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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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Defenders of Wildlife Urges Congress To Address Biodiversity and Climate Crises in Farm Bill
As hearings begin on the renewal of the Farm Bill, Defenders of Wildlife is encouraging Congress to address our nation’s joint biodiversity and climate crises, livestock-wildlife conflict prevention, equitable access and accountability.
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Mexican Gray Wolf Population Breaks 200 For the First Time
The wild population of Mexican gray wolves in the U.S. continues to grow. According to the 2022 annual count, the number has increased to a minimum of 241 animals, a 23 percent increase. This marks the seventh consecutive year of growth in the wild population.
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Defenders of Wildlife Applauds New Bill to RESCUE Endangered North Atlantic Right Whale
Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) today introduced the RESCUE Whales Act to repeal a section of the 2022 omnibus that may significantly delay new regulatory action under the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act that is desperately needed to ensure the survival and recovery of the North Atlantic right whale in the face of unsustainable lethal entanglements in the American lobster and Jonah crab fishery.
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Rare Ocelot Sighting Ahead of Festival Exemplifies Need for Awareness on Texas Roads
A couple visiting Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge (LANWR) shared their extraordinary sighting of a mother and kitten ocelot just two weeks ahead of Ocelot Conservation Day, March 5, at the Gladys Porter Zoo in Brownsville.
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Defenders of Wildlife Recommends Three Ways to Strengthen Proposed CO Wolf Restoration and Management Plan
At the final public hearing on the proposed Colorado Wolf Restoration and Management Plan, Defenders of Wildlife offered three key areas where the state’s management plan can be strengthened to ensure a self-sufficient wolf population and promote coexistence.
jcovey@defenders.org
