Image
A gray wolf stand and peers at the remote camera. The grass is green and there is a forest of pines behind the wolf.
Sacramento

Gov. Newsom Signs Landmark Legislation Creating California Wildlife Coexistence Program

Governor Gavin Newsom today signed into law Senate Bill 1135, establishing the California Wildlife Coexistence Program within the Department of Fish and Wildlife to better
Image
Northern Spotted Owl in Tree
WASHINGTON, D.C.

Defenders Expands Legal Challenge to Trump Administration’s Assault on Endangered Species Act

Defenders of Wildlife today filed an amended complaint challenging the Trump administration’s escalating effort to dismantle longstanding protections for threatened and endangered wildlife under the Endangered Species Act.
Image
Salt Marsh - Cumberland Island
ST. MARYS, GEORGIA

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.

Press Releases

Image
Bay-Delta
BAKERSFIELD, Calif.

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.
Image
Salmon
Salem, OR

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.
Image
Jaguar

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.
Image
Polar bears Arctic
Washington, DC

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.
Image
Royal Tern
Washington, DC

Commonwealth of Virginia Announces Steps Towards Protecting Migratory Birds

The commonwealth of Virginia announced today that it will take actions to ensure the protection of migratory birds in the face of the Trump administration’s abandonment of enforcement of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA). The state announced that the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (DGIF) will begin a process to promulgate state-wide regulations to establish a permitting process to minimize the incidental take of migratory birds by commercial, industrial and construction projects.
Senior Vice President, External Affairs
lsheehan@defenders.org
(202) 772-3244
Communications Director
mdewane@defenders.org
(202) 772-0217
Communications Specialist
jcovey@defenders.org
Communications Specialist
kirby@defenders.org
(202) 772-3268
Communications Specialist
estern@defenders.org
202-772-0243