Trump Administration Rolls Back Key Protections for Endangered Animals. Here’s What that Means for Wildlife
The rule removes a long-used habitat safeguard, letting development continue if animals are not directly killed or injured, officials said.
- On Friday, the Trump administration finalized a rule rescinding the longstanding regulatory definition of "harm" under the Endangered Species Act, allowing industrial development on critical wildlife habitats so long as animals are not directly killed or injured.
- Interior Secretary Doug Burgum stated the administration is returning the law to its "original intent" following a 2024 Supreme Court decision, arguing the previous interpretation was an "unlawful regulatory intrusion that interfered with private property rights."
- Industry groups, including the American Petroleum Institute , support the change, noting it will "create efficiencies for the regulated community," while the Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy backed the "species-centered approach" as "targeted and clean."
- A coalition of nine environmental groups and two Washington tribes filed separate lawsuits this week contesting the decision, following approximately 358,000 public comments with many critics calling the action "extinction fodder."
- Conservationists warn the move could be a "death sentence" for imperiled species; Ramona McGee, a senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center , emphasized that protecting wildlife requires protecting their homes, as a 2019 study found 81 percent of species are threatened by habitat degradation.
13 Articles
13 Articles
How redefining one word strips the Endangered Species Act’s ability to protect vital habitat
Northern spotted owls living in old growth forests in the Pacific Northwest were listed as threatened species because of habitat loss. Kyle Sullivan/Bureau of Land Management, CC BY Mariah Meek, Michigan State University and Karrigan Börk, University of California, Davis It wouldn’t make much sense to prohibit people from shooting a threatened woodpecker while allowing its forest to be cut down, or to bar killing endangered salmon while allowing…
Groups fear endangered species in Wisconsin are at risk under regulatory rollback
Conservation advocates in Wisconsin say the Trump administration’s proposed rollback of the Endangered Species Act threatens habitat protections for rare species in the state. The post Groups fear endangered species in Wisconsin are at risk under regulatory rollback appeared first on WPR.
Changes to the Endangered Species Act will be ‘devastating’ to wildlife
On July 10, the Trump administration announced a major change to the Endangered Species Act: revising the "regulatory definition of 'harm'" to exclude "modification or degradation" of a habitat. Previously, inclusion of such actions protected land inhabitant and endangered species from activity such as development or extraction. The change will go into effect on Sept. 14.Habitat loss is the most direct "threat to the survival of wildlife in the …
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