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manta rays swimming in the shallow ocean with coral
Fort Myers, FL

Defenders of Wildlife Applauds Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission for Tightening Protections for Listed Species

Defenders of Wildlife welcomes today’s action by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to end open permitting for the capture of ESA-threatened marine species in Florida waters for public display and exhibition purposes.
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NARW
WASHINGTON, D.C.

Legal Intervention Aims to Protect North Atlantic Right Whales From Deadly Ship Strikes

Conservation groups today filed a motion to intervene to help fight a lawsuit aimed at overturning a seasonal speed rule protecting North Atlantic right whales from deadly vessel strikes. The groups want to defend the rule against a lawsuit brought by a New York vessel owner fined for violating seasonal speed limits. The suit alleges that NOAA Fisheries lacked the statutory authority to issue the rule.
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sage grouse in snow at Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge
Washington, D.C.

Final Rescission of Public Lands Rule Reverses Modern Land Management, Threatens Wildlife Habitat

The Bureau of Land Management today announced a decision to roll back the Conservation and Landscape Health Rule, commonly referred to as the Public Lands Rule. The policy modernized how BLM manages our national public lands and represented the critical incorporation of ecological resilience into management alongside traditional resource extraction.

Press Releases

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Bison head on
Denver, CO

First Tribal Buffalo Conservation Summit to be Held in Denver

The first Tribal Buffalo Conservation Summit will be held Nov. 1-3, bringing together tribal leaders, tribal wildlife and cultural representatives, and conservation experts to share their management strategies and discuss the important ecological, cultural and economic benefits of bison restoration.

Analysis: Public Overwhelmingly Opposes Feds’ Plan to Nearly Wipe Out Wild Red Wolves in North Carolina

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s proposal to remove protections from the nation’s only wild population of endangered Red Wolves has been met with near

Canada Urged to Expand Fisheries Closures to Save North Atlantic Right Whale

Wildlife and animal-protection groups submitted recommendations today urging Canada’s fishery management agency to continue and expand protections for critically imperiled North Atlantic right whales. Following

U.S. Forest Service Moves Backwards on Tongass Forest Old-Growth Logging

Today the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) released a draft Record of Decision proposing the largest old-growth logging project in the nation in decades. The proposal
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Sea otter mom and pup
Washington, DC

Supreme Court Halts Effort to Reinstate Failed “No Otter Zone” in California

The U.S. Supreme Court today declined to review a Ninth Circuit decision that upheld the U.S. Fish and Wildlife’s termination of a failed experimental program known as the “No Otter Zone.” The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had determined the program would harm the California sea otter by excluding the animals from their historic range along the Southern California coast.
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