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Prairie Dog Coalition Urges Colorado to End Recreational Prairie Dog Shooting on Public Lands
Defenders and partners at the Prairie Dog Coalition call on Colorado Parks and Wildlife to prohibit recreational shooting of prairie dogs on public lands.
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Defenders of Wildlife Welcomes Stefan Ekernas as New Vice President of Species Conservation & Coexistence
Defenders of Wildlife is proud to announce Stephan Ekernas as its new Vice President of Species Conservation and Coexistence, where he will oversee Defenders’ field conservation programs.
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Trump Administration Opens Door to Bear Baiting, Den Hunting in Alaska Preserves
The National Park Service finalized a regulation that abdicates the agency's responsibility to manage wildlife in Alaska's national preserves, deferring instead to state regulations. Defenders of Wildlife condemns the rule, which mirrors a 2020 regulation promulgated by the first Trump administration that was later withdrawn and replaced in 2024.
Press Releases
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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.
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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.
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Presidential Budget Abandons Programs Supportive of Wildlife and Climate Science
Yesterday, President Trump released his proposed federal budget for 2021 that significantly cuts programs that conserve wildlife, support science and address climate change.
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Former Interior Officials Want Secretary Bernhardt to Reconsider Changes to Migratory Bird Treaty Act
Former Interior Officials Want Secretary Bernhardt to Reconsider Changes to Migratory Bird Treaty Act A bipartisan coalition of 15 former Department of the Interior officials
jcovey@defenders.org
