Image
Judge Vacates Land Exchange, Halts Road Through Izembek National Wildlife Refuge
A federal judge today vacated an illegal closed-door deal between the U.S. Department of the Interior and a for-profit Alaska Native corporation, King Cove Corp., that exchanged a 10.5-mile corridor of Izembek National Wildlife Refuge and Wilderness lands to enable a road connecting King Cove and Cold Bay.
Image
Defenders Strongly Opposes USDA Proposal to Dismantle Long-Standing Protections for National Forests
The United States Department of Agriculture today announced that the U.S. Forest Service has filed a proposed rule to fully rescind the national 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule — a bedrock conservation policy that has protected nearly 45 million acres of undeveloped backcountry forests for over two decades.
Image
Defenders Joins Conservationists In Blasting Federal Proposal to Bulldoze Forestlands
Conservation groups today called a plan by the Trump administration to rescind the U.S. Forest Service’s Roadless Area Conversation Rule an alarming threat to national forests that are overwhelmingly loved by Americans.
Press Releases
Image
6 Ways to Take Action on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge’s 60th Anniversary
In 1960, Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower created the Arctic National Wildlife Range “for the purpose of preserving unique wildlife, wilderness, and recreational values.” Twenty years later, President Jimmy Carter expanded the range and renamed the area as Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Image
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Polar Bears on the Auction Block
The Bureau of Land Management announced today that it will hold an oil and gas lease sale on January 6 for the coastal plain of Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, one of the nation’s premier national wildlife refuges.
Image
Congress Announces National Strategy to Protect our Nation’s Biodiversity
As a result of human-related activities, the loss of species is accelerating faster than ever before in human history according to scientists. The consequences of
Image
Emergency Petition Seeks to Protect Endangered North Atlantic Right Whales From Fishing Gear
Conservation and wildlife-protection groups today filed an emergency rulemaking petition to protect critically endangered North Atlantic right whales from becoming entangled in commercial fishing gear.
Image
Ill-Conceived Change to Thunder Basin National Grassland Management Plan Quashes Hope for Successful Black-Footed Ferret Recovery
The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) released a record of decision today on a management plan amendment for Thunder Basin National Grassland in Wyoming, finalizing a rollback of crucial protections for prairie dogs at the site. The end of these protections is a fatal blow to the prospective reintroduction of critically endangered black-footed ferrets to Thunder Basin, which has been managed as a future reintroduction site since 1988.
jcovey@defenders.org
