Image
BLM Prepares Illegal Move to Open Ouray National Wildlife Refuge to Oil & Gas, a Dangerous Precedent for Wildlife
Defenders of Wildlife is calling on BLM to withdrawal an unprecedented proposal to open Ouray National Wildlife Refuge in Utah to new oil and gas leasing.
Image
A Much-Needed Win for Wildlife: Senate Introduces Bill to Improve Endangered Species Act Implementation
Senators Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Pete Rickets (R-NE) today introduced the Improving Species Recovery Act, an important bipartisan bill that would improve implementation of the Endangered Species Act.
Image
Enough is Enough: Senate Blocks Yet Another Attempt to Prioritize Drilling in the Arctic
The Senate today blocked an attempt to pass S. 5438, introduced by Senator Dan Sullivan (R-AK). The bill would have ratified and approved all authorizations, permits, verifications, extensions, biological opinions, incidental take statements and any other approvals or orders issued pursuant to federal law necessary for the establishment and administration of the Coastal Plain oil and gas leasing program, among other purposes.
Press Releases
Image
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
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
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
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
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.
jcovey@defenders.org
