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Defenders Slams SPEED Act as it Speeds Toward Habitat Destruction
Defenders of Wildlife condemns Rep. Bruce Westerman’s (R-AR) SPEED ACT, H.R. 4776 the Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economic Development Act, ahead of Thursday’s expected floor vote in the U.S. House of Representatives.
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ESA Amendments Act Poses a Historic Threat to America’s Wildlife
Defenders of Wildlife remains on high alert as it braces for the House Natural Resources Committee’s full markup of Rep. Bruce Westerman’s (R-AR) Endangered Species Amendments Act of 2025. More aptly labeled the Extinction Act, the bill seeks to eviscerate the Endangered Species Act, stripping away decades of crucial protections for America’s wildlife and their habitats.
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House Vote Scheduled on Ending Gray Wolf Protections, Undermining the Endangered Species Act
The House of Representatives is expected this Thursday to vote on ending gray wolf protections, prematurely delisting gray wolves from the Endangered Species Act before
Press Releases
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Cantwell, Gallego, Udall, DeGette, Wyden Introduce Legislation to Permanently Protect Nearly 60 Million Acres of Wild Public Forests
U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), a senior member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and Congressman Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), a member of the House Natural Resources Committee, introduced legislation today to permanently protect millions of acres of pristine national forests.
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SAVE Right Whales Act Passes Out of Committee
Today, the House Natural Resources Committee marked up and passed the Scientific Assistance for Very Endangered (SAVE) Right Whales Act out of committee. The legislation would support the survival and recovery of the critically imperiled North Atlantic right whale.
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Interior Department Needs Leadership, Not Reorganization
Jamie Rappaport Clark, president and CEO of Defenders of Wildlife, will testify before the House Natural Resources Committee, Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations today at 10:00 a.m.
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WA Legislature Funds Key Orca-Saving Measure
With support from Governor Inslee and 43 legislators in the House and Senate, the Washington State legislature included funding in its final state budget to convene a stakeholder forum recommended last fall by the Governor’s Southern Resident Orca Recovery Task Force.
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Final Jaguar Plan Inadequate For Recovery of Species in U.S.
Today, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released their final recovery plan for the jaguar. This plan, dated in 2018 but just released today, comes over two decades after the cat was granted protection under the Endangered Species Act and does not allot enough suitable habitat for recovery in the United States.
jcovey@defenders.org
