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House to Vote on Gutting Bedrock Endangered Species Act
As the nation celebrates Earth Day this week, the House of Representatives will cast an historic vote on a bill to eviscerate the Endangered Species Act, which was enacted more than 50 years ago to protect America’s wildlife from extinction.
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Washington State 2025 Wolf Count Increases, Depredations Decrease
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife today released the state’s 2025 minimum count for gray wolves at 270 individuals, a 17% increase from 2024
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Oregon Releases 2025 Annual Wolf Count, Numbers Up
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife today issued its 2025 gray wolf annual report, announcing an increase in the wolf population for a new
Press Releases
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Trump Administration Papers over Sage-Grouse Plans
Today, the Trump administration published supplemental environmental analyses as a band-aid to previously-issued environmental impact statements found deficient by a federal judge.
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Trump Administration Finalizes Decision to Undermine ESA Protections for Bay Delta Fish
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation issued a Record of Decision that will finalize environmentally destructive water project operations for the Central Valley Project, including substantial increases in the amount of water that can be diverted from the San Francisco Bay Delta.
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Oregon Governor Kate Brown Says Restoring the Snake River Must be Part of Plan to Save Salmon and Orcas
Late last week, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown sent a letter to Washington Gov. Jay Inslee supporting the restoration of the Snake River, saying that removing the four federal dams on the lower portion of the waterway must be part of a comprehensive plan to save endangered salmon, steelhead and orcas.
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Greater Protections Proposed for Jaguars, Sharks at International Wildlife Convention
This week, representatives from 130 countries are gathered at the meeting of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS COP13) in Gandhinagar, India.
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Oil and Polar Bears Don’t Mix: Trump Administration Asks Public to Review Peer-reviewed Polar Bear Study
On Tuesday, February 18, the Trump administration will open an unprecedented 60-day comment period asking the public to comment on a study authored by its own scientists at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) entitled “Seismic survey design and potential impacts to maternal polar bear dens.” The study is intended to support decision making on potential fossil fuel development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, though such research is not typically offered for public comment.
jcovey@defenders.org
