Image
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.
Image
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.
Image
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
Image
California Spotted Owl Gets Endangered Species Act Protections After 23 Years
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced today that it will protect the California spotted owl under the Endangered Species Act.
Image
Defenders Objects in Court to Plans to Continue Allowing Oil and Gas Companies to Harm Southern Beaufort Sea Polar Bears
Defenders of Wildlife, as one of the organizations represented by law firm Trustees for Alaska, filed an objection in U.S. District Court today over a magistrate’s findings and recommendation that would let stand a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service rule allowing oil and gas companies to harass Southern Beaufort Sea polar bears. The magistrate submitted findings this month on our lawsuit challenging the incidental take regulations for oil and gas activities on Alaska’s North Slope.
Image
U.S. Forest Service Fails to Fix Glaring Flaws in Nantahala-Pisgah Forest Plan
Today, the U.S. Forest Service officially published the Final Forest Plan for the Nantahala and Pisgah National Forests, moving forward with a plan that recklessly opens critical areas of these two forests to logging and roadbuilding.
Image
Petition Seeks Oregon Endangered Species Protection for Southern Resident Orcas
The Center for Biological Diversity, Defenders of Wildlife, and Whale and Dolphin Conservation filed a petition today to protect Southern Resident orcas under the Oregon Endangered Species Act. As of the most recent census, just 73 Southern Resident orcas remain, divided among three family groups.
Image
Vessel Strike Killed Critically Endangered North Atlantic Right Whale
A North Atlantic right whale that washed up dead Sunday was killed by a vessel collision, NOAA Fisheries confirmed today. The results of a necropsy determined the cause of death to be “catastrophic blunt force trauma,” and injuries included multiple vertebral fractures and separations that would have resulted in death shortly after the injury.
jcovey@defenders.org
