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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.
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Court Rules Habitat Must Be Protected After FWS Attempts to Waive Protections for Less Than 40 Sierra Nevada Red Fox
Defenders of Wildlife earned a significant victory for the Endangered Species Act today when a federal district court found that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's decision to not designate critical habitat for the endangered Sierra Nevada red fox was a violation of the law.
Press Releases
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Court upholds prohibition of brown bear baiting in the Kenai Refuge
A coalition of groups hailed a federal court decision last week that upheld a 2016 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service rule that enshrines the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge’s long-standing prohibition on brown bear baiting, along with its decades-long approach of managing the Skilak Wildlife Recreation Area for wildlife viewing and education.
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Conservation Groups Urge Appropriators to Oppose Sage-Grouse Rider
In a letter sent to key House and Senate appropriations negotiators, environmental groups recently urged that language used to prohibit the greater sage-grouse from being given Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections be omitted from this year’s final bill language.
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Environmental Attorney to Expand New Defenders of Wildlife Gulf Coast Program
Defenders of Wildlife has expanded its reach in the southeastern U.S., hiring Florida-based attorney Elizabeth Neville to become its first senior Gulf Coast representative. Neville's work will focus on vital biodiversity and conservation issues affecting the Gulf Coast regions of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana.
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Groups Sue Trump administration to Stop Massive Arctic Oil and Gas Project
Six groups filed a lawsuit today in U.S. District Court charging the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and Interior Department with illegally and prematurely authorizing the massive Willow oil and gas project in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska.
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Conservation Groups Sue USFWS to Save Wild Red Wolves
On behalf of Red Wolf Coalition, Defenders of Wildlife, and Animal Welfare Institute, the Southern Environmental Law Center today sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina for violations of the Endangered Species Act caused by new, illegal agency policies that bar the use of proven management measures to save wild Red Wolves.
jcovey@defenders.org
