINGTON, D.C.

Defenders Joins Recreation, Conservation Groups to Unite Against Forest Service Travel Rule Rollback

The U.S. Department of Agriculture launched a process to significantly revise its Travel Management Rule, which guides where motorized vehicles are and are not allowed on almost 200 million acres of national forests and grasslands
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landscape photo showing dense forest environment in the foreground and a snow mountain peak into the distance
Washington, DC

BLM Proposal Puts Wildlife and Public Lands at Risk, Sends Taxpayers the Bill

Defenders of Wildlife and coalition partners oppose BLM's proposed Oil & Gas Rule that will harm wildlife, weaken bonding requirements and limit public input.

Press Releases

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Loggerhead sea turtle
St. Petersburg, FL

Feds to Be Sued for Weakening Sea Turtle Protections

Conservation groups issued a formal notice today of their intent to sue the National Marine Fisheries Service for drastically weakening rules that prevent sea turtles from dying in shrimp trawl nets.
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Misty Forest - Green Swamp Preserve - North Carolina
Washington, DC

Lawsuit: Stop Trump administration’s parting shot at national forests

A lawsuit filed today seeks to reverse the Trump administration’s elimination of critical safeguards that have protected national forests from unneeded, ill-conceived and destructive logging, road building, and utility right-of-way projects.
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Polar Bears
Washington, DC

Trump Administration Attempt to Sell Out the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Flops

Today’s lease sale for the coastal plain of Arctic National Wildlife Refuge continues the Trump administration’s destructive attack on our nation’s public lands and wildlife. Today, three entities were identified as the successful bidders on 11 tracts, yielding a paltry $7 million to the federal treasury because the state of Alaska receives half of the sale price of $14 million. The failed lease sale underscores a lack of interest in developing the Arctic refuge and sets up an incoming Biden administration to reverse course to permanently protect the refuge.
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Pair of ruby throated hummingbirds on a branch
Washington, DC

Trump Administration Pulls Protections for Migratory Birds

Despite nearly 200,000 public comments defending the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) and a decisive loss in the federal courts, the administration is still trying to cement into law its (now illegal) plan to strip protections from migratory birds.
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Polar Bear
Anchorage, AK

Bureau of Land Management Finalizes Western Arctic Drilling Plan

Today, the Bureau of Land Management released the Record of Decision for a revised Integrated Activity Plan for the 22 million-acre National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (Reserve), located in the state’s Western Arctic region.
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