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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.
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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.
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U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Memo Underscores Trump Administration’s All-Fronts War on Wildlife
Brian Nesvik, director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, issued a memorandum explaining to FWS staff that the Endangered Species Act’s prohibition on unauthorized “take” applies only to affirmative acts intentionally and purposefully directed at a particular animal. This follows the Trump administration’s rescission of the regulatory definitions of “harm” under the ESA, which took effect this week.
Press Releases
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Panther Killed by Vehicle Collision in Collier County, Site of Future Toll Roads
An 8 to 10-week-old female Florida panther was killed by a vehicle on State Route 29 at Owl Hammock curve just south of Immokalee in Collier County, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The news comes only months after Governor DeSantis signed a bill authorizing the construction of three new toll highways, one of which would stretch through some of the endangered panther’s last remaining habitats in Collier County.
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Department of Defense Legislation Proposes 1.1 Million Acre Takeover of National Wildlife Refuge for Military Training
The Washington Post reported today that the Department of Defense has developed legislation that would expand military control and use of more than two-thirds of Desert National Wildlife Refuge in Nevada for military training purposes.
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New Mexico State Game Commission Votes to Rejoin Wolf Recovery Program
The New Mexico State Game Commission voted today to rejoin the Mexican Gray Wolf Recovery Program.
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Conservation Groups Challenge Repeal of Clean Water Act Protections in Federal Court
Conservation groups today challenged in court the administration’s effort to strip away crucial clean water protections from rivers, lakes, streams and other waters that feed drinking-water sources for 200 million Americans and 32 million people in the South, or seven out of ten Southerners.
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Statement on Deaths of Florida Panthers Suffering from Mystery Illness
Today, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) announced that the agency has confirmed neurological damage in one panther and one bobcat through necropsy.
jcovey@defenders.org
