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Defenders Slams SPEED Act as it Speeds Toward Habitat Destruction
Defenders of Wildlife condemns Rep. Bruce Westerman’s (R-AR) SPEED ACT, H.R. 4776 the Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economic Development Act, ahead of Thursday’s expected floor vote in the U.S. House of Representatives.
ESA Amendments Act Poses a Historic Threat to America’s Wildlife
Defenders of Wildlife remains on high alert as it braces for the House Natural Resources Committee’s full markup of Rep. Bruce Westerman’s (R-AR) Endangered Species Amendments Act of 2025. More aptly labeled the Extinction Act, the bill seeks to eviscerate the Endangered Species Act, stripping away decades of crucial protections for America’s wildlife and their habitats.
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House Vote Scheduled on Ending Gray Wolf Protections, Undermining the Endangered Species Act
The House of Representatives is expected this Thursday to vote on ending gray wolf protections, prematurely delisting gray wolves from the Endangered Species Act before
Press Releases
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Sea Otter Tax Fund Legislation Passes Legislature, Moves to Gov. Newsom for Signature
This week, Senate Bill (SB) 587, the California Sea Otter Voluntary Tax Contribution Fund, passed the state legislature and will now move to Governor Newsom’s desk for signature.
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Proposed rule cuts the public out of oil and gas leasing decisions for National Forests
On September 1, the administration will release its plan to make it easier for companies to drill for oil and gas on U.S. Forest Service lands. The proposed rule is scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on Tuesday.
Defenders Sues to Protect Alaska’s Bears and Wolves
A lawsuit filed today in federal District Court in Alaska charges the Interior Department and National Park Service with violating multiple laws when adopting a rule that would open up national preserves in Alaska to hunting practices like baiting brown bears and killing wolves during the denning season.
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New Senate Climate Plan Takes Aim at Fossil Fuel Industry
Today, the Senate Democrats’ Special Committee on the Climate Crisis released its 200-page plan for addressing climate change by accelerating the transition to a clean
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Groups sue Trump agency for illegal plan to expand leasing, drilling in the Reserve
Six groups filed a lawsuit Monday, August 24 in U.S. District Court charging the U.S. Bureau of Land Management with breaking the law by advancing a new management plan for Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve that would give the vast majority of the nation’s largest unit of public land to oil companies. This effort to expand fossil fuel exploitation in the western Arctic would increase harmful climate impacts, diminish public health, degrade land, water and air, and encroach on long-protected areas vital to wildlife and people.
jcovey@defenders.org
