Trump administration weakens habitat protections for endangered species
The rule could expand drilling, mining and development on critical habitat while leaving direct injury or killing of endangered animals illegal.
- On Friday, the Trump administration finalized a rule narrowing the definition of "harm" under the Endangered Species Act, removing regulatory protections that prevented damage to wildlife habitats.
- Interior Secretary Doug Burgum defended the change, claiming federal agencies for years "abused the ESA to obstruct lawful land use and burden American families and businesses."
- Attorneys general from 16 states, including Arizona, California, Illinois and New York, condemned the rationale as "arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion and contrary to law."
- Kristen Boyles, an attorney for Earthjustice, vowed to challenge the rule in court, stating there is "no scientific support, no legal support, no public support" for the change.
- Wildlife experts warn the policy could put threatened animals on a path to extinction, with Tara Zuardo of the Center for Biological Diversity calling habitat destruction the "number one threat to endangered species.
105 Articles
105 Articles
Endangered fish becomes latest flashpoint for U.P. copper mine
WAKEFIELD TOWNSHIP, MI — An endangered fish is complicating the path forward for a Upper Peninsula copper mine as regulators consider whether to renew a wastewater permit for the long-delayed project.
Hawaii Tribune-Herald
West Hawaii TodayTrump, ending decades of protection, opens wild habitats to drilling and mining
The Trump administration on Friday moved to open the habitats of imperiled animals to farming, drilling, mining, real estate development and other activities in what environmentalists characterized as the most severe erosion of protections for wildlife in half a century. The post Trump, ending decades of protection, opens wild habitats to drilling and mining appeared first on Hawaii Tribune-Herald.
The U.S. Department of the Interior, responsible for federal lands, restricts the interpretation of a major text adopted in 1973, which could facilitate the establishment of industrial activities harmful to the habitat of certain animals.
Missoulian
Administration weakens protections for species
The Trump administration finalized a major change Friday to how threatened species are considered in agency actions, removing regulatory language aimed at preventing damage to wildlife habitats.
The U.S. executive claimed that its interests are to speed up the approval of projects that impede the law that it classified as "obsolete."
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