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A Much-Needed Win for Wildlife: Senate Introduces Bill to Improve Endangered Species Act Implementation
Senators Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Pete Rickets (R-NE) today introduced the Improving Species Recovery Act, an important bipartisan bill that would improve implementation of the Endangered Species Act.
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Enough is Enough: Senate Blocks Yet Another Attempt to Prioritize Drilling in the Arctic
The Senate today blocked an attempt to pass S. 5438, introduced by Senator Dan Sullivan (R-AK). The bill would have ratified and approved all authorizations, permits, verifications, extensions, biological opinions, incidental take statements and any other approvals or orders issued pursuant to federal law necessary for the establishment and administration of the Coastal Plain oil and gas leasing program, among other purposes.
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Senate Permitting Deal Threatens Bedrock Endangered Species Protections
Defenders of Wildlife today strongly condemned Endangered Species Act provisions reportedly included in a Senate permitting package, warning they would weaken critical protections for imperiled wildlife.
Press Releases
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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.
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Border Communities Oppose Trump Visit, Fear Repeat of Racist Anti-Democratic Violence
President Trump will reportedly visit the Lower Rio Grande Valley this week to promote the border wall, in the middle of congressional action to impeach him for his role inciting insurrection at the U.S. Capitol last week. Border communities rightly see his trip as an immediate threat to community safety and security.
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Politically-Motivated Manatee Harassment is ‘Beyond Cruel and Inhumane’
Today, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission reported they are opening an investigation after a manatee was discovered with severe scarring spelling “TRUMP” on its back in the Homosassa River in Citrus County, Florida. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has listed manatees as “threatened,” having been previously classified as “endangered” until 2017.
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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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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.
jcovey@defenders.org
