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Legal Intervention Aims to Protect North Atlantic Right Whales From Deadly Ship Strikes
Conservation groups today filed a motion to intervene to help fight a lawsuit aimed at overturning a seasonal speed rule protecting North Atlantic right whales from deadly vessel strikes. The groups want to defend the rule against a lawsuit brought by a New York vessel owner fined for violating seasonal speed limits. The suit alleges that NOAA Fisheries lacked the statutory authority to issue the rule.
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Final Rescission of Public Lands Rule Reverses Modern Land Management, Threatens Wildlife Habitat
The Bureau of Land Management today announced a decision to roll back the Conservation and Landscape Health Rule, commonly referred to as the Public Lands Rule. The policy modernized how BLM manages our national public lands and represented the critical incorporation of ecological resilience into management alongside traditional resource extraction. The rule required science-based decision-making, conservation considerations within multiple land uses and a focus on sustaining public lands for the long-term benefit of wildlife and the American people.
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Trump Administration Cancels Critical Offshore Wind Projects and Increases Costs for Taxpayers
The Department of Interior this week announced that two offshore wind companies, Bluepoint Wind and Golden State Wind, have abandoned their developments. According to reports, the companies received some $900 million to walk away from the projects.
Press Releases
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Judge orders deadline for new North Atlantic right whale protections
As a result of a successful lawsuit by several environmental and animal organizations, a federal judge today ordered federal fishery managers to issue a new rule for critically endangered North Atlantic right whales no later than May 31, 2021.
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Lawsuit Challenges Federal Government’s Refusal to Protect California Spotted Owl
Conservationists today sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for refusing to protect California spotted owls under the Endangered Species Act.
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Federal Government Completes Plan to Sell Out Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to Big Oil
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) today issued a Record of Decision (ROD) finalizing the agency’s reckless plan to lease the coastal plain of the
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WDFW Issues Lethal Removal Order for Washington's Leadpoint Pack
Today the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) released a lethal removal order for one to two wolves in the Leadpoint wolf pack. The order is in response to eleven depredation events that occurred in June and August on large private pastures in Stevens County, a known high-conflict area for livestock and wolves.
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Increased Human Activity Poses Potential Threat to Marine Wildlife
While many types of recreational activities are still limited by covid-19, kayakers and paddleboarders are once again crowding coastal ecosystems shared by wildlife. In turn, conservation groups are fielding a surge of reports about disturbances to sea otters and other animals.
jcovey@defenders.org
