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2023.04.22 - Burned Terrain from SpaceX Explosion - Texas - Coastal Bend Bays & Estuaries Program (CC BY-ND 2.0).jpg

Defenders Calls on Service to Pull Out from Habitat-Degrading Land Swap

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently outlined its proposed land deal with SpaceX that would divest hundreds of acres across two national wildlife refuges
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right whale calf
Washington, D.C.

Trump Administration Announces First Step in Rolling Back Rule Protecting Whales

The Trump administration today took the first official step in rolling back a 2008 regulation vital to protecting critically endangered North Atlantic right whales from
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2025.03.08 - SW - Ocelot Fest - Jacqueline Covey-DOW (1).jpg

Ocelot Conservation Day Returns to the RGV

On March 7, the annual celebration of Texas’ beloved native cat, Ocelot Conservation Day, returns to the Rio Grande Valley. Now in its 29th year

Press Releases

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Right Whale
Washington, DC

Pro-Wildlife Package Sails Through House; House Defeats Bad Arctic Refuge, Right Whale Riders

The House has approved key natural resource sections in the Interior-Environment and Commerce-Justice-Science funding bills, of H.R. 3055, the second minibus of fiscal year 2020 appropriations bills. The Interior Appropriations bill provides an extraordinary $37 million increase for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s endangered species program to support recovery efforts for our most vulnerable species.
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Red wolves playing
Washington, DC

Lawsuit Launched Over Trump Administration Failure to Update Outdated Red Wolf Recovery Plan

The Center for Biological Diversity and Defenders of Wildlife today filed a formal notice of intent to sue the Trump administration for failing to prepare an updated recovery plan for the United States’ rapidly dwindling population of endangered Red Wolves.
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Lesser Prairie Chicken
Washington, DC

Lawsuit Seeks Endangered Species Protections for Lesser Prairie Chickens

Conservation groups today sued the Trump administration for failing to protect severely imperiled lesser prairie chickens under the Endangered Species Act.
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A Key deer at National Key Deer Wildlife Refuge on Big Pine Key in the Florida Keys
Washington, DC

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to Propose Downgrading or Eliminating Federal Protections for Imperiled Species

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) released its three-year plan to propose removing 25 threatened or endangered species currently listed under the Endangered Species Act, including the delisting of species that are not yet recovered like the gray wolf in the Lower 48 States, Key deer and Canada lynx.
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SACRAMENTO

Vote Makes Four Native Bumble Bee Species Candidates for Listing under California Endangered Species Act

Today, the California Fish and Game Commission has voted to begin the listing process for four native species of bumble bees as endangered, in an attempt to ensure their survival in the state.
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