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Colorado Releases Wolverine Reintroduction Plan, Defenders Stands Ready to Support
Colorado Parks and Wildlife today released a landmark plan to reintroduce wolverines to the state’s high country regions, some of the best remaining habitat in
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Court Urged to Uphold Ship Strike Protections for North Atlantic Right Whales
Conservation groups today filed a friend of the court brief expressing support for a federal vessel speed limit rule to protect critically endangered North Atlantic
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Fish and Wildlife Service Misguided in Rescinding Vital Strategic Growth Policy for the National Wildlife Refuge System
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service quietly rescinded its Refuge System Strategic Growth Policy in December, bypassing the legally required public comment period for such a change, despite having issued the policy with an accompanying public comment period in 2014.
Press Releases
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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.
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U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Announces Endangered Species Act Permitting Changes to Protect Species
Today, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed new regulations impacting voluntary species conservation under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) on private lands. The administration has stated the proposed rules will offer greater clarity on the criteria by which certain permits are issued.
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Gulf of Maine Lobster Fishery Abandons Bid for Sustainable Certification
In a move welcomed by the conservation community, the Gulf of Maine lobster fishery will no longer seek recertification under the “blue fish tick” ecolabel, a program of the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) that purportedly assures consumers that products carrying the label come from “sustainable” fisheries.
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U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Announces Status Review of Grizzly Bears
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) announced that it will begin a comprehensive Endangered Species Act (ESA) status review of the grizzly bear in two specific regions of the lower 48 states. The announcement, in today’s Federal Register, follows the agency’s review of three petitions to delist the bear, two of which they say presented “substantial, credible information” that may warrant action.
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Biden Administration Can Still Uphold Climate Promises by Rejecting ConocoPhillips’ Proposed Massive Oil and Gas Expansion in the Western Arctic
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released a disappointing final supplemental environmental impact statement for the proposed Willow Master Development Plan oil and gas project today, relying again on hasty and deficient analysis to assess the impacts that the massive ConocoPhillips’ proposal would have on local communities, Arctic wilderness, water and animals and the global climate. If approved, this project would be the largest on public lands and would set back our national climate goals tremendously.
jcovey@defenders.org
